New Hampshire DUers - was there really a tornado?

[malaise]

How rare is that?

[graywarrior]

1. I heard on my local station that Wolfboro had a touch down

No word yet except that Worlbora was requesting assistance. Tornadoes are not uncommon here. I saw one scoot over the mountains of VT one summer.

[malaise]

2. Thanks n/t

[Maine-ah]

3. they have touched down in Antrim before.

on edit,

not today, but years ago. They have also been seen over Gregg Lake as well.

[Mabus]

4. Here's a listing of tornados from 1950-1995

http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/nhtorn.htm

They happen but aren't that common. The more interesting things would be what was the category of this latest one and what is the current trend in the numbers.

[malaise]

6. Thanks here's a report

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2008-07-24-nh-severe-storms_N.htm
<snip>
EPSOM, N.H. (AP) — Severe thunderstorms cut a swath of destruction through central and eastern New Hampshire on Thursday, prompting reports of collapsed buildings and at least two possible funnel clouds or tornadoes.

State Emergency Management spokesman Jim Van Dongen said a house reportedly collapsed in Epsom, where the fire chief said preliminary reports indicated that 50 to 100 homes were damaged.

"We have had reports of structural damage, a lot of trees down and roads closed," said Chris Pope, state homeland security director.

More than an hour after the first reports of possible injuries just before noon, Pope and others remained busy responding to calls and warning communities still facing severe weather.

[Mabus]

9. Thanks

From the reports it could be anywhere from an F1 to an F3.

I hadn't heard about it at all (one of those rare days when I'm actually doing my work) until I read your post. I grew up in Oklahoma and Kansas and I've an interest in weather.

[graywarrior]

5. Looks like Epsom NH got some sort of major storm appearing to look like

a tornado. Small building toppled, downed trees, multiple building collapsed, one death so far. The governor is now viewing.

[Marrah_G]

25. 100 or so buildings damaged- many badly- still trying to get to victims

[Vinca]

7. The Manchester television station had some photos of the damage.

It looked like what you usually see coming out of the midwest somewhere. Flattened houses - a major mess. They reported people trapped in cars and someone might be trapped in a fallen house. It doesn't happen very often in this neck of the woods.

[graywarrior]

8. Last time something like this happened it was out in Great Woods MA

1996?

[Vinca]

21. I don't remember that. I know once since we moved here 10 years

ago we had a really bad storm and heard the "train" noise associated with tornadoes, but apparently it didn't touch down. You're up north, aren't you? Here on the southern Vermont border we're just experiencing a monsoon.

[graywarrior]

28. I meant Great Barrington, MA.

I was living in Becket at the time.

[Marrah_G]

10. I remember my mother talking about one in Derry when she was a little girl

My great aunt lived there and my mother was visiting. It took out all the trees on the next street over. Back then it was scarcely populated.

[kestrel91316]

12. I thought Derry was a place that only existed in Stephen King novels, lol.

[Tesha]

14. That'd be Maine. (NT)

[Marrah_G]

24. All his places are ~based~ on real places

The Derry in the book is in Maine though (and fictional I think).

In The Stand one of his characters is from my town of Attleboro (the older man with the dog)

[Breeze54]

11. National Guard activated in NH, under state of emergency -- Tornado pic here-->

Severe Storms Rake New England; Houses Damaged

Tornado Warnings Issued Across Region

Maine Under a Tornado Watch Until 7 PM

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/mostpopular/16976427/detail.html#

By M.R.F. Buckley,
Staff Writer

POSTED: 11:58 am EDT July 24, 2008
UPDATED: 2:05 pm EDT July 24, 2008

BOSTON --

A house was reported collapsed, with people apparently trapped inside, in Epsom, N.H., after a line of severe thunderstorms and high winds moved across the New England region Thursday, prompting New Hampshire's governor to declare a state of emergency.





LIVE VIDEO: Watch Storm Coverage
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/16976518/index.html

Epsom town officials said between 50 and 100 homes in the area were damaged by high winds, with trees uprooted and power lines strewn across the roads in the central New Hampshire community.

"There is a problem, an infant was taken to the hospital that was trapped inside the house and, from what I can gather, they still can't locate one of the people that was trapped inside the house," said Epsom resident Barbara Noonan, who watched the storm sweep through her neighborhood just before noon.

Noonan said she was in her yard about 11:30 a.m. when she heard a sound like a freight train coming. She ran in her house and told her family to get in the basement.

"The winds were incredible. They were picking things up and lifting them everywhere. They were going in every which direction and it lasted maybe two or three minutes. But it came through and down the road from where I live it imploded a house and people were trapped inside of it," Barbara Noonan said.

Emergency officials in New Hampshire reported collapsed houses on the north shore of Northwood Lake in the areas of Sleepy Hollow Lane and Lakeshore Road in Epsom, N.H. They said some seven communities in Strafford County were affected by the storm, including New Durham, Alton, Deerfield, Barnstead, Epsom and Northwood.

