National Weather Service finds no evidence of Plainfield tornado
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PLAINFIELD - After inspecting evidence in Plainfield, the National Weather Service has ruled out tornado activity there Sunday night amid severe thunderstorms that moved across the entire region.
A NWS meteorologist toured the area Monday afternoon. "It was straight line wind damage," said meteorologist Alan Dunham. "It was not a tornado."
It was first believed that the windstorm might have been an EF0 tornado, which is the weakest category on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which runs from EF0 to EF5.
"Some EF0 tornadoes do not always leave a good footprint and can go undetected," said NWS meteorologist Glenn Field.
EF0s are known to damage trees but not harm substantial structures.
The structural damage reported Monday in Plainfield was mainly caused by falling trees.
Tornadoes are rated based on estimated wind speeds and related damage, with a focus on three-second gusts. Dunham's investigation determined that Sunday night's storm fell short of a tornado touchdown.
The winds were strong enough, however, to topple trees and bring down limbs, some of which hit homes and did damage.
Judy and Dudley Williams, who live on the west end of Route 116, awoke Monday to find that a 100-foot white pine had crashed through the slate roof of their 200-year-old barn, which had been restored in 2000 with the help of neighbors and friends.
The family plans to repair the barn.
Route 116 was closed in one section for 14 hours - from 8 p.m. Sunday to 10 a.m. Monday. Many homes lost power.
At the peak of the storm, some Plainfield residents reported hearing howling winds and saw rain flying horizontally.
