June 2nd, 2000 Severe Weather Outbreak Report

Severe Weather Outbreak Report for Friday June 2nd, 2000
by: Robert Macedo, ARES SKYWARN Coordinator for NWS Taunton

On Friday June 2nd, 2000, a widespread severe weather outbreak occurred
across much of Southern New England with a F1 tornado and F1
microburst hitting Northampton Massachusetts.

The Storm Prediction Center had placed much of Southern New England
in a slight risk for severe weather with Western Massachusetts and
Northern Connecticut in a moderate risk for severe weather. This
was the first time any portion of Southern New England was in a
moderate risk for severe weather since May 31st, 1998. The Storm
Prediction Center had included much of New England in at least
a slight risk for severe weather two days prior to the outbreak.

The National Weather Service in Taunton through Glenn Field,
Warning Coordination Meteorologist, and Bob Thompson, 
Meteorologist-In-Charge of NWS Taunton, discussed the situation
at length with me Thursday Afternoon and Friday Morning. It became
evident that very strong winds and even the possibility of a tornado
could occur in the region.

On Friday at approximately 2 PM, it was requested that all SKYWARN
Nets in Western and Central Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut
go to informal activation status at 3 PM. Thunderstorms rapidly
began organizing in Eastern New York and were headed directly for
the affected area. Mike Leger, N1YLQ, was sent to the weather office
to be there for 3 PM. I planned on heading to the weather office
between 3:30 and 4 PM after finishing up a few things at work.
Mike, N1YLQ, was a huge asset to have at the NWS Taunton office.
Mike has rapidly learned how to operate at the weather office
doing work for a served agency. He constantly switched jobs
with me interacting with the forecasters, plotting storm
positions on the map behind the radar along with handling
reports over the radio as needed.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was posted for much of New England
until 9 PM as the activity was ready to bear down on much of
the region.

The storms began their entry into Berkshire County with Severe
Thunderstorm Warnings posted. A report from Downtown Pittsfield
of Dime Sized Hail was received with 14" diameter trees down.
N1KKY-Tom Pratt from Worcester County SKYWARN provided liasion
to NWS Taunton. He obtained reports from Don, N1ISB, and the
Berkshire County SKYWARN Net on the 146.91 Mount Greylock
Repeater and passed them to me via the 53.31 Mount Wachusett
6 Meter Repeater.

The strongest storm began to take on supercell characteristics
and a tornado warning was issued for Berkshire County. No
confirmed reports of any tornadic activity were received as
N1ISB, Don, looked virgorously for reports in the affected area.
The storm was entering a relatively uninhabited area of Eastern
Berkshire County making the job of finding reports tougher.

Ray Weber, KA1JJM, Western Massachusetts SKYWARN Coordinator,
talked with me on the phone as we discussed getting storm
chasers ready to find the cell and look for reports meeting
criteria. The storm was about to enter Worthington, Massachusetts
which is a sparsely populated town and the need was there to try
to send people into the storm.

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were posted for Western Hampshire
and Western Hampden Counties in Massachusetts. Shortly thereafter,
a Tornado Warning was posted for Hampshire County. Approximately 10
minutes after the tornado warning was posted, for only the second
time in my four years as SKYWARN Coordinator, N1KKY, Tom Pratt,
who provided liaison from Ray, KA1JJM and the 146.94 Mount
Tom SKYWARN Net told me on the 146.925/145.37 Worcester County
SKYWARN linked system that at 4:50 PM, there were reports
of possible tornadic activity on the ground. Phones were dead
in Worthington and power was lost to the State Police barracks.
No other reports could be received. It would later be found
out that there was dime sized hail and wind damage with numerous
trees down across portions of Worthington.

The supercell was very powerful with the strongest rotation seen
since the Great Barrington Tornado of May 31st, 1995 per Glenn
Field, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at NWS Taunton. As the
storm reached Northampton, the worst damage of the day was about
to occur. In the Florence area of Northampton, Dime Sized Hail occurred
at 5 PM, in the Haydenville section of Northampton there were 4-12"
Diameter limbs down at 5:05 PM. At the Westover AFB, a wall cloud
was reported with no rotation with a 55 MPH Wind Gust at 5:10 PM.
At 5:12 PM, many trees were uprooted near the St. Mary's Cemetery
with power poles knocked down. Further reports of Dime Sized Hail
and branches down were received.

In Granby, Mass. Windows were blown out of a house on West Street
with trees down. In Northampton, 4 homes were damaged by trees
12" in diameter being blown down damaging these homes. These homes
would later be declared uninhabitable. Golf Ball Sized Hail was
reported in Granby at 5:20 PM. In Palmer, Mass. Dime Sized Hail
was reported and in Springfield Mass. a wall cloud with rotation
passed over the city. In Amherst, Mass. trees were reported down
as well as the storms passed through the area. Many of the storm
reports were received by people who chased the storm including
Western Mass. Co-SKYWARN Coordinator, Jim Bernotas, N1VMH, who
left a wedding to chase the storm and obtained numerous reports
from Northampton. Special thanks to Jim for helping with this
situation.

