Friday's tornado was the strongest in RI since 1986. Here's where it hit.

Tom Mooney, Providence Journal
Updated ·2 min read

PROVIDENCE – A tornado with top winds of about 115 miles per hour indeed touched down in Rhode Island on Friday, the National Weather Service has confirmed, the strongest tornado to strike the state since 1986.

The tornado skipped along a “discontinuous path” through Scituate, Johnston and North Providence on Friday morning.

Where did the Rhode Island tornado hit?

The weather service said the tornado first touched down near Byron Randall Road in Scituate,causing the most severe damage. “There were hundreds of large trees either uprooted or snapped at their bases,”  the NWS said.

“Damage was consistent with winds of around 115 mph, which is classified as EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale," the weather service reported.

The tornado then tracked into Johnston, where it crossed Interstate 295 at Exit 10 and lifted a vehicle into the air before dropping it back onto the highway. “The driver was transported to an area hospital with minor injuries,” the weather service said.

A vehicle is crushed by a fallen tree at North Hills Condominiums in North Providence after Friday's tornado passed through.
A vehicle is crushed by a fallen tree at North Hills Condominiums in North Providence after Friday's tornado passed through.

From there, the tornado moved across Bridle Way and Carriage Way, where it snapped or uprooted a number of trees, some of which fell onto homes or vehicles. The tornado bent a metal stop sign pole “and the sign was blown away,” the weather service said.

Through Johnston, the tornado carried winds of 90 to 100 mph, which is classified as an EF-1 tornado.

More: What was it like inside the RI tornado? Residents share their stories.

Finally, the EF-1 tornado crossed into North Providence. “Most of the damage observed was to the north of Mineral Spring Avenue," the weather service said. "One of the harder hit areas included Lydia Avenue, Armand Drive, and Bennett Street, where two homes were made uninhabitable from fallen trees.”

In 1986, Rhode Island experienced the only multi-tornado day in its history.  Three tornadoes, with wind speeds between 73 and 112 mph each, touched down over a 24-hour period between Aug. 7 and 8 in Cumberland, Burrillville and North Smithfield, the weather service said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI weather: EF-2 tornado confirmed by National Weather Service