Tornado started near Rockwell Park, weather service says

National Weather Service release:
855 PM EDT THU JUL 22 2010
...TORNADO CONFIRMED IN BRISTOL IN HARTFORD COUNTY CT...

LOCATION...BRISTOL IN HARTFORD COUNTY CT
DATE...JULY 21 2010
ESTIMATED TIME...415 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...90 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...25 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...1.5 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...41.67N / 72.96W
ENDING LAT/LON...41.67N / 72.93W
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...0

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS STORM DATA.

...SUMMARY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON MA HAS CONFIRMED A TORNADO IN BRISTOL IN HARTFORD COUNTY CT ON JULY 21 2010.

A BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN OCCURRED ON THE EAST SIDE OF ROCKWELL PARK AND HAD AN INTERMITTENT DAMAGE PATH /MOSTLY AT TREE TOP LEVEL/ TO THE END OF HIGH STREET. STRAIGHT LINE WINDS APPEARED TO BE THE MAIN CAUSE OF DAMAGE IN THIS AREA...HOWEVER...DAMAGE FROM A SMALL AND BRIEF TORNADO WAS ALSO EVIDENT...MAINLY DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE TREE DAMAGE ON BLAKESLEE AND HIGH STREETS WHERE TREE
TOPS WERE TWISTED OFF AND OTHER TREES WERE FELLED IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. THE SHEARING OFF AND TWISTING OF TREE TOPS WAS CONSISTENT WITH LOW END EF1 TORNADO DAMAGE.

THE DAMAGE PATH WAS 1.5 MILES LONG /INTERMITTENT/ AND ABOUT 25 YARDS WIDE. DAMAGE WAS CONSISTENT WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF AROUND 90 MPH WHICH IS CLASSIFIED AS EF-1 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND HOMELAND SECURITY FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE WITH THIS STORM SURVEY...AS WELL AS THE MAYOR OF BRISTOL AND CITY EMPLOYEES. WE ALSO THANK THE CITY EMPLOYEES OF PLAINVILLE.

AFTER VISITING BRISTOL...NWS EMPLOYEES SURVEYED THE DAMAGE IN PLAINVILLE...WHICH WAS CONSISTENT WITH 60-70 MPH STRAIGHT LINE WINDS...MAINLY ON THE NORTH SIDE OF PADEREWSKI LAKE IN THE VICINITY OF BIRCHTREE ROAD. THERE WAS NO SOLID EVIDENCE OF
TORNADIC ACTIVITY IN PLAINVILLE.

THIS INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/BOX.

FOR REFERENCE...THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0...WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH.
EF1...WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH.
EF2...WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH.
EF3...WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH.
EF4...WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH.
EF5...WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH.

$$

EKSTER/GOULD

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