Their house was gone.". The tornado hit Worcester at 5:08PM. For a slide show of the Worcester tornado, click here. Andy Karlson, a longtime teacher, recalled that he, his wife, daughter and Jeffrey were driving home from Springfield on June 9, 1953, when they saw the storm. After Van Zandts atomic bomb theory was disproved, the meteorological synopsis was released. The Blizzard of '78 dropped between two and four feet of snow on the Bay State over the course On this day in 1888, ordinary life in Massachusetts came to a standstill. Across Boylston St. from the Curtis Apartments, the Brookside Home Farm (a city-operated dairy facility and laundry) sustained total damage, with six men killed and the loss of its herd of 80 Holsteins. The infamous 1953 Worcester Tornado was the worst during the outbreak sequence for a number of reasons. Those who had seen the darkening sky expected a ferocious thunderstorm. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Still that wasnt the end of it. A smaller tornado struck Sutton, Northbridge,Mendon,Bellingham,Franklin,WrenthamandMansfield, injuring 17. Dedham is about 35 miles from Worcester. At 4:25 p.m. it touched down in Petersham near the Quabbin Reservoir and continued to move to Barrie and Rutland, killing two people. Assumption College Still Restoring Chapel, 60 Years After Tornado Winds estimated at 317 to 327 mph scoured the paint off cars, plucked chickens clean, and sucked the clothing even the shoes off anyone unfortunate enough to be its path. So when at 4:25 p.m. the twister touched down near the Quabbin Reservoirina Petersham forest, no one was prepared. On June 7, 1953, a strong shortwave trough moved eastward over the Rocky Mountains, bringing with it strong upward motion that induced lee cyclogenesis: the formation of a low-pressure area over eastern Colorado. Thanks for your help! Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility at GBH, Transparency in Coverage Cost-Sharing Disclosures. 100 photos. Massachusetts tornado victim Virginia 'Ginger . People were hunkered down in their basements and once it got over and they looked up, theyd see the sky. In total, 94 people were killed, making it the 21st deadliest tornado in the history of the United States,[2] and the deadliest in the history of New England. For people with disabilities needing assistance with the Public Files, contact Glenn Heath at 617-300-3268. The funnel maintained a 1-mile (1.6km) width throughout much of Shrewsbury (12 killed), and was still doing maximum damage when it moved through downtown Westborough (five deaths), where it began curving towards the northeast in its final leg. In combination with the warm unstable air in place over the Great Plains, and an elevated mixed layer from the desert southwest, this led to conditions favorable for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. Though it was still three hours before sunset, gloom as dark as night settled on the area. New Englands worst tornado left 10,000 people homeless. Worcester Evening Gazette Archives, Jun 10, 1953, p. 2 With winds close to 300 mph, the twister traveled 46 miles across the county, reaching its peak intensity in Worcester. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Do you remember the Worcester Tornado of 1953? - My Southborough June 7-9, 1953 The Flint - Worcester Outbreak | Stormstalker "I think the fact that he gave the Red Cross the $7,500 is testament to how much it meant to him," the son said. "People didn't really know that it was coming," said Robyn Conroy, librarian and archivist at Worcester Historical Museum, who runs an oral history project about the 1953 Worcester tornado, talking with survivors about what they experienced that day. [9], On the morning of June 9, the low pressure system had moved northeastward into Ontario near the south end of Hudson Bay. The tornado first touched down in Petersham about 4:25 p.m and a column of instability led to the formation of an F-4 twister that pummeled. when storms struck those cities. It snatched paper in Holden and dropped it inEasthamonCape Cod. The effects of the tornado in Worcester were strong-felt immediately after the natural disaster, and many years after. One remembered that "perfectly sane adults were running around saying the Russians had attacked, or that this was the end of the world.". On this day in 1953, Worcester County was devastated by the strongest tornado ever to hit New England. One remembered that "perfectly sane adults were running around saying the Russians had attacked, or that this was the end of the world." picked him up before he made it and hurled him to his death in a field, 60 people killed in in the city by the tornado, The Cold Friday of 1810 - New England Historical Society, New England's Strongest and Deadliest Tornado Devastated Worcester In 1953 | Weather Concierge, The Wallingford Tornado of 1878 Unleashes Terror on an Unsuspecting Town - New England Historical Society. [12] The now On West Boylston. I also have copies of some of the obituaries for these individuals, if you would like a copy, contact me. Please reset your password. Share. