Not most importantly, but firstly, my sincere apologies to all for both getting the forecast quite wrong today and then not being around to explain why and correct it! I trust that most of you found good coverage both on the blog via the users, and on local TV.
I will post a new forecast later tonight, but for now we’ll just sit and let the final cluster of storms move through.
Props to Charlie for your good forecast and JJ for excellent updates, and to many others. I have not had time to read through all of them yet. I will let you all continue to post here for this evening, and I’ll be back to chime in later, and then update.
Good news: Quiet weather ahead for a few days!
Hope you all are safe tonight. 🙂
Please do not apologize. I’m not sure anyone could have seen anything like this coming.
Oh I’m not gonna beat myself up over it. But it wasn’t one of my best forecasts. I had it nailed after this morning but was never near my computer to update. Had to run here, there and everywhere else today and my son was performing in a show at school this evening. But that’s life. 🙂 I have no complaints, given the hardship some have gone through with the weather lately. A bad forecast is the least of my worries at this moment.
Have a great evening. 🙂
Hey thanks tk, but overall ur better
Thanks Topkatt
I have told everyone how proud I am to be part of this blog. It was just the mention of possible tornadic activity that had my family and friends and me watching and prepared.
Bad storm just went thru framingham and is approaching uxbridge according to my daughter
Topkatt – don’t feel bad – I don’t think anyone saw this coming. And, as Vicki says, I too am thankful to be part of this blog and I am glad it is here.
JimmyJames – you too did a great job. Again, who could have imagined this? One storm after another – my prayers go out to those who suffered any losses and damage.
I shut down my computer early due to the off and on thunder. Since about 3:00 it was dark in Sudbury with off and on thunder. Finally, when the storms merged and became what seems like a squall line – we got heavy rain with lots of thunder and lightning. There was a little wind and maybe some small hail. Even now I am still hearing thunder to the east.
So, hope everyone is safe and I certainly hope we don’t see anything like this again this season!
Today was my 2nd full day back in New England after an extended period of time in the midwest and southeast. What I saw there may have forever changed me and my respect for the belief this is not some school boy game about who can be right most often. I was in the CT RVR Valley today as the storms rolled through. Much to share in the coming days.
Last check I did not see a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning.
JJ, I know it’s late in the evening, but can u update me on today’s tornados. i am in Cali.
I still trust you more than the other meteorologists. Thanks for your good work!
Yeah there was a tornado in Springfield today and as of of now 4 people have lost their lives and that might not have been the only one.
State of emergency has been declared for that area and this was a setup today where everything came together and it goes to show we can get tornadoes in New England. From looking at the damage and I am no expert but it looks like EF 2 damage.
What a day, I c a cooler weather pattern that could last into mid June, it should be 80 degrees this time of year and from tommorrow through next week 70-75 for highs and 50-55 for lows
Thanks for the support everyone! I promise to be on top of things next time. 🙂 Updating again with a short discussion and new forecast, then getting some rest after this very long day.
I’m sorry for the people that lost property but most especially the ones that lost family members today. As a weather nut it’s always fascinating to watch these situations unfold, but I equally hurt for those who are adversely affected by them. Regardless, it’s going to happen sometimes, and there is not much we can do about it, other than hope we have given people enough time to get out of the way.
Part of that fascination was in full force for me tonight as I drove through my town watching an incredible lightning show from heavy storms just to my south. But even in these moments we must respect the power of nature…
Excellent weather blog……………… The lightning for about 10 minutes last night was frightening ( well, I was frightened anyway ). It did happen during the intermission btwn periods 2 and 3, although the game had a tough ending……I am glad to see pleasant, dry weather for those in the severely affected communities to our west. Have a good day everyone.
Tom not often lightening frightens me but it did last night when it came through here around 9:00. It was nonstop with huge blasts of thunder. The worst part was that it was dark and I could no longer see the sky to tell if there was a tornado forming.
It’s a great blog and it’s the first place I come. I spoke to my daughter in Uxbridge this morning who was in the line for all of the cells. She was here yesterday and I had told her about the comment that there was a 5% chance of a tornado in NE yesterday. She said because of that comment she had worked a game plan in her head as to what they would do and where they would go and they ended up having to put that game plan into play.
