The National Weather Service announced on Friday, July 29 that a storm survey confirmed an EF-0 tornado in northeastern Litchfield County on Thursday evening, July 28.
The tornado was on the ground for 5 miles with maximum winds of 75 miles per hour and a width of 300 yards.
An EF-0 is the second weakest of the six levels of tornadoes on the Enhanced Fujita scale.
It touched down in the Town of Norfolk about 2 miles south-southwest of Dennis Hill State Park along Smith Road at 6:35 p.m. Thursday and traveled north-northwest before ending in the Town of Colebrook, along Pinney Street, at 6:50 p.m., the weather service said.
"Damage was sporadic and consisted mostly of felled hardwood trees and broken tree branches," according to the survey report by the weather service. "A couple of barns along Pinney Street lost some siding and one of the barns had a door torn off.
"There were many eyewitnesses as the tornado developed to the rear of a. thunderstorm and was well lit by the sun."
The EF scale classifies tornadoes into six categories:
- EF0 - Weak, winds of 65 to 85 mph
- EF1 - Weak, winds of 86 to 110 mph
- EF2 - Strong, winds of 111 to 135 mph
- EF3 - Strong, winds of 136 to 165 mph
- EF4 - Violent, winds. of 166 to 200 mph
- EF5 - Violent, winds of more than 200 mph
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