It Was a Tornado

WRENTHAM – An EF-0 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 80 miles per hour whipped through the downtown area Tuesday afternoon, uprooting an 80-foot-tall maple tree in the town common and snapping tree tops and limbs in the brief time it was on the ground.

While much of the Blackstone Valley was spared the brunt of the storm, straight-line wind gusts Tuesday afternoon knocked down a tree and ripped branches from trees on a portion of Milk Street in Blackstone.

A survey team from the National Weather Service in Taunton observed damage in Blackstone, Bellingham, Franklin, and Wrentham Wednesday morning. Aside from the area in Wrentham where the tornado touched down, there was very little damage, according to NWS meteorologist Joe Dellicarpini.

While the storm rode along the border between Blackstone and Woonsocket for a period of time Tuesday afternoon, there “really wasn’t that much significant damage” in Woonsocket, Dellicarpini said.

Woonsocket Call