F1 tornado, West Paris, Maine, May 31, 2002

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F1

Date

May 31, 2002

Touchdown

4:30 PM EDT (20:30 UTC)

Path length

2.1 miles (3.4 km)

Path width

125 yards (114 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Oxford County

Touchdown point

44.320, -70.570

Lift-off point

44.320, -70.570

Record number

133

A line of severe thunderstorms moving through Maine produced severe winds that downed trees and power lines throughout the western part of the state. About 30,000 customers lost electrical service during the storms. Trees were reported down in Oxford, Franklin, and York Counties. A small tornado touched down in the town of West Paris in Oxford County. In the town of Canton, a microburst ripped the roof off a 40 x 60 ft barn and carried it in the air more than 200 feet, landing in the tops of trees in a wooded area. Numerous trees were also uprooted. An exchange student drowned in Messalonskee Lake in Sidney when his canoe capsized and he attempted to swim the 75 yards to shore. A department store employee in Auburn was injured when he was struck by lightning as he covered up items outside. He was taken to a nearby hospital and later released. Lightning also struck homes in Windham, Sanford, and Alfred.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Auburn-Lewiston (LEW), 38 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2002 tornado in MaineEvery tornado in Maine since 1950Warnings in force in Maine nowThe forecast where you are

10 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.