BOSTON -- The National Weather Service said Wednesday two tornadoes hit Cape Cod with maximum wind speeds of 110 mph.
NWS said one tornado touched down in Barnstable/Yarmouth and the other in Harwich. In addition there was extensive straight line wind damage.
A LONG-LIVED SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED WATERSPOUTS ON BOTH VINEYARD SOUND AND NANTUCKET SOUND. ONE OF THESE MOVED ONSHORE AS A TORNADO JUST WEST OF KALMUS IN BARNSTABLE, MA. IT HAD A DISCONTINUOUS PATH AND LIFTED IN SOUTH YARMOUTH, MA. THE SAME STORM PRODUCED A SECOND TORNADO IN HARWICH, MA. A FEW MINUTES LATER, STRAIGHT-LINE WIND DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED IN DENNIS, MA AND IN CHATHAM, MA.
BARNSTABLE AND YARMOUTH TORNADO
START LOCATION...JUST WEST OF KALMUS IN BARNSTABLE COUNTY MA END LOCATION...SOUTH YARMOUTH IN BARNSTABLE COUNTY MA
DATE...07/23/2019
ESTIMATED TIME...11:57 AM EDT TO 12:07 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...110 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...250.0 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...5.52 MILES DISCONTINUOUS
BEGINNING LAT/LON...41.6354 / -70.2841
ENDING LAT/LON...41.6769 / -70.1961
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...0
...SUMMARY...
A WATERSPOUT MOVED ONSHORE JUST WEST OF KALMUS, MA AT 1157 AM.
WINDS GUSTED TO 91 MPH AT A MESONET OBSERVATION SITE. THEY
HAD SHIFTED FROM SOUTHEAST TO WEST-NORTHWEST WITH THE PASSAGE
OF THE TORNADO. THE TORNADO CONTINUED MOVING NORTHEASTWARD AT
ABOUT 35 MPH. THE DAMAGE WAS DISCONTINUOUS BUT WHERE THE
TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN, THE DAMAGE WAS QUITE SIGNIFICANT,
WITH WINDS ESTIMATED AS HIGH AS 110 MPH, WHICH IS ON THE
HIGH END OF THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE EF-1 RANKING.
THE ROOF OF A MOTEL ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF MAIN STREET IN WEST
YARMOUTH WAS COMPLETELY PEELED OFF. ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT
TORNADO DAMAGE OCCURRED JUST SOUTHWEST OF THE DENNIS-YARMOUTH
REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL, PARTICULARLY ALONG HAZELMOOR ROAD
FROM VIOLET GLEN ROAD TO VINE BROOK ROAD. DOZENS OF LARGE
TREES WERE UPROOTED AND A FEW WERE SNAPPED OFF. A HOUSE HAD
SHINGLES BLOWN OFF. ANOTHER HOUSE HAD A HOLE IN THE ROOF FROM
A FALLEN TREE.
THE TORNADO THEN LIFTED, HOWEVER SEVERE STRAIGHT-LINE WIND
DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED FROM WEST DENNIS EASTWARD TO WEST HARWICH.
NUMEROUS LARGE TREES WERE UPROOTED, CONSISTENT WITH 90 MPH
GUSTS OR GREATER.
NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.
.HARWICH TORNADO...
START LOCATION...1 SSW HARWICH IN BARNSTABLE COUNTY MA
END LOCATION...2 ENE HARWICH IN BARNSTABLE COUNTY MA
DATE...07/23/2019
ESTIMATED TIME...12:10 PM EDT TO 12:15 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...110 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...250.0 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...2.77 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...41.6851 / -70.0789
ENDING LAT/LON...41.7005 / -70.0299
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...0
...SUMMARY...
THE SAME SUPERCELL STORM THAT PRODUCED THE BARNSTABLE-YARMOUTH
TORNADO WENT ON TO TOUCH DOWN AGAIN NEAR THE CENTER OF
HARWICH, MA AT 1210 PM. THE INITIAL TOUCHDOWN WAS JUST EAST OF
HARWICH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, JUST SOUTH OF PARALLEL STREET.
IT MOVED NORTHEAST THROUGH HARWICH CENTER, PASSING JUST SOUTH
OF A GOLF COURSE, AND LIFTED IN EAST HARWICH IN THE VICINITY
OF QUEEN ANNE ROAD. AT LEAST 150 HARDWOOD TREES WERE EITHER
UPROOTED OR SNAPPED. A FEW HOMES ALSO HAD SHINGLES THAT WERE
RIPPED OFF. WIND GUSTS WERE ESTIMATED AS HIGH AS 110 MPH,
WHICH IS ON THE HIGH END OF THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE EF-1
RANKING.
THE TORNADO THEN LIFTED, HOWEVER SEVERE STRAIGHT-LINE WIND
DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED IN CHATHAM. NUMEROUS LARGE TREES WERE
UPROOTED, CONSISTENT WITH 90 MPH GUSTS OR GREATER.
NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.