On June 9, 1953, a powerful tornado tore through Worcester, Massachusetts and surrounding areas. This destructive storm marked the end of the Flint-Worcester tornado outbreak. Over the course of 48 miles and 78 minutes, it caused devastation that resulted in 1,288 injuries and 94 deaths. This made it one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history and the most deadly to ever hit New England. The aftermath was staggering: damage to 4,000 buildings and homelessness for approximately 10,000 people. The financial impact was also significant, with $52.193 million in damages (equivalent to about $700 million conservatively in today’s currency). In fact, this was considered the most expensive tornado on record at the time.
How It Began. On June 7, 1953, a strong shortwave trough moved eastward over the Rocky Mountains, inducing lee cyclogenesis and creating a low-pressure area over eastern Colorado. This paired with warm, unstable air over the Great Plains and an elevated mixed layer from the desert southwest created favorable conditions for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. The following day, the storm system continued northeast, causing more tornadoes in Michigan, Ohio, and Nebraska. One of the most notable was the Flint-Beecher tornado, which resulted in 116 fatalities and 844 injuries in northern Flint. Several other tornadoes occurred across the region that day as well, causing an additional 449 injuries and 26 fatalities. Later on, when the Fujita scale was implemented, the Flint-Beecher tornado was classified as an F5.
It's On It's Way. On the morning of June 9, a low pressure system had shifted northeastward towards Ontario near Hudson Bay's south end. From this system, an occluded front extended south towards a triple point with a warm front and cold front near Lake Superior's northern end. The warm front then spread southeast across New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey before moving northeast throughout the day. As a result, it brought warm, moist, unstable air into New England, including Massachusetts. Despite an elevated mixed layer in the mid-atmosphere preventing storm formation earlier in the day, temperatures in Worcester had still climbed to 80 °F (27 °C) by afternoon with a dew point of 66 °F (19 °C). Combined with cold air aloft, these conditions created high instability in the atmosphere. Additionally, amplified wind shear persisted into the afternoon of June 9, making atmospheric conditions ideal for supercell development and possible tornado formation.
The Ball Got Dropped! The forecasters at the National Weather Service office in Boston were cautious about including a tornado advisory in their forecast, despite believing there was a possibility for such activity in the area. Their concern was that unnecessary panic might ensue. In 1953, as it was the first year that tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were being used, they compromised by issuing a severe thunderstorm watch instead - a historic event for Massachusetts. However, most news reports only mentioned possible thunderstorms, leaving residents with little to no warning when the tornado ultimately struck.
It's Here! At 4:25 p.m., a tornado formed over the Quabbin Reservoir in Petersham, Massachusetts and was observed by boaters on the reservoir. Initially, three funnels were seen, but one dissipated quickly.[citation needed] The tornado continued southeast, passing through Petersham with occasional twin funnels several hundred feet apart. It then hit Barre and Rutland, where two people perished in each town.[12] The tornado grew even larger as it tore through the suburban area of Holden, completely destroying the Brentwood Estates subdivision and causing multiple fatalities.
A 12-ton (10.89 metric-ton) bus was lifted, flipped multiple times, and hurled against the newly constructed Curtis Apartments in Great Brook Valley, resulting in the deaths of two passengers. The building's blueprints were carried all the way to Duxbury (near Plymouth), a distance of 75 miles (121 km). Directly across from the Curtis Apartments on Boylston St., the Brookside Home Farm (a city-operated dairy facility and laundry) suffered complete destruction, claiming six lives and resulting in the loss of their herd of 80 Holsteins. In addition, houses and bodies were swept into Lake Quinsigamond. Of all the buildings in the tornado's path, Brookside experienced the highest number of fatalities with a total of six.
At around 5:20 p.m., the one-mile wide funnel moved into Shrewsbury, causing the death of 12 individuals. It maintained its width as it passed through the town and continued to cause severe damage when it reached downtown Westborough, resulting in five more fatalities. The tornado changed direction towards the northeast in its final stretch and ultimately caused three deaths at the Fayville Post Office collapse in Southborough. Strangely enough, a tornado warning was issued at approximately 5:45 p.m., but by then it was too late. Another F3 tornado occurred simultaneously in nearby areas such as Sutton, Northbridge, Mendon, Bellingham, Franklin, Wrentham and Mansfield in Massachusetts, injuring 17 people. In addition, smaller tornadoes also took place in Colrain, Massachusetts and Rollinsford, New Hampshire. A separate minor tornado caused injuries in Fremont and Exeter in Rockingham County, New Hampshire around the same time that the warning was issued.
Baseball-size hail was reported in a score of communities affected by the Worcester supercell, with debris being carried over long distances. The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, located 35 miles (56 km) away from the source, was reached by airborne debris that continued even further eastward to Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. One notable example of this was an item that traveled from Holden to Eastham on Cape Cod, a distance of 110 miles (180 km). In addition, some debris was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, making this one of the most extensive instances of tornado-caused damage in U.S. history.
The Worcester tornado had a significant impact on the nation, as it served as the main driving force for the reorganization of the Storm Prediction Center on June 17, 1953. This led to the implementation of a radar and storm spotter system nationwide, which proved to be successful. Since then, only one tornado - the EF5 that hit Joplin, Missouri in 2011 - has caused a death toll exceeding 100 people
The meteorological community has long debated the severity of this infamous storm. While it was officially classified as an F4 tornado, the destruction in five towns (Rutland, Holden, Worcester, Shrewsbury and Westborough) suggested it may have been closer to an F5. This controversy prompted the National Weather Service to assemble a panel of experts in the spring of 2005 to examine new evidence on the wind strength of the Worcester tornado. The possibility of upgrading its classification to an F5 was considered, but ultimately, in the summer of 2005, it was decided to maintain its official rating as a strong F4. This decision was based on the fact that determining whether certain damaged homes were F4 or F5 without proper engineering expertise is nearly impossible due to similar appearances and varying construction methods. As a result, the anchoring techniques used in destroyed or vanished homes could not be definitively determined and some postwar structures may have been more susceptible to high winds than older ones.
References for the Worcester Tornado of 1953 include Pletcher's "Massachusetts Disasters," Chittick's "The Worcester Tornado," Wikipedia and Wallace's influential study on the event.
Could it occur once more? Considering its previous occurrence. You bet it can!