A 'gustnado' hit Massachusetts Monday night
Trees and wires fell to the ground in southeastern Massachusetts Monday night and a 'gustnado' might be the culprit.
Gustnadoes can look similar to tornadoes, but they are not the same. AccuWeather’s Geoff Cornish explains the differences.
Severe weather is rare in New England during November, but earlier this week, a damaging storm ripped through the region in a tornado-like event.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Boston, Massachusetts, a 'gustnado'— a short-lived, ground-level swirl of wind that can form along a thunderstorm’s leading edge — struck the southeastern part of the state Monday night. Several reports of wind damage were filed in the area, and weak rotation was observed on radar. However, the NWS could not find evidence on the ground to declare a tornado, NBC Boston reports.
Power lines were reported down on Alden Road in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, at 10:43 p.m. EST. Trees and wires were also reported to have fallen just north of Mattapoisett at three different locations at 10:47 p.m.
A gustnado is one type of invisible vortex that twists around us all the time. They form when the edge of the downdraft of a severe thunderstorm — a gust front — causes the air to spin from the ground up, but the gustnado does not connect to a cloud. Tornadoes typically develop in the clouds of a thunderstorm and extend down to the ground.
Generally weaker than supercell tornadoes, gustnadoes can cause considerable damage. Since they aren't connected to the cloud, gustnadoes are not considered to be tornadoes.
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