1995 Great Barrington tornado
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | May 29, 1995 at 7:06 PM EDT |
| Dissipated | 7:24 PM EDT |
| Duration | 18 Minutes |
| F4 tornado | |
| on the USD) | |
| Areas affected | Berkshire County, Massachusetts |
Part of the tornadoes of 1995 | |
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.
Storm background
Around 3:30 p.m. (
Tornado and destruction
The tornado itself touched down around 7:06 p.m. in Great Barrington near the Walter J. Koladza Airport. Near the town line with Monterey, a car was lifted off of Route 23, and tossed 1,000 feet (305 m) into a wooded area.[3] More than 100 homes and businesses were either damaged or destroyed, including the grandstand at the Great Barrington Fairgrounds.[4] Additionally, twenty-four people (or twenty-seven according to a different source[5]) were injured.[6]
The tornado went for a length of 11.5 miles (19 km) and had a width of 300 yd (270 m).[1][7] It eventually ended near the town of Monterey.[1] The storm itself caused $25 million worth of damage. Three people were killed—two students and a staff member at the private Eagleton School—as they were returning to the campus in Great Barrington.[3] The F4 rating is based entirely on the car that was thrown 1,000 feet. The worst structural damage from this tornado was in the F3 range. The rating of the tornado is sometimes disputed because of this.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Grazulis 1997, p. 1380
- ^ "Memorial Day Tornado of 1995". Collaborative Science, Technology, and Applied Research Program at the University of Albany. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
- ^ a b Lindsay, Dick (June 2, 2011). "Tornadoes can and did happen in Berkshires". The Berkshire Eagle. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
- ^ Bannin, Nick (May 25, 2011). "Great Barrington tornado: 16 years later". WWLP.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
- ^ "The Columbia/Berkshire County Tornadoes of May 29, 1995". cbs6 Albany. 2004. Archived from the original on 2006-11-26. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
- ^ "Tornadoes touch down in Mass". The Associated Press via the Record-Journal. July 4, 1997. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
- ^ "Severe Weather Maps, Graphics, and Data Page". Storm Prediction Center. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
Bibliography
- Grazulis, Thomas (1997), Significant Tornadoes Update, 1992–1995, ISBN 978-1879362048
- Grazulis, Thomas (2001), The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm, ISBN 978-0-8061-3538-0