Preliminary findings rank the tornado as an EF3, meaning that it was packing winds of 136-165 mph.
Submitted photo of tornado from parking lot at MassMutal in Springfield.SPRINGFIELD – The tornado that ripped through Western Massachusetts and claimed three lives Wednesday exceeded speeds of 136 mph and grew to be a half-mile wide, meteorologists said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Eleanor Vallier-Talbot said Friday that a preliminary investigation has determined that the tornado was at least a category EF-3 in the hardest hit areas, meaning that it was packing winds of 136-165 mph.
“It could possibly go higher,” Vallier-Talbot said of the ranking of the tornado, or tornadoes. It’s yet to be determined whether one, two or more tornadoes hit here, she said.
Vallier-Talbot was part of a National Weather Service survey team that viewed tornado damage in Monson and Southbridge on Thursday.
“It was unbelievable,” said Vallier-Talbot, who has been with the weather service for 26 years. “I never thought I would see that up here in my life.”
Another weather service team is touring the devastated areas today and a final determination on the ranking of the tornado will likely be released later this afternoon or tonight, Vallier-Talbot said.
Vallier-Talbot said her team estimated that the tornado, which is believed to have formed in Westfield, had grown to be half a mile wide by the time it reached Monson.
Storm damage, perhaps from the tornado, was reported as far east as Southbridge and Douglas, she said.
Vallier-Talbot said she had been on duty in Taunton Wednesday when she saw the tornado’s signature on the radar. “I was like ‘That’s here in Massachusetts?’” she said.
Although such tornadoes are extremely rare here, history has shown that it can happen, she said, noting that an EF-4 tornado that hit Worcester on June 9, 1953 raged on the ground for 64 minutes and killed nearly 100 people.
“That’s the standard-bearer,” she said.
Meteorologists rank tornadoes on the Ehanced Fujita Damage Classification Scale.