I am hearing at least 3 confirmed tornadoes with at least 7 touchdowns. The pictures on TV are unbelievable. Am I correct that something like this has never happened in MA? I know there have been serious tornadoes such as the one in Worcester but have we ever had an outbreak like that?
Not to surprise anyone but I have a question – well I have a couple but will start with one. And also as an aside that spider test to see if it caused rain that I mentioned yesterday – I’ll not be killing any more spiders any time soon 🙂
My question. I listened to the fire chief in Northhampton interviewed on WHDH yesterday. JR asked if he had a way to notify his community. This was after the warning was issued and there was clear rotation. He said they had reverse 911 but he’d only use it if the danger seemed imminent. I heard another fire chief say the same thing a bit later under the same circumstances.
My immediate thought was how much more imminent could it be. Does it surprise anyone that the communities with reverse 911 held off on using it? Framingham used theirs about five minutes after the tornado warning was posted here.
My lovely verizon fios went down last night, so couldn’t post as much as I wanted to. Either way, I was not expecting such a outbreak yesterday, I was only expecting a line of storms that would NOT produce a tornado…but the weather sure does have it’s surprises.
That lightning show last night was really amazing with the cloud to cloud flashes.
The weather here on out looks storm free for at least a week with temps ranging from 65-75.
Not sure if anyone has seen this video of the tornado in Springfield
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/02/massachusetts-tornadoes-2011_n_870116.html?ncid=webmail
Amazing day yesterday!
Hope we never see that again.
JJ, based on the videos I saw, I would rate that springfield/Munson storm
as an EF3. I just don’t think that an EF2 could flatten homes like some were.
Also, to take the top floor off of a solid brick (well I assume it was solid, perhaps
it wasn’t) structure..again, I don’t think an EF2 would do it. But hey, I’m not an expert and perhaps a 2 is what it was. We’ll know soon enough.
JJ, again, great job yesterday.
Beautiful day today
It is a glorious day. I’m so glad that it will make it a bit easier for those cleaning up.
Someone in Milton just found a checkbook that belongs to a person in Monson – it was carried to Milton from the storm.
I was speechless last night as the lightning seemed to keep the sky lit up constantly. I could have read a book without interruption and the sound of thunder kept rolling throughout the whole storm it was awesome to say the least. At one point lots of leaves big and small were falling out of the clouds I could only imagine where they came from. I do not remember anything like last night ever happening around here before it was a wondrous sight but so sad that some lost their lives.
We have had similar outbreaks. There were more tornadoes in the outbreaks of August 1986 & July 1989. And there have been episodes of continuous lightning before. One noteable was Wed Jun 22 1988 as a small but potent storm complex moved rapidly W to E across MA between 7PM & 10PM.
Hey Old Salty now that I am looking at the picture I take back what I said and it looks like EF3 damage. A weak tornado would not have caused this amount of damage. An EF3 tornado is considered a strong tornado and I believe and I could be wrong but the last strong tornado to hit New England was back in 1989 when Hamden CT had an F4 tornado.
This was extreme in those areas using the thunderstorm index and no one saw this coming but it just goes to show that if the ingredients all come together we can get tornadoes here in New England. Hopefully no more episodes like what yesterday for a long time.
For the person that requested the Washington DC forecast:
June 7: Sunny. High 85.
June 8: Mostly sunny. High 86.
June 9: PM t-storms. High 88.
June 10: AM showers. High 81.
TK,
Any word on the category of those storms yesterday?
Curious to see if it was an EF3 or not?
I have not seen anything on the NWS website.
Many thanks
I don’t think the NWS has confirmed the severity of the tornado yet, but looking at the post-storm footage it definitely looks like an EF3.
I was in Chestnut Hill yesterday when the strongest storm rolled through that area around 9pm. I have never in my life seen such constant lightning strikes. My grandmother (who survived the Worcester tornado and was completely terrified) and I took cover in the parking garage beneath the Atrium Mall and the water was just pouring in like a river down there. Route 9 was flooded more than a foot deep in places. Yikes.
Christie is correct. The intensity ratings have not yet been posted.
And yes the lightning was pretty intense and continuous last night. Even a great show for areas that did not get hit directly with that final batch.
Lightning in and around Boston was quite fierce to say the least. It struck my answering machine which caused my telephone service to go completely dead. I had to get a new machine today and in fact, I bought two of them….just in case. This is not the first time this has happened. It seems that answering machines tend to attract lightning….Any suggestions?