"I've never seen anything like it. There's trees down everywhere. We can't get in, we can't get out. Heavy, heavy, heavy rain. It was unbelievable," Noonan said.

She said she never heard any tornado sirens.

"It was just unbelievable how the winds were whipping everything around and carrying things. It picked up my gas grill and carried it across the porch and I have a huge gas grill," Noonan said.

Noonan said residents were being evacuated by boat and power was out in the area because of downed power lines. There were no immediate reports of any serious injuries, although some people were reportedly trapped in cars beneath fallen powerlines in Alton, N.H.

"The damage that we've seen has been damaged buildings, trees uprooted, power lines down, roads blocked, that sort of thing," said Jim Van Dongen, New Hampshire's Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

"We've issued two tornado warnings," said Kirk Apffel of the National Weather Service. "We've received numerous damage reports ... I do understand that a house is badly damaged and we also had a resident there that reported seeing a tornado. In order for us to make a final call, we'll have to send a damage team down to survey the damage. But right now we do understand there's some pretty bad damage in the area."

The most seriously affected area included southeastern Belknap County and northwestern Strafford County in central New Hamphsire.

At 11:38 a.m. the National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado 13 miles southwest of Farmington, moving northeast at 45 mph.

The New Hampshire warning was lifted at 12:15 p.m., but as the line of heavy thunderstorms moved east, the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine reactivated the warning, for southwestern Oxford County and eastern Carroll County in northern New Hampshire.

No official sighting of any rotation or tornado was reported.

http://wbztv.com/local/newhampshire/tornado.new.hampshire.2.779010.html">(It has been confirmed that it was a tornado)
A member of the SkyWarn weather watchers network confirmed to WBZ's Mish Michaels
a tornado touched down in Northwood, just east of Epsom.

The safest place to be during a tornado is in a basement. Residents are advised to get under heavy or sturdy furniture. If no basement is available, the lowest floor of a building is where people should take refuge, in an interior hallway or closet.

People should stay away from windows.

Those in mobile homes or vehicles should evacuate and take shelter in more substantial buildings. If no shelter is available, people should take cover in a ditch or low spot.

Previous Stories:

* July 24, 2008: Summer Storms Whip Bay State
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/weather/16973023/detail.html

[malaise]

13. Stay safe

Damn!!

[Breeze54]

15. I'm not in NH but MA & Rhode Island had a tornado yesterday.

Right now the skies over me are cloudy but bright and it stopped raining... finally!!
Thanks, malaise. I'm worried about our NH & ME members here. Phone lines & power
lines are down up there in 12 + towns, 8,000 buildings.

[Maine-ah]

16. our storm on the midcoast started around 7:30

last night, thunder, lightening lasted until about 4 thismorning....I work nights, which keeps me up late, then the BB woke up, then I woke up again around 3:30 when they seemed to be tapering off.

[Breeze54]

17. Glad you're ok... I hope you didn't have any damage...keep your eyes peeled until 7 PM

Maine is under the gun for tornado's until 7 PM tonight!!

You're not out of the woods yet. Not sure if I am either. :(

I was up with the t-storms until 12:30 AM last night. It was ridiculous!

I have a thread going in 'the DU lounge' about it. Thanks for checking in!! :hi:

[Maine-ah]

19. just caught that on pbs

it's over by Jay, I'm on the midcoast, so I'm not too worried about the tornado warnings, though certainly worried about the other Maine-ahs out there.

[fight4my3sons]

18. yep, horrible thunder and lightning

woke me up off and on all night (we are still down here in Phippsburg)

My neighbor said she heard on the radio that there was a tornado in Fryeburg earlier today.

[Maine-ah]

20. how ya doin?

keep safe! :hi:

[fight4my3sons]

22. I've got a basement full of packed boxes!

I don't know where we'll hide if the storms get bad. I'm watching the radar on weather underground. http://www.wunderground.com/radar/radblast.asp?zoommode=pan&prevzoom=zoom&num=6&frame=0&delay=15&scale=1.000&noclutter=0&ID=GYX&type=N0R&showstorms=0&lat=43.92240143&lon=-69.96672058&label=Brunswick,%20ME&map.x=400&map.y=240&scale=1.000¢erx=400¢ery=240&showlabels=1&rainsnow=0&lightning=0&lerror=20&num_stns_min=2&num_stns_max=9999&avg_off=9999&smooth=0

I can actually see Phippsburg on their map. We'll be up north by next weekend and I'll get in touch. :hi:

You stay safe too!

[malaise]

23. That's serious

Hope all DUers are safe. :grouphug:

[Breeze54]

26. This home in Epsom, NH was crushed in the storm.

1 Dead, Homes Crushed In Possible N.H. Tornado

http://wbztv.com/local/tornado.new.hampshire.2.779010.html

July 24, 2008 4:55 pm US/Eastern

[malaise]

27. The worst thing about summer tornadoes is that

youngsters are often home.

Very sad.

[uppityperson]

29. What. Home? Whew. kick for NH from a tornado survivor.