The first tornado in Suffolk County, MA since 1950 struck Revere, MA on July 28th, 2014. Atypical of most severe t-storms in the Northeast, the parent thunderstorm formed over northern RI around 8 AM, then pushed northeast towards Boston. Just before 9 AM, with the storm over west-central Norfolk County, our meteorologists issued warnings for damaging winds in the Boston area as the storm was exhibiting some rotation (indicating the potential for a tornado). By 9:32 AM, the supercell strengthened its rotation, giving a clearer sign that a tornado was likely on the ground:
Sure enough, a tornado did touch down briefly in Revere from 9:32 - 9:36 AM, then quickly dissipated as it moved northeast. Although only the ground for a short time, the tornado reached an impressive strength of EF-2 with 120 mph winds (according the the NWS survey). In addition, the survey found the twister was 3/8 of a mile wide and travelled a length of two miles. Unfortunately, those two miles were heavily populated, so downed trees and power lines littered the streets, with even an overturned car and a roof blown off by the fierce winds.
Some residents of Revere were even brave enough to record videos of the damaging winds from the tornado as seen here via Joanne McKenna from Facebook. She was recording from Revere High School in this short clip below:
