Good evening everybody.
Tuesday turned out to be a fairly active severe weather day, one that wasn't really expected just a day prior due to the possibility of abundant cloud cover and meager lapse rates (where the temperature decreases with height, presence of lift is critical in thunderstorm development!), both of which would have tempered the level of instability. However, many of us were able to break out of the clouds today, which increased the instability out ahead of a cold front. This was the first step in the development of thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon. Southern New England was located under an impressive 60 to 70 knot jet, in the left exit region of the jet streak. While low level shear wasn't exactly impressive, it was sufficient enough to result in several rotating supercells, some of which triggered tornado warnings in both Connecticut and Massachusetts during the late afternoon hours.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued by the Storm Prediction Center for the entire state of Vermont, Berkshire county in Massachusetts, Litchfield county in Connecticut, Northwestern New Hampshire, most of Eastern New York, and Northeastern Pennsylvania at 11:30AM EDT as storms began to erupt in Central New York in response to increasing instability. Several warnings were issued, including a tornado warning for the Ithaca, NY area. A tornado would later be reported in the Franklin Springs vicinity.
As these storms intensified further in the increasing instability across New England (though it never reached impressive levels), the Storm Prediction Center issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for the rest of Connecticut, Kent & Providence counties in Rhode Island, Massachusetts excluding points South of Boston, Southern and Eastern New Hampshire, and Western Maine around 2:30PM EDT. Large hail and damaging winds were expected to be the main threats within both severe weather watches.
No tornado has officially been confirmed by the National Weather Service in New England. While a tornado was reported in Franklin Springs, New York early on in the afternoon, it appears at this time that Western Massachusetts and Northeastern Connecticut were hit the hardest by these storms. A tornado warning was issued for the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts, near Springfield (sound familiar?) around 4:30PM EDT. Several reports of funnel clouds resulted during the duration of this warning, including in Monson, MA (a town devastated by the June 1 tornado).
This storm continued southeast into the Quiet Corner of Connecticut, and around 4:50PM EDT a tornado warning was issued for both Tolland and Windham counties. Here, strong rotation prevailed on radar for at least a half hour. Even as these supercells merged into a bowing line, weak rotation was reported within the storms in Willimantic and Mansfield, CT. The tornado threat translated into a damaging wind threat as these storms formed into a bowing line segment. Several towns in Northeast Connecticut, especially Willimantic, were affected by the damaging effects of this line. Many residents lost power, and around 1,500 still remain in the dark as of 12:30AM on Thursday, July 27. Trees fell in resident's yards, large branches littered the streets, power lines were downed and lying on the roads due to falling tree branches. Local law enforcement closed several streets due to these hazards. Flooding in some areas was also an issue, namely around the Frog Bridge on the east side of town. The great news for those cleaning up from the storms on Wednesday? Picture perfect weather!
Wednesday looks to be a fabulous weather day, now that the cold front will have passed to the south of New England. It will be a very comfortable day as humidity levels will have dropped. Enjoy it because the humidity returns on Thursday. We may be looking at another thunderstorm threat Friday with the next approaching cold front.
Stay tuned!
-Alex Avalos
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