Two tornadoes touched down in Central Mass. during Saturday’s intense thunderstorms
Two tornados touched down just north of Worcester during Saturday's severe thunderstorms , according to the National Weather Service.
Storm survey meteorologists determined that a brief EF1 tornado occurred in Paxton, then touched down again at the same level of intensity in Holden, according to the preliminary report . Holden borders Paxton to the northeast.
An EF1 tornado is the second-slowest gusting tornado level on the Enhanced Fujita tornado intensity scale . EF1 tornados are classified as having estimated rotating winds between 86 and 110 mph.
The Paxton and Holden tornados are believed to have had gusting speeds on the lower end of that range, the report said.
On Saturday, the weather service confirmed via radar that a tornado had touched down in Holden at 4:07 p.m. At that time, the weather service said the tornado was moving east at 40 mph.
Out in Western Massachusetts, the storm survey team also examined damage in the towns of Otis and Blandford, but did not see any evidence of a tornado in those locations, the report said.
The survey team plans to investigate additional damage around Berlin, Massachusetts, which is a few towns east of Holden. It expects to release a full report later on Monday, the report said.
The tornado in Holden downed trees onto at least one house and many more into residents' yards.
"The winds came through and the trees like, folded into itself," Holden resident Jonathan Peden told MassLive on Saturday.
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