As the storms moved out of the area, Ray Weber, KA1JJM, was sent
out with his digital camera to review the damage in the region. After
forecasters at NWS Taunton analyzed the damage pictures that Ray took,
a F1 microburst with winds of 90-105 MPH smacked the region. It was 
this microburst that caused the most damage. The tree damage made
four homes uninhabitable. This occurred in the Pine Hill section
of Northampton.

Several days later, N1VRK, Brian Skalarski, found a damage area in the
woods in the Leeds section of Northampton. Ray took pictures of this
damage and after NWS forecasters analysis, a F1 tornado with winds
between 73-110 MPH touched down in this area. The path was 15 yards
wide and lasted for a half a mile. This tornado would briefly touch
down again for a tenth of the mile knocking the tips of trees as
eyewitnesses saw the funnel cloud briefly touch down as a tornado
in this area. Special thanks to Brian, N1VRK, for finding the damage
area, and to Ray Weber, KA1JJM for taking a large portion of the
damage pictures from this serious severe thunderstorm. It is fairly
rare to have a supercell powerful enough to produce both a damaging
microburst and a tornado here in New England.

While the heaviest damage occurred in the Northampton area, the night
was not over as the line of severe thunderstorms continued to make
their way through the rest of Connecticut, Rhode Island and
Massachusetts. As the storms went through Worcester County, there
were numerous reports of small branches down, with trees reported
down in Lemonister and Fitchburg Massachusetts. The 146.925/145.37
Worcester-Templeton link was active with N1KKY, Tom and N1SBM Ted
running the Worcester County SKYWARN Net on that frequency.

SKYWARN in Connecticut was active on the 147.000 Soapstone, Mountain
CT Repeater. Numerous reports of trees and wires down occurred in
Thompson and Woodstock CT with 2 foot diameter trees down in
Ellington CT. TV Meteorologists also reported a funnel
cloud in the Granby CT area with Nickel to Quarter Sized hail
covering the ground 2" deep in the northern part of Granby. Roger,
K1PAI and Harvey, K1PZS montiored activity as the storms moved
through.

N1CPE, Tom Kinahan, Massachusetts State RACES Radio Officer arrived
at MEMA Framingham and MEMA and NWS Taunton kept liaison
on the 53.31 Mount Wachusett 6 Meter Repeater throughout the rest
of the event. Also, on that frequency, Marc Slater, KB1DFE, kept
liaison with NWS Taunton for the Hillsborough County SKYWARN Net.
6" diameter branches were blown down in Nashua, NH at 5:50 PM through
a mobile amateur's report. The 443.350 Pack Monadnock Repeater was
active for this event along with local 2 meter SKYWARN Nets in
Hillsborough County.

After these reports were received, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning
covering much of Northeast Massachusetts and Rhode Island was issued.
It is very rare to have a Severe Thunderstorm Warning cover this much
area but it happened during this event. Wind damage reports came
streaming in from much of the region.

Rhode Island SKYWARN was active on the 146.76 Scituate, RI Repeater.
With the warning posted for much of the Northern Half of Rhode Island,
it did not take long for wind damage reports to be received. At
6:34 PM, a measured 60 MPH wind gust was reported in Greenville, RI.
At 6:37 PM, 12" branches were blown down in Burrilville, RI. At 6:40
PM, trees and wires were blown down in Gloucester, RI. In Smithfield
RI, a 64 MPH wind gust was recorded with trees and wires down across
portions of the city also at 6:40 PM. Large branches were blown
down over a 100 yard swath of Route 152 in Seekonk, Massachusetts.
Joe, KB1CMD, John, N1EGS, Martin, N1JMA, and Ralph, KE1GL were all on
frequency assisting with the report gathering from many spotters.
Ralph, KE1GL, was working at the Smithfield EOC and got reports of the
wind damage and measured wind gust as he was dispatching crews to clean
up the damage.

On the 146.895 Walpole Repeater, Norfolk County SKYWARN was active with
K1HRV-Dave, and W1ZSA-Roger, continued to monitor the activity and
reports of wind damage came in with 5" diameter branches down blocking
a road in Westwood with scattered large branches done in Walpole at
6:45 PM.

On the 146.64 Waltham Repeater, Bill, N1VUX, and Bill, KB1CIE monitored
activity through their region. Reports of trees down came in from the
city of Boston at 6:55, with large branches down in Framingham near the
same timeframe. Numerous reports of small branches down were also
received.

On the 147.225 Whitman Repeater, Gil, WA1GDJ and Carl, N1FYZ had
South Shore SKYWARN active as activity moved through the region.
Numerous reports of small branches down were reported in East
Bridgewater and Whitman with trees down in Hingham, Massachusetts
at 7:21 PM.

Severe Thunderstorm activity continued through portions of Southeastern
Connecticut and there was concern that this activity could effect
Washington County, RI. New London County SKYWARN was active on the
146.730 Norwich, CT Repeater with Jim KD1LD and a designated NCS.
NWS Brookhaven NY was also on frequency with Mike and I at NWS
Taunton. At 9:03 PM, trees and wires were reported down in Ledyard, CT
with trees down at Gates Ferry at 9:07 PM.

Another Severe Thunderstorm Warning was posted for Washington County
RI. Jeff, N1YDU, had SKYWARN active on the 147.165 Exeter, RI Repeater.
No reports of large hail or damaging winds were received throughout the
county despite the chase efforts of N1EGS-John and a call to an amateur
radio operator at a dispatch center for much of Washington County
Rhode Island.

The SKYWARN Activation ended at 10 PM. Special thanks to all SKYWARN
Coordinators, Net Control Stations and SKYWARN Spotters who phoned in
and relayed reports of damage to NWS Taunton via amateur radio. Special
thanks to Net Controls who sent their net reports to me after the
event.

The following are Net Reports from various SKYWARN NCS's:

Bill Ricker (N1VUX) Waltham SKYWARN Net Report:

4pm+ , first announcements of watch shortly after 4pm.


5:55 ... request STOW due to small cell in front of line, no
      criteria found.
K1QM, West Concord (62@2)
N1HCF 85@20 Marlboro going up N.
N1WVD Harvard on Rt 2, H.Rain, gusts, 
N1AUP Littleton on 495 Torrential Rain

6:06PM Controlled net declared BEFORE warning due to interference.

N1AUP 495 @ 2 , twigs
KA1GDQ Brockton checking in
n1LWS ?? reporting rain Logan [corr. to KA1LWF]

KD1OA Marlboro "Hi Winds" from NW; E.Marl

KD1CY/NWS: WARNING Middlesex & Western NOrfolk shortly

6:14 KA1PON .. G20

6:14 N1HCF Parked 495@85 Hudson. No criteria
   N1PMD West Wakefield ... Torrential Rain ended
W1LHP Waltham H.Rain, Hi Winds. est 20-30.
KA1LWS R.  at Logan
6:18
ELV Sudbury Trees swaying. Small limb 1"?
N1SEW -- Torr.R Cambridge/Arlington line
KA1LWS ... harrasing ... bogus callsign.
K1NJ Power out in Lincoln
N1XNK N.Waltham 29.65 possible gust, twigs down, torrential.
6:27
N1HWA Special Marine Warning until 815.


KB1CVN/M Readville 95S

N1ZZN Whitman 147.225/67 (Bridgewater down)
harrassment continues in morse code 
N1KML Bellingham no power; front arrived, G21
N1ZCF Bellingham Street Flooding, CG, 
KA1LWF is id of interferrer. Codman Square, South Bay; consistent
with recorded address
K1RAV QUincy. bending tops of trees.
6:43 N1ZCF -- letting up

6:45 pass NCS to KB1CIE  as cells come through here

KA1TUZ per BFD, large tree on Arborway ?near Elliot St? 
Framingham branch 15' 8" dia Cottage St. Fram

7:18 NCS from KB1CIE, trailing C-G near him

KB1FBA ... query on 6m repeater.

7:32 ... thankyou and informal.

7:37 N1XNK N.Waltham , power surged, out.

7:39 N1FBB Mass Pike E before Fenway Flooded appx 1' deep 

Marc Slater (KB1DFE) Hillsborough County SKYWARN Net Report:

Here is a summary of the SKYWARN activation that took place on 
02-JUN-00 from 17:00 through 19:00. 

At the request of Rob - KD1CY at National Weather Service 
Forecast Office Taunton, an informal SKYWARN activation was 
initiated at 17:00.

- Don N1UBD (Merrimack NH) stood by on the 147.045 Nashua NH 
Repeater

- Bill, K1FPV (Brookline NH) stood by on the N1IMO linked system 
in Hollis NH

- Tom, N1SKZ (Hillsboro, NH) stood by on the Pack Monadnock 
repeater

- I could not reach the Francestown repeater during this event

Several other stations announced their availability to assist.

Reports and observations received:

- 17:50 Rob - WA1SKI reported traffic lights out on 101A in 
Nashua, ponding up to 5" (estimate) and a 6" (estimate) limb down.

- 18:00 Jerry - AA2T reported a 10"-12" (estimate) branch fell onto 
a house and bringing down wires on Priest St in Leominster.

- 18:50 Jerry - AA2T reported a 15" (estimate) tree split in two near 
the Troop C State Police Barracks near Route 2E in Leominster.

- Secured the net at 19:15.

Regards,

Marc - KB1DFE

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
SEMCARES Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503  (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929  (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@pop.ma.ultranet.com
Packet Address: KD1CY @ AA1FS
http://www.ultranet.com/~rmacedo

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