Mass. actually had 5 separate tornado touchdowns on Saturday, NWS says

PAXTON, Mass. — Massachusetts actually had five separate tornado touchdowns as a strong line of storms hammered the state on Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service announced Tuesday.

OFFICIAL: @NWSBoston has confirmed FIVE tornadoes to have occurred in Massachusetts this Saturday. Each tornado produced EF1 damage.

This is the state's biggest "outbreak" since the infamous June 1st, 2011 day. pic.twitter.com/57PiML5dC8
— Tucker Antico (@tuckerweather) September 9, 2025

NWS Boston meteorologists conducted a storm survey in central Massachusetts on Monday, uncovering evidence of a handful of brief EF-1 tornadoes in Paxton, Holden, Berlin, and Stow between 4:02 p.m. and 4:34 p.m. on Saturday.

The NWS initially reported four tornadoes before releasing the new information.

There were two distinct tornado touchdowns in Paxton on Richards Avenue and South Road, one with 100 mph winds and a path width of 50 yards and the other with 94 mph winds and a path width of 100 yards, the NWS noted.

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The tornado in Holden near Willow Brook Road had peak winds of 104 mph and a path width of 100 yards. The tornado in Berlin near Barnes Hill Road also had peak winds of 104 mph, but a larger path width of 150 yards. In Stow, a tornado near Maple Street also whipped up 104 mph winds with a path width of 100 yards.

The tornadoes left a trail of destruction across the region, uprooting giant trees, leaving yards littered with splintered branches, and launching patio furniture across neighborhoods.

Some trees fell on or near houses and vehicles, but there were no injuries or fatalities reported.

In Berlin, police shared drone video with Boston 25 News that showed hundreds of toppled trees in the woods near West Street, Derby Street, and Barnes Hill Road.

New drone video shows aftermath of tornado in Berlin, Massachusetts Berlin Police Department

In Holden, homeowner Phylis Lorrain told Boston 25 that she took cover when she heard there was a tornado warning in the area.

“My phone went off for the alarm, so as I headed from my backroom to go to my cellar, I could see the branches falling right in front of my window,” Lorrain explained.

On Monday, Janna Goodnow was left to clean up a mess of several uprooted trees scattered across her yard in Holden.

“A lot of clean up today, so we’ll do what we can,” explained Goodnow. “We’ll have to get crews out here to help us because some of this is just way too big.”

One tree narrowly missed Goodnow’s home, but took the foundation with it when it toppled over. Goodnow said the reported tornado on Saturday happened fast and sounded like a train whistling by.

“It came out of nowhere, lasted five minutes, we started running for the cellar, and then it was gone,” she said.

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