Remembering the Worcester Tornado of June 9, 1953

After the Fujita scale was developed in 1971, the tornado was rated F-4, just below the maximum rating of F-5. To this day, it remains the deadliest tornado to have ever struck New England with a total of 94 fatalities. The tornado injured 1,288 people, destroyed 4,000 buildings, and caused $52 million in damage (equivalent to $542 million in 2023).

Damage from the tornado was extensive. Houses were flattened, trees were snapped and debarked, and automobiles flipped over. Those who experienced the storm were left in a state of shock.

Debris from the tornado was found as far away as Boston and Cape Cod.

Someone found a wedding dress from Worcester hanging on a telephone wire in Natick. A frozen mattress was found in Massachusetts Bay near Weymouth, and blueprints from a Worcester apartment building were found in Duxbury. Books and clothing were found at Blue Hill Observatory in Milton and on the outer portion of Cape Cod near Provincetown, Eastham, and Chatham.

The weather system that was responsible for producing the Worcester Tornado actually had a history of producing severe weather three days before from Nebraska to the Great Lakes. This included a tornado rated F-5 that struck Flint, Michigan on June 8.

On the morning of June 9, 1953 a warm front was approaching New England as low pressure tracked across the Great Lakes. Temperatures were expected to rise well into the 80s that day along with humid conditions. A strong jet stream would help another round of severe thunderstorms form in the Northeast.

Forecasters at the Boston office of the U.S. Weather Bureau knew the history of the weather system and recognized the potential for tornadoes in Massachusetts.

They held a staff meeting at 10 AM to discuss the situation, including the use of the word "tornado" for the next forecast issuance. They decided against it so as not to be unnecessarily alarming.

Instead, they opted for the first ever severe thunderstorm forecast wording in New England at 11:30 AM: "Windy, partly cloudy, hot and humid with thunderstorms, some locally severe, developing this afternoon.”

The forecast in the Boston Evening Globe (which went to press earlier in the day) had a mention of "Squalls. Thunderstorms, Clearing Tonight, Cool Tomorrow" on its front page.

The weather map at 3 pm on June 9 showed that the warm front was lifting through Massachusetts. Very warm and humid air was in place, setting the stage for severe thunderstorms to develop ahead of the cold front.

In Colrain, Massachusetts (yellow star) 3-inch diameter hail fell at 3 PM along with what was reported as "rotating" wind damage. Just to the east baseball sized hail was reported in Northfield around 3:45 PM.

This radar image was taken at 4:55 PM from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology radar located 44 miles away in Lexington, MA.

Note the "hook echo" signature (circled) which was indicative of the tornado over Holden, MA (just to the northwest of Worcester).

This photo of the tornado taken in Holden, MA was only one of very few photographs of the storm.

A well-known photo of the tornado was taken by Henry LaPrade in Shrewsbury, MA near Lake Quinsigamond at 5:22 PM.

Shortly after 5 PM, a phone call was made from Blue Hill Observatory to the Boston Weather Bureau. The observer reported debris falling out of the sky: “...It’s coming from great heights, shingles, small branches, paper … boards several feet long…I’m afraid there’s been a bad tornado somewhere.”

The Boston forecaster agreed and issued the first ever Tornado Warning in New England: “...Caution advised on severe thunderstorms with isolated tornado activity in the Boston area between 6 and 8 PM this evening.”

The warning was sent via teletype at 5:45 PM.

On June 10, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy surveyed the damage left in the wake of the Worcester Tornado.

People at first thought the damage was the result of an attack on the United States or was the side effect of nuclear testing.

The National Guard came out to quell panic and to help search for bodies and find the still-living under rubble.

The U.S. Weather Bureau's Severe Weather Unit evolved rapidly in 1953, a year that coincidentally produced an unusually large number of tornadoes.

In January, an experimental program to issue daily outlooks of the severe weather potential of the upcoming day was initiated. These trial forecasts, called "Severe Weather Discussions," were intended as guidance for selected Weather Bureau district offices.

The unit was renamed the Severe Local Storm Warning Center (SELS) June 17, 1953, shortly after deadly tornadoes struck Flint, MI, Waco, TX, and Worcester, MA. The devastating storms on June 7-9 alone claimed more than 200 lives. These events tested the endurance of the Center's relatively inexperienced staff. Although the storms on June 7- 8 were well forecast, the Worcester tornado on the 9th caught SELS forecasters by surprise.

In the years immediately after the Worcester Tornado, the WSR-57 (Weather Surveillance Radar - 1957) was deployed throughout the United States and was the first 'modern' weather radar. The WSR-57 was the first generation of radars designed expressly for a national warning network. One was installed in Worcester.

Today, the network of WSR-57 Radars has been replaced by the modern Doppler Weather Radar (WSR-88D) network. These radars use state-of-the-art technology to detect wind patterns within thunderstorms, leading to improved detection and lead time tornadoes.