F2 tornado in New Hampishere

[tomboudreau]

After dealing with all the flooding last week, southeastern New Hampshiere was brushed by an F2 tornado last night. The tornado touch down briefly along Interstate 95, crossed the highway, and then dissipated soon afterward. Here is the PIS from the National Weather Service office in Gray, Maine.

NOUS41 KGYX 230117
PNSGYX
MEZ007>009-012>014-018>022-023>028-NHZ001>010-013-014-240000-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
917 PM EDT MON MAY 22 2006

...F2 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN HAMPTON FALLS...NEW HAMPSHIRE...

AFTER SURVEYING DAMAGE FROM SUNDAY'S (MAY 21 2006) STORMS IN HAMPTON
FALLS...NEW HAMPSHIRE THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS DETERMINED
THAT DAMAGE IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF INTERSTATE 95 WAS CAUSED BY
A SMALL...BUT RATHER INTENSE...TORNADO.

DAMAGE WEST OF I-95 WAS LIMITED TO ISOLATED SNAPPED OR UPROOTED TREES
AND BUSHES CAUSED BY STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.

WHILE SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE OBSERVED OVER SOUTHEASTERN NEW
HAMPSHIRE SUNDAY EVENING...BASED ON EYEWITNESS REPORTS AND GROUND
DAMAGE...THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST AS ONE OF THE FUNNEL CLOUDS
APPROACHED I-95. THE TORNADO THEN LIFTED OFF THE GROUND ABOUT 100
YARDS AFTER CROSSING I-95. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WAS TO A
TRUCK PARKED ALONG THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY. THE TRUCK WAS LIFTED
OFF THE GROUND BRIEFLY BY THE TORNADO...LANDED ON THE PASSENGER
SIDE...AND THEN ROLLED 1 1/4 TIMES ENDING UP ON ITS ROOF. A KAYAK
THAT WAS BEING CARRIED ON THE TRUCK...THE CAP OF THE TRUCK...AND
OTHER DEBRIS WERE LIFTED INTO THE AIR BY THE TORNADO AND LANDED IN
THE ADJACENT WOODED AREA. TWO MEN WERE IN THE TRUCK AT THE TIME AND
WERE TAKEN TO A NEARBY HOSPITAL FOR TREATMENT OF INJURIES.

AFTER INTERVIEWS WITH THE OCCUPANTS AND BASED ON REPORTS FROM
WITNESSES TO THE INCIDENT WHICH INDICATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS LIFTED
INTO THE AIR...THE TORNADO INTENSITY HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED AS F2 ON THE
FUJITA SCALE. THE REPORTS FROM WITNESSES WERE CONSISTENT WITH A
GROUND-BASED INTERVIEW AND ASSESSMENT AT THE SCENE WITH ONE OF THE
OCCUPANTS. BASED ON THE VEHICLE BEING LIFTED OFF THE
GROUND...MAXIMUM WINDS HAVE BEEN ESTIMATED TO BE BETWEEN 120 AND 130
MPH. WHILE TREE DAMAGE IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA WAS VERY LIMITED...A
SWATH OF SNAPPED AND UPROOTED TREES WAS FOUND ABOUT 100 YARDS EAST
OF I-95. THE DIRECTION OF THE FALLEN TREES WAS CONSISTENT WITH THAT
EXPECTED FROM A TORNADO. WINDS IN THIS SWATH WERE ESTIMATED TO BE
BETWEEN 90 AND 100 MPH.

NO HOMES OR BUILDINGS WERE DAMAGED BY THE TORNADO.

NEW HAMPSHIRE AVERAGES ABOUT TWO TORNADOES A YEAR. THIS IS THE FIRST
CONFIRMED TORNADO IN NEW HAMPSHIRE FOR 2006.

JENSENIUS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
GRAY, MAINE

[Jim Cantore]

Its just a reminder, they can happen anywhere at anytime

[HurricaneBill]

Yep, we get at least one tornado each year here in Massachusetts. Usually, from a severe thunderstorm.

The last significant Massachusetts tornado was the Great Barrington Tornado in May 1995. It was ranked F4 (although many believe it was actually F3). It killed 3 people (in a car tossed hundreds of feet through the air) and caused millions of dollars in damage.

[Stephanie]

We may have one or two a year here as well, but I don't think that there's ever been one stronger than an F1. It's still pretty freaky to hear/read about tornados touching down in the Northeast.

[terstorm1012]

We had a nasty one here about two summers ago, F3.

Completely erased a subdivision. Had it hit just 30 mintues later, dozens of people would not be here as they would have been sitting down to dinner. As it stands noone died.