Tornado count in W. Mass. since 1950

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - 22News obtained a map from the National Weather Service and we discovered that not only do tornadoes happen, but we average more than one per year in western Massachusetts.

The magnitude of the June 1st tornado is something that we'll likely never see again during our lifetimes here in western Massachusetts. But tornadoes of varying size and intensity are more common than you may think.

Of all the three tornadoes ripped through western Massachusetts last year, Hampden County had all three of them. However, Hampden County doesn’t have the most tornadoes in western Massachusetts.

The map from the National Weather Service in Taunton, shows the number of tornadoes reported since 1950. We've had 8 tornadoes in Hampshire County , 17 in Berkshire County , 18 in Hampden County and 23 tornadoes in Franklin County .

“I didn't realize the history that we really have had a lot of tornadoes. From 1950 to now it didn't occur to me that we had this many in the area,” said Don Lenelin of Chicopee who has a construction job repairing some tornado damaged homes.

The size of a county does play a role in how many tornadoes were reported, 22news took this report to tornado victims in Springfield who were surprised at the number of tornadoes.

“I knew there was a tornado a few years ago up in the Berkshires and then the one last year, I never knew there was this many in that amount of years. It's crazy, it's unbelievable,” said Jim Graham whose Springfield home was destroyed by the June first tornado.

It’s important to know this is not a predictor for future tornadoes, but a representation of what's happened in the past.