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. Others tried to contain the fires that had broken out when downed power lines and open gas jets ignited. Five Deadliest December Tornadoes | The Weather Channel [], [] Worcester tornado of 1953, one of the 25 worst tornadoes in U.S. history, killed 90 people in a 90-minute terror []. Newspapers.com. The Great Worcester Tornado of 1953 | Beehive At the Nashua and Lawrence stations, it registered 106. 44 cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Massachusetts, Hes an award-winning reporter, host and producer who has been with GBH since 2006. Pictures in the It came to be known as the 1953 Worcester Tornado, part of the Flint-Worcester tornado outbreak sequence, a series of tornado outbreaks that occurred in Worcester and Flint, Michigan from June 6-9, 1953. 1953 Worcester Tornado - RootsWeb You need a Find a Grave account to continue. It caused the most damage in terms of cost in the United States at the time, costing over $52 million in damages (translating to $349 million today when adjusted for inflation). The tornado that tore through Waco, Texas, on Monday, May 11, 1953, killed 114 people -- giving it the distinction of being tied for the deadliest tornado to ever hit the Lone Star State, and making it the 11th deadliest tornado in U.S. history. Over 10,000 people were left homeless from the event as well. Rhode Island: W.F. NOTE: Having happened before the era of comprehensive damage surveys, some of these events may have been composed of multiple tornadoes along a damage path. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia. 44 cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Worcester County, In June of 2003, on the 50th anniversary of the Worcester tornado, survivors shared memories of the traumatic event. Then the cold air moved eastward to the New York/New England area. Some recalled a sudden weighted feeling, a heaviness that made it hard to move or breathe. As it arrived in Holden, a western suburb of Worcester, the tornado claimed the lives of 11 people. Join us. Tornado of 1953 In 2003, to commemorate the 50 th anniversary of the June 9, 1953 tornado, Worcester Historical Museum reached out to the community and asked them to share their stories and images of this tragic date in Worcester's history where 94 people lost their lives. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. The chaotic aftermath of this deadly storm left an indelible mark upon the Waco community. It grabbed bodies and entire houses and tossed them intoLake Quinsigamond. The Worcester Tornado: June 9, 1953. The radar echos from Lexington, Mass. . The tornadoes are linked together in the public mind because, for a brief period following the Worcester tornado, it was debated in Congress whether recent atomic bomb testing in the upper atmosphere had caused the tornadoes. Worcester industrialist Robert Stoddard and John F. Kennedy before take-off in a helicopter to inspect the damage from New Englands worst tornado. One dissipated, but twin funnels headed southeast. On June 9, 1953, a devastatingly powerful tornado hit the city of Worcester and the surrounding areas. Per Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes, an F5 rating could have been given to this event. The memorials in this virtual cemetery are to honor those who died as a result of the tornado that swept through the towns of Petersham, Barre, Rutland, Holden, Worcester, West Boylston, Shrewsbury, and Westborough on Tuesday June 9, 1953. The tornado caused $52million in damage (equivalent to $527 million in 2021[1]). . An occluded front extended south from it, towards a triple point with a warm front and cold front near the northern end of Lake Superior. The Worcester Tornado in Its Time: Panic and Recovery By Lianne Lajoie The city of Worcester, Massachusetts is located in central Massachusetts. 1953 FlintWorcester tornado outbreak sequence, FlintWorcester tornado outbreak sequence, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://archive.org/details/tornadoinworcest00wallrich, A Look Back: The Worcester Tornado of 1953, June 7-9, 1953 The Flint Worcester Outbreak, "A Look Back: The Worcester Tornado of 1953", "The Science Behind the Flint-Beecher Tornado: Map Features", Template:Attached KML/1953 Worcester tornado, Video of before the tornado, and damage following it, Video of the tornado in the Southborough area, Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts, "Tri-State" (Missouri, Illinois and Indiana), St. Louis, Missouri/East St. Louis, Illinois, Storm Prediction Center: The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes, SPC Annual U.S. Killer Tornado Statistics, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1953_Worcester_tornado&oldid=1141443562, History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1953 natural disasters in the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2013, Articles needing additional references from June 2021, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. It crushed them in the collapse of the Fayville Post Office. based on information from your browser. With winds close to 300 mph, the twister traveled 46 miles across the county, reaching its peak intensity in Worcester. Beecher Tornado of 1953 - My City Magazine The storm killed 116 people in the northern Flint suburb of Beecher, and injured 844. In the storm's final moments, three people perished in the collapse of the Fayville Post Office in Southborough.