By Michael Oliveira
Since the start of this summer, there have been a lot of extreme weather conditions happening around North Attleborough, from hail storms and severe thunderstorms to tornados.
However, according to the National Weather Service, these patterns are not that abnormal.
“It’s not atypical for severe weather for heat waves and tornadoes,” said Bryce Williams of the National Weather Service. “The humidity is a little unusual but it’s just more the weather patterns that have been causing this.”
An EF-1 tornado struck North Attleborough on June 26, bringing winds of 100 mph that tore down trees, according to the National Weather Service Survey Team. The tornado touched down near Breakneck Hill Road in Lincoln and traveled east-northeast, according to the NWS. A number of large hardwood trees were uprooted, some of which fell onto homes and other structures in Lincoln and Cumberland. The width of the tornado was around 100 yards. As it entered North Attleborough, it continued to snap and uproot trees before lifting in the vicinity of Cushman Road.
Last August, A tornado touched down in North Attleborough, causing moderate damage to trees, power lines and heavy flooding. The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed that an EF 1 tornado with speeds reaching 90 miles per hour touched down just over Cumberland, Rhode Island, at about 9:30 a.m. Cumberland borders North Attleborough. According to the NWS, most of the damage caused by the tornado occurred at the intersection of Monticello Drive and Mendon Road.
According to Williams, there have been two weak tornadoes in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and he said that is pretty normal as the area of New England typically gets between three to five of them every year.
“People don’t realize it, but tornadoes aren’t really uncommon in this area, they just don’t get noticed because they are generally pretty weak in Southern New England” Williams said.
The town will not usually know when a tornado is occurring due to the scale of them being extremely low compared to the Midwest.
As the summer continues, and the heat continues to stick around, William said there is a chance for a few more small tornadoes to reach the North Attleborough area.
