NWS confirms: 3 tornadoes hit W. Mass

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - The National Weather Service has confirmed THREE tornadoes touched down in Western Massachusetts on June 1st between 4pm and 7pm.

The strongest tornado touched down in Westfield at 4:17pm as a weak tornado which rapidly strengthened as it entered West Springfield and into Springfield.

The tornado stayed on the ground for over 1 hour as it tore a path of destruction over 39 miles long, hitting other areas like Wilbraham, Hampden, Monson, Brimfield before moving east into Charlton in Worcester County.

The tornado finally lifted at around 5:27 pm, but not before de-barking some trees, ripping homes from their foundations, killing 4 people and injuring around 200. The same tornado is also responsible for flipping numerous aircraft off the ground at the Southbridge Airport in Worcester County.

This tornado was the strongest of the three with maximum wind speeds of 160 mph and a maximum width of half a mile. The tornado was classified an EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. An EF3 tornado has maximum winds between 136 and 165 mph.

The Enhanced Fujita Scale begins with EF0 and goes up to the highest ranking of an EF5.

There were also 2 weaker tornadoes later in the day, one over Wilbraham and one over North Brimfield. Both of theses tornadoes were rated EF1, with maximum wind speeds of 90 mph.

The Wilbraham tornado began at 6:23pm, stayed on the ground for 8 minutes covering 3.6 miles.

The North Brimfield tornado touched down at 6:54pm and lasted 3 minutes covering 1.3 miles.

Neither of the two weaker tornadoes had injuries or deaths reported to the National Weather Service.

To view the official tornado summary from the National Weather Service click here .