Oct 31, 2006 11:16 am US/Eastern
Monster Hail & Menacing Winds: July 11, 2006
Joe DelliCarpini, Senior Meteorologist, National Weather Service Taunton, MA
(WBZ)
Hot and humid air hanging over southern New England on Tuesday July 11th set the stage for severe thunderstorms, which caused extensive damage on the North Shore and in northwest Massachusetts.
One cluster of severe thunderstorms did significant damage to parts of Cape Ann, in particular Marblehead Neck. Initially, the storms produced hail up to 3" in diameter, a bit larger than a baseball and the second largest hailstones ever recorded in our state! A National Weather Service (NWS) storm survey concluded that multiple "wet microbursts" basically the sudden outflow of damaging straight-line winds combined with torrential rainfall swept through Marblehead Neck between 3:57pm and 4:30pm. These damaging winds cut across Marblehead Harbor to Corinthian Lane and then out to sea. Eyewitnesses described a white tempest over Marblehead Harbor. The curtain of water and high winds swept over the Corinthian Yacht Club, lifting 30-foot vessels some 20 feet into the air, catapulting them end over end toward the dock. An anemometer measured winds to 95mph before being blown off its mast.
Around the same time, another cluster of thunderstorms formed in Franklin County, causing considerable damage in Wendell. A damage survey conducted by NWS personnel concluded that a combination of straight-line winds or a "microburst" and a tornado (rated a strong F2 on the Fujita Scale with winds near 155 mph) were responsible for the damage. A damage path from the microburst, roughly 200 yards wide, left large oak, maple and pine trees uprooted.
The tornado did more serious damage on Wicket Pond Road where 3-foot diameter trees were uprooted and bark stripped away. A house lost part of its roof, as did an old barn. On its three-mile journey, the tornado also destroyed a storage trailer wrapping its roof around a tree.
Photo courtesy of Alan Dunham, National Weather Service, Taunton.
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