1995 Great Barrington tornado
Encyclopedia
The 1995 Great Barrington tornado (also known as the Memorial Day Tornado of 1995) was an F4
tornado
that occurred in the western Massachusetts
town of Great Barrington
.
. Over the next few hours the storm moved east until it hit favorable weather for thunderstorms coming up from the south in the Hudson River Valley. As a result of this, the air became very unstable. The storm quickly intensified and a tornado eventually touched down in Columbia County
at 6:40. The tornado lifted off the ground twenty minutes later and the storm remained weak until it reached the area of Great Barrington, Massachusetts
and intensified again, dropping another tornado.
near the Walter J. Koladza Airport
. The tornado went for a length of seven miles and eventually ended in the town of Monterey
. The storm itself killed three people and caused twenty five million dollars worth of damage. The three people who were killed were two students and a staff member at the private Eagleton School as they were returning to the campus in Great Barrington. Near the town line with Monterey, their car was lifted off of Route 23, and tossed 1,000 feet into a wooded area. Over one hundred homes and businesses were either damaged or destroyed, including the grandstand at the Great Barrington Fairgrounds. Additionally, twenty-four people (or twenty-seven according to a different source) were injured. Winds from the F4 tornado were estimated to be between 158 and 260 miles per hour, making it one of the strongest tornadoes on record in the Northeast.
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
that occurred in the western Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
town of Great Barrington
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
.
Storm background
Around 3:30 in the afternoon on May 29, 1995, a thunderstorm developed a little northwest of Binghamton, New YorkBinghamton, New York
Binghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...
. Over the next few hours the storm moved east until it hit favorable weather for thunderstorms coming up from the south in the Hudson River Valley. As a result of this, the air became very unstable. The storm quickly intensified and a tornado eventually touched down in Columbia County
Columbia County, New York
Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal...
at 6:40. The tornado lifted off the ground twenty minutes later and the storm remained weak until it reached the area of Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
and intensified again, dropping another tornado.
The tornado and destruction
The tornado itself touched down around 7:06 in Great Barrington, MassachusettsGreat Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...
near the Walter J. Koladza Airport
Walter J. Koladza Airport
Walter J. Koladza Airport, , also known as the Great Barrington Airport, is a privately owned airport in Great Barrington, Massachusetts open to the public. It has a single 2,579 ft runway. Walter J...
. The tornado went for a length of seven miles and eventually ended in the town of Monterey
Monterey, Massachusetts
Monterey is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 934 at the 2000 census.- History :...
. The storm itself killed three people and caused twenty five million dollars worth of damage. The three people who were killed were two students and a staff member at the private Eagleton School as they were returning to the campus in Great Barrington. Near the town line with Monterey, their car was lifted off of Route 23, and tossed 1,000 feet into a wooded area. Over one hundred homes and businesses were either damaged or destroyed, including the grandstand at the Great Barrington Fairgrounds. Additionally, twenty-four people (or twenty-seven according to a different source) were injured. Winds from the F4 tornado were estimated to be between 158 and 260 miles per hour, making it one of the strongest tornadoes on record in the Northeast.
See also
- Tornadoes of 1995Tornadoes of 1995This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1995, primarily in the United States. Most tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally...
- List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
- 1989 Northeastern United States tornado outbreak
- 2011 New England tornado outbreak2011 New England tornado outbreakThe 2011 New England tornado outbreak occurred on June 1, 2011, in Massachusetts' Connecticut River Valley and also in southern Maine, devastating sections of the large city of Springfield, Massachusetts and its surrounding region...
- The next tornado outbreak to affect the Northeast. - 1953 Worcester tornado1953 Worcester TornadoThe 1953 Worcester Tornado was an extremely strong tornado that struck the city and surrounding area of Worcester, Massachusetts on June 9, 1953. It was part of the Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence, which occurred over a three-day period from June 6—9, 1953. The storm stayed on the ground...
- Last and most powerful F4 Tornado to affect Massachusetts.