What the record says
On 3 October 1979, a tornado touched down near Thompsonville, Connecticut. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 11.3 miles long and up to 1,400 yards wide, rated F4 on the Fujita (F) scale. It killed 3 people and injured 500.
- F4Fujita rating
- 3deaths
- 500injuries
- 11.3 mipath length
- 1,400 ydmaximum width
It has its own page because it was rated 4 or 5 and it killed three or more people.
This page gives the official record's figures. Numbers of deaths and injuries are sometimes revised after a survey, and they cannot convey what the day was like for the people who lived through it.
Counties it crossed
The start point was at 41.88, -72.67 and the end point at 42.05, -72.70 (latitude, longitude).
How to read this path
The Storm Prediction Center records most tornadoes as a straight line from the point where they touched down to the point where they lifted. The real path usually curved and was not the same width all the way along. The width given is the widest part. Older records are less precise, and the record starts in 1950.
Source: the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, public domain.
Other notable tornadoes in Connecticut
- Waterbury, Connecticut tornado24 May 1962, F3, 1 death, 50 injuries, 11.6 miles long
- New Haven, Connecticut tornado10 July 1989, F4, 40 injuries, 3 miles long
Other notable tornadoes of 1979
- Wichita Falls, Texas tornado10 April 1979, F4, 42 deaths, 1,740 injuries, 46.9 miles long
- Vernon, Texas tornado10 April 1979, F4, 11 deaths, 68 injuries, 39.7 miles long
- Palmer, Iowa tornado28 June 1979, F4, 3 deaths, 26 injuries, 14.9 miles long
- Lone Grove, Oklahoma tornado30 October 1979, F3, 3 deaths, 2 injuries, 8.4 miles long
- Lawton, Oklahoma tornado10 April 1979, F3, 3 deaths, 100 injuries, 4.5 miles long
All tornadoes of 1979 · Connecticut tornado history · All notable tornadoes