Press Clippings

August 22, 2004 - Sunday, Berkshire Eagle: Tornado hit city, officials confirm

By Bill Carey

Authorities confirmed yesterday that a tornado cut through the city early Friday evening, leaving downed tree limbs, broken windows and dislodged siding in its wake. There were no reported injuries.

Deputy Fire Chief Keith Phillips and Raymond O'Keefe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service based in Albany, N.Y., visited the affected areas and interviewed witnesses yesterday morning. O'Keefe determined that a low-intensity tornado took place between 6:30 and 7 p.m. Friday, Phillips said.

The tornado was classified as "F0," on the Fujita Scale used to rate a tornado's intensity by examining the damage caused to manmade structures. That is the lowest rating, representing wind speeds of between 40 mph and 72 mph, according to a description of the scale.

A line of thunderstorms
Touching down as a line of thunderstorms rolled into the area, the tornado followed an easterly path, beginning somewhere along the east shore of Onota Lake, Phillips said. From there, it moved down Lakeway Drive, through the Pittsfield Cemetery, past Wahconah Park, across Wahconah Street and up Charles Street.

At Burbank Park, the tornado flipped two moored motor boats used by the Berkshire Rowing and Sculling Society and toppled a large tree near the boathouse. The society's founder, Lewis Cuyler, said the tree, which measured about three to four feet in diameter, was blocking the walkway along the Onota Lake shore yesterday.

Partially submerged
One boat was found floating upside down and the other was partially submerged, with its bow sticking out of the water. Both boats, used for coaching, were recovered and remoored by yesterday afternoon, Cuyler said, though the motors were full of water.

Most of the damage was reported in the area of Wahconah Street, about a mile and a half from where the tornado started. But damage also was observed off Dalton Avenue, a mile farther along the same easterly path.

Several large branches were shorn from a maple tree at the Barnaby residence at 64 Dartmouth St., a side street of Dalton Avenue.

"That wind came through here -- I don't know what it was," said Omy Barnaby, who was watching television at the time.

"All I could see was this darn [tree] flipping around. The whole thing was bending this way," he explained, pointing to the backyard. Then he heard "one heck of a snap" as the branches broke.
One branch fell into the neighboring yard at 60 Dartmouth St., damaging the stockade fence between the yards and landing squarely in a lawn chair. The other broken branches just missed the Barnabys' rear deck.

On the opposite side of the street, at 68 Dartmouth, John Wynot was clearing the felled limbs of an apple tree yesterday.

At Wahconah Park, a portion of the blue, wooden fence along the third-base line of the baseball field was knocked down and pieces of metal siding from the grandstand were blown into nearby properties.

Vintage game still on
Donald B. "Chip" Elitzer, a partner with Wahconah Park Inc., said the damage will not prevent the vintage baseball game scheduled at the park Sept. 4. He and James McGrath, the city's director of community services, inspected the park yesterday.

"This is fairly minor [and] we're certainly glad no one was hurt. A lot of the damage was done to stuff that's going to come down anyway with our construction," Elitzer said, referring to the group's plan to renovate Wahconah Park.

Also Friday, a large tree fell on the house at 60 Charles St. used by the Berkshire Area Health Education Center, and structural damage was reported nearby at the Berkshire Medical Center parking garage along Charles Street. Other properties and cars in the area also sustained damage.

Bill Carey can be reached at bcarey@berkshireeagle.com