National Weather Service confirms tornado touched down in Charlestown

Paul Feely, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·2 min read

May 17—The National Weather Service confirmed that a funnel cloud that touched down in Charlestown during heavy rains and severe thunderstorms Monday night was a tornado.

Officials with the National Weather Service categorized the tornado as an EF0 or EF1 on the Fujita scale, a system that rates tornadoes based on the level of damage caused. Officials said Monday's tornado in Charlestown had estimated wind speeds of 90 mph.

A driver caught the tornado's distinctive funnel cloud on a dashboard camera. The video, shown online and on television stations across New England, shows a funnel cloud touching the ground near Route 12, just south of Claremont.

Additional video shows winds knocking down trees. The National Weather Service reported nearly 1,000 trees toppled by the tornado, across a track spreading at least a mile.

No injuries were reported.

Several roads were closed in Charlestown as a result of the storm, including River and Oxbow roads, along with a section of Route 12 just south of Claremont. The stretch reopened Tuesday morning, according to a post on the Charlestown Police Department's Facebook page.

The Charlestown EF1 tornado is the strongest tornado confirmed in New Hampshire since a tornado on May 5, 2018, which also touched down in Charlestown, but along the Alstead town line.

That EF1 tornado is considered one of New England's longest track tornadoes, taking down trees along a 36-mile path beginning in Charlestown and running through Langdon, Acworth, Lempster, Bradford, and Warner, ending somewhere near Route 127 Webster.

A tornado briefly touched down in Central Ossipee in August 2020, causing minor tree and structural damage.

Investigators also confirmed a waterspout formed over Lake Winnipesaukee in 2020, and a microburst passed through Wolfeboro, capping off a day of wild weather in the Lakes Region.

The 2020 tornado caused minor tree damage on Main Street and Beech River Court in Central Ossipee. Commercial buildings also suffered minor shingle damage to their roofs.

According to the National Weather Service, the 2020 tornado had estimated maximum wind speeds of 70 mph.