Monday morning wasn’t a classic tornado set-up. We were forecasting downpours with gusty winds Sunday night, but the “short term” forecast was spot on.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning by 3:01 a.m. with an estimated time of arrival to Concord, Massachusetts of 3:30 a.m.. We started to receive damage reports from the area at 3:31 a.m. If you do the math, that’s a lead time of 19 minutes – the national average is 13 minutes.
This was the first nocturnal tornado in Massachusetts since 1970 – they’re rare, but it’s also a good reason to have multiple ways to receive weather warnings.
That tornado formed along a strong cold front – if you stepped outside this morning, you noticed that the cold front did its job. Temperatures dropped into the 40s and 50s in most areas Tuesday morning.
This cool down is short-lived, however, as heat and humidity return on Wednesday.
