COMMENTARY | Massachusetts is known for its blizzards, Democrats and being the cradle of the Revolution. But it most certainly is not known for its deadly tornadoes. But then, 2011 has not been an average year for twisters either.
In one of the deadliest years for tornadoes on record in the United States, Yahoo! News reports an outbreak of storms caused at least three deaths in Massachusetts and injured 200 people. Even though residents had fair warning of the twisters, there were still some caught in the damage path as people may not have been used to tornadoes in the area.
Springfield, Mass., the hardest hit by the storms, doesn't even have a storm siren system. On the city's website, tornadoes aren't even mentioned in the A-Z to index. That's how much the northeast pays attention to tornado weather.
Massachusetts doesn't get many tornadoes per year. The current average is around two annually. From 1953-2004, the average was closer to three twisters a year. This storm spawned at least two confirmed tornadoes.
With the death toll of the Massachusetts twisters, 2011 is now the deadliest year for tornadoes on record since the National Weather Service began keeping track of tornado deaths. As many as 522 people have been killed, reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, eclipsing the number in 1953 when 519 died.
June of 1953 was also the last time a huge tornado ripped through Massachusetts. Almost 100 people died as the storm was part of an outbreak that had devastated Flint, Mich., a day earlier. The similarities between 1953 and 2011 are becoming eerily familiar.
Tornado season isn't even finished yet, even as hurricane season begins. If another 30 people die in tornadoes this year, it will be the second deadliest year in America on record save for 1925. Any tornado deaths from before 1950 are unofficial, as they are just estimates of the number of people who perished.
The reason tornadoes have moved farther north in June is where the jet stream resides. Colder air retreats farther to the north, closer to the Arctic, which gives fewer chances for southerly warm and moist air to collide with cooler air up north.
During April and May, the jet stream dips farther south, causing tornadoes in southern parts of the United States. June and even July should be considered tornado season for the upper Midwest and Northeast. Tornadoes tore down hundreds of trees in the Bronx during a freakish EF1 tornado in July of 2010.
The Los Angeles Times headline said it best, proclaiming, "In tornado-struck Massachusetts, it feels like Missouri." With few notable exceptions, such as a lack of tornado sirens, Massachusetts could very well be Missouri all over again. Many citizens were trapped in their cars. Fortunately, the tornado wasn't strong enough to flip over cars as the one in Joplin, Mo., did.
The fear was still the same. Watching a tornado coming at you as you're helpless to do anything would terrify anyone. This year can't be over with fast enough.
