Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal

« Newport mansion Miramar sells for $17M | Today | Update: High court allows for public review of ballots »

December 1, 2006

Weather update: High winds on the way

The National Weather Service issued an alert this afternoon warning Rhode Island residents that damaging thunderstorms may roll into the area in the coming hours.

Thunderstorms should enter western portions of Massachusetts and Connecticut at around 6 p.m. and sweep eastward from there at about 50 mph, according to the weather service.

The storms are capable of producing heavy rain, wind gusts around 60 mph and even an isolated tornado.

Western Massachusetts and western Connecticut are likely to be the worst hit areas as the huge storm in Ohio moves into this region, according to Glenn Field, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass.

“Even an isolated tornado or two cannot be ruled out,” the National Weather Service reported. “This is a potentially dangerous situation and people in southern New England should monitor later statements on this developing weather situation.”

Get the latest weather conditions, live radar and Providence Webcam view / How to report power outages

-- projo.com staff writers Kate Bramson and Steve Peoples

Southern New England can get one to three tornadoes a year, but in the summertime, typically, Field said. The last big tornado that occurred late in the tornado season was Oct. 3, 1979, just north of Hartford, Conn., he said.

With winds expected to reach 70 miles per hour about 1,000 feet off the ground by this afternoon, thunderstorms and even rain showers can bring those winds down to ground level at 50 to 60 miles per hour, Field said. More than the chance of a tornado, people should really focus on those winds.

“The majority of the threat for today is damaging winds,” he said. “We don’t want to emphasize a tornado because that’s an outside possibility.”

Posted by Steve Peoples at 4:19 PM | Permalink

December 1, 2006

Weather update: High winds on the way

Comments

Post a comment