"Worcester tornado" redirects here. For the baseball team, see Worcester Tornadoes.
1953 Worcester tornado
F4 tornado
Damage at Assumption College in Worcester
Formed
June 9, 1953, 4:25 p.m. EDT (UTC−04:00)
Duration
1 hour and 18 minutes
Dissipated
June 9, 1953, 5:43 p.m. (UTC−04:00)
Highest winds
250 - 300+ mph(402 - 483 km/h)[1]
Max. rating1
F4 tornado
Fatalities
94 fatalities, 1,288 injuries[2][3]
Damage
$52.193 million (1953 USD)[nb 1]
Areas affected
Worcester County in Massachusetts, principally in and near Worcester, Shrewsbury, Southborough, and Westborough
Part of the 1953 Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence and tornado outbreaks of 1953
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale
The 1953 Worcester tornado was an extremely powerful and destructive tornado that struck the city of Worcester, Massachusetts and surrounding areas on Tuesday, June 9, 1953, the final day of the Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence. It stayed on the ground for 48 miles (77 km) and 78 minutes. The tornado injured 1,288 people and killed 94, making it one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history[2] and the deadliest tornado to ever strike New England.[4] A total of 4,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed and, per National Weather Service estimates, 10,000 people were left homeless. The tornado caused $52.193 million (or $590 million [2023 USD] when adjusted for inflation) which, at the time, was the costliest tornado ever recorded.
At approximately 4:25 p.m. EST, the tornado developed in a forest near the town of Petersham, and proceeded to move through Barre, where two people were killed.[5] It then moved through the western suburbs of Worcester, where 11 more people were killed. The storm then passed through Worcester, where it destroyed Assumption College and several other buildings, killing 60. After striking Worcester, it killed 21 more people in the towns of Shrewsbury, Southborough, and Westborough, before dissipating over Framingham.
^ ab"The 25 Deadliest U.S. Tornadoes". National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center. Archived from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
^A Look Back: The Worcester Tornado of 1953 Slide 45. National Weather Service, Taunton, Massachusetts
^Tornadoes of Massachusetts Past, Boston.com, July 28, 2014
^Pletcher 2006, p.157
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