Tornados cause damage in Weymouth and Stoughton
WEYMOUTH – A tornado with winds of over 100 mph touched down in South Weymouth on Friday morning, the National Weather Service has confirmed.
The tornado uprooted trees, snapped off the limbs of others and damaged homes. No injuries were reported.
It was one of at least four confirmed tornados in Massachusetts and Rhode Island as a line of storms moved through the region. Another touched down in Stoughton, knocking down trees, with one of them falling on a shed.
The weather service sent out meteorologists to confirm the tornados and survey damage, issuing a preliminary report Friday night.
In Weymouth, the tornado touched down near Pleasant and Torrey streets, not far from Columbian Square, the Fogg Library and South Shore Hospital.
"Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped," the weather service said in a statement Friday night. "A home at the intersection of Burton Terrace and Torrey Street had about 20 shingles torn from its roof. On Park Avenue, a 3-inch-diameter branch from a treetop was blown about 120 yards and driven into the ground to a depth of 2 feet."
An eyewitness who received a Wireless Emergency Alert could see swirling debris out a window as she took shelter in her basement, the weather service said.
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The tornado lifted near a water tower at the end of Lockewoods Drive, a side street off Park Avenue, the agency said.
The tornado traveled about half a mile.
"The damage observed was consistent with winds of 100 to 110 mph, which is classified a higher-end EF-1 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale," the weather service said.
Early Friday evening, tree and power crews were still at work in the area to clear damage and restore service.
The second tornado briefly touched down in Stoughton in the area of Eighth and Corbett streets, not far from the Avon town line, the weather service reported.
"Sporadic damage along a short path included fallen trees, one of which fell into a shed. Part of a fence was blown down," the agency said.
The damage observed in Stoughton was consistent with winds of 70 to 80 mph, which is classified as EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the weather service said.
Minimal hurricane force winds are 74 mph.
The strongest tornado touched down in Scituate, Rhode Island, where the most severe damage occurred, with hundreds of large trees uprooted or snapped and a home sustaining extensive damage.
The weather service said the damage is consistent with an EF-2 tornado, with winds of about 115 mph. The twister also touched down in Johnston and North Providence, Rhode Island.
The same storm that produced the Rhode Island tornado produced a second tornado, which struck North Attleboro and Mansfield.
The weather service is also assessing storm damage in Scotland, Connecticut, to determine if it was caused by a tornado.
The weather service said it will release a more detailed summary of storm damage Monday.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Weymouth and Stoughton damaged by tornados
