[CedarDave]

Like the 1953 Worcester Tornado that was an F4-F5 that traveled on the ground 50 miles in about an hour and a half, leaving a path fully a mile wide nearly all the way, killing a hundred people and injuring thousands more?

Glad you mentioned that. I was a tyke living in Westwood at the time and found paper debris in our yard the next day.

[rlmorel]

They said debris was found hundreds of miles away in every direction.

As an aviation buff, the damage it did to the New England Air Museum was a real downer:

[ExNewsExSpook]

Ironically, that was the first year the Weather Bureau (forerunner of today’s National Weather Service) allowed forecasters to use the term “tornadoes” in their products. On the day of the Worcester storm, the Boston office recognized the potential tornadic threat, but decided that including it in their forecast might cause public panic. So, as a compromise, they issued the first-ever severe thunderstorm warning for New England.

I’ve heard reports that after the Worcester tornado was on the ground, the Boston weather bureau received several phone calls on the storm from police and the public. Weather radar was in its infancy, and with no additional confirmation, the weather bureau decided not to issue a tornado warning. So, more people died as the twister continued on its path. To be fair, any warning would have been minimally accurate and might have created panic. Then again, some warning is better than no warning, one reason so many people died that day.