New Hampshire

Tornado confirmed in NH during intense storms Thursday

Severe thunderstorms whipped through New England on Thursday evening, causing damage from Boston to New Hampshire

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A tornado was confirmed to have hit the area of Keene, New Hampshire, on Thursday, when severe weather swept through New England, the National Weather Service said.

The tornado that hit the town of Dublin, which is east of Keene, was rated EF 1, with winds that reached 90-95 mph, the NWS said Friday.

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Later Friday, weather officials said the tornado touched down first in Swanzey, then went up briefly before touching down again near the Keene-Marlboro line in the Route 101 area. After skipping intermittently along Route 101, it came back down in Dublin.

More details on the confirmed twister were set to be made public by Friday evening.

Weather service workers visited the area Friday morning after a weather observer spotted the possible tornado. The work of the Gray, Maine-based crew was to determine an exact cause of the damage in the area.

Debris was seen all over Route 101 in a picture posted by the Dublin Police Department, including a tree which appeared to bring down a utility wire.

Thursday night: Slow clearing. Lows around 70. Friday: A bit less humid, still hot, mostly sunny. Highs 90-95, heat index 95-100. Saturday: Hot and humid with scattered thunder from midday onward. Highs near 90.

"It was very short-lived very intense for a short time," Dublin Fire Chief Tom Vanderbilt told NBC10 Boston. "It was bad where it was bad but the rest of the town is pretty much unaffected.”

"We hid in the basement, with the dogs, we were down there probably about five minutes," said Dolly McKenna.

When she came back up, McKenna found a huge tree down. It narrowly missed her house.

"It certainly did a number on our front yard," she said.

Heavy damage was also reported in nearby Marlborough, New Hampshire.

"On July 27th, 2023 at approximately 3pm the Marlborough Police Department was notified of a tree down blocking NH Route 101 in the area of Marlborough Auto Sales after a tornado warned thunderstorm moved through," the Marlborough Police Department said in a Facebook post. "Arriving units found more than a dozen trees broken off, including some that damaged unoccupied vehicles. There