1878 Wallingford tornado

Tornado in Connecticut May 2025 February 2025 Wallingford Tornado Wallingford, Connecticut tornado damage picture.jpg Picture of a destroyed house in Wallingford August 9, 1878 6:15 p.m. EST F4 ~34 fatalities, 70+ injuries ~$5.3 million (2007 USD) Southern Connecticut The Wallingford tornado was a violent tornadoGrazulis 1993 596 that struck the town of Wallingford, Connecticut, on Friday, August 9, 1878. The tornado, unofficially rated F4 by tornado expert Thomas P. Grazulis, destroyed most of the town, killing about 34 people—estimated totals varied—and injuring at least 70, many severely.http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/worstts.htm#CT Connecticut: Tornadoes causing a death or more than five injuries 2008-05-14 2000 The Tornado Project https://web.archive.org/web/20080514002740/http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/worstts.htm 14 May 2008 dead This was the deadliest tornado ever to strike the state of Connecticut, and the second deadliest ever in New England, after the Worcester tornado of 1953. Before the storm The storm system that eventually spawned the Wallingford tornado produced damaging winds and at least one tornado far before it reached the town. The first tornado from this storm system touched down in South Kent, unroofing houses, blowing down barns, and uprooting and tossing trees into the air. It moved steadily southeast for 12 mi km on, moving just south of New Preston, and then through Washington, before turning north and dissipating. The next path of damage started further north along the Shepaug River. It is unknown whether this was a tornado or straight-line winds, but the damage path continued southeast for three miles before disappearing again. More damage was reported near Waterbury, where a house was unroofed two miles west of the town. In the town itself, branches and chimneys were damaged. More About the Tornado Hartford Courant Hartford, Connecticut 2 1878-08-16 554028352 Annual Report of the Chief Signal-Officer https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_oL0tAAAAIAAJ Wallingford tornado of 1878. PDF 2008-05-14 1878 Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 654–661 As the storm approached Wallingford, observers described a black, rolling funnel, with clouds blowing in from all directions. This system passed directly over Cheshire, producing a strong wind at the surface which caused some minor damage. The storm then moved directly towards Wallingford. The Wallingford tornado right|250px|thumb|Artist's conception of the tornado destroying a house right|250px|thumb|Map of the tornado's path through the town thumb|Weather map of the storm complex that would produce the tornado in Wallingford, Connecticut on August 9 In Wallingford, the day prior to the tornado was clear, and said to be "one of the loveliest [days] of the season".* Wallingford's Tornado https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1878/08/11/80724991.pdf The New York Times 1 1878-08-11 2008-05-14 At around 5 p.m. the sky began to get dark, and by 5:30 p.m. the air was very black. At around 6 p.m., the air at the surface was calm, but lightning began to fill the sky, and the clouds began moving at a very rapid pace, frightening some residents into shelter. The tornado started at 6:15 p.m. local time as a waterspout over Community Lake, just west of town. It then moved through the center of town along Christian Street, damaging almost every structure as it went. The tornado tore houses from their foundations, throwing some more than 600 ft m off us. A receipt from the town was later found 65 mi km east in Peacedale, Rhode Island. Large trees were uprooted and snapped, and those that were still standing were stripped of small limbs and leaves. The Catholic Church was blown to bits, and heavy tombstones in the nearby cemetery were tossed around. The brand-new brick high school building was almost completely destroyed. https://www.gendisasters.com/connecticut/874/wallingford,-ct-tornado,-aug-1878 Wallingford, CT Tornado, Aug 1878 2008-05-14 Perley Sidney 1891 Historic Storms of New England GenDisasters 334–337 https://web.archive.org/web/20110711091322/http://www3.gendisasters.com/connecticut/874/wallingford,-ct-tornado,-aug-1878 2011-07-11 live The tornado's path through town was only two miles long, but the damage path was up to 600 ft m off us wide. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ddc/wxtrivia/wxtrvAug.php Today's Weather Trivia 2008-05-14 2005-11-01 National Weather Service Dodge City, Kansas Weather Forecast Office More tornadic damage was reported in southern Durham and Killingworth, with some homes severely damaged, but there were some minor injuries, one young woman in Killingworth was injured by shards of glass from a breaking window. Some sources insist that the Wallingford tornado dissipated a few miles west of the town, and this was an entirely separate tornado, but without a modern damage survey it is impossible to tell. The parent storm finally moved out over the ocean around 8 PM. Aftermath right|250px|thumb|Artist's drawing of damage to the grade school A district schoolhouse was converted into a temporary morgue immediately after the storm; 21 bodies were discovered and placed there that night. One person was found dead 3300 ft km from where he had been standing. The tornado brought down telegraph lines and poles around the area, so assistance from physicians in nearby towns took more than an hour. More than 50 special police were sworn in to prevent looting, and to control the crowds of curious onlookers who had come by train from surrounding cities. Latest from the Tornado Hartford Courant Hartford, Connecticut 2 1878-08-14 554022490 Thirty five homes were completely destroyed, with many more being unroofed or receiving some sort of damage. Damage estimates were around $150,000 from buildings alone; utilities and railway facilities received a lot of damage as well. Furious Northern Storms https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1878/08/10/88162382.pdf The New York Times 1 1878-08-10 2008-05-14 Final estimates were around $250,000 ($5.3 million when adjusted for inflation). http://www.westegg.com/inflation/index.html The Inflation Calculator 2008-11-01 Friedman, S. Morgan "Historical Statistics of the United States" and "Statistical Abstracts of the United States" https://web.archive.org/web/20081014212829/http://www.westegg.com/inflation/index.html 14 October 2008 live Tornadoes are not very uncommon in the state of Connecticut, but tornadoes of this power are rare. Though tornadoes have only been officially rated on the Fujita scale since 1950, this tornado has been estimated to be of F4-intensity on the scale. This would make it one of only three tornadoes of this intensity to ever affect the state, as of 2008.Tornado Project. "Worst" Tornadoes https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035740/http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/worstts.htm 2016-03-04 Retrieved on July 2, 2007. Thirty-four people were killed by the tornado—thirty-one more than the second-deadliest Connecticut tornado—and 70 others injured.Grazulis 1993 379 The tornado also devastated a branch of the Oneida Community that had operated in Wallingford from 1851Hinds William American communities and co-operative colonies University Press of the Pacific Honolulu 2004 9781410211521 1153321374 https://archive.org/details/americancommunit0000hind/page/202/mode/2up 2020-08-29 through 1878.* The Tornado -L44AQAAMAAJ 691 yes Harper's Weekly 22 1131 1878-08-31 0360-2397 1013715226 New York Harper's Magazine Company 688, 691 Harper's Weekly v. 22 #1131 1878 The subsidiary community closed down and the members consolidated with the main community.Brew Wayne Roper Scott C. The Mohawk Valley: New England Extended — A Field Trip Through Landscapes of Economic and Cultural Change and Diversity http://www.pioneeramerica.org/past2014/past2014artbrewroper.html PAST Pioneer America Society: Association for the Preservation of Artifacts and Landscapes 2014 37 Oneida Community (1848-1880): A Utopian Community Social Welfare History Project 2015-08-18 https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/religious/the-oneida-community-1848-1880-a-utopian-community/ 2020-08-29 See also List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks List of Connecticut tornadoes References Bibliography Grazulis Thomas 1993 Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events Environmental Films St. Johnsbury, Vermont 1-879362-03-1 History of the Wallingford Disaster Kendrick John B. 1878 The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co. Hartford, Conn. https://books.google.com/books?id=HoENAQAAIAAJ 2009-08-15 External links Illustrations of tornado damage (at bottom of page) Pictures of tornado damage "The Wallingford Tornado", Scientific American, 31 August 1878, p. 129 41.4637 -72.8268 dim:2km title Category:F4, EF4 and IF4 tornadoes Category:19th-century tornadoes Category:Meteorological events in 1878 Category:Tornadoes in Connecticut Wallingford Tornado Wallingford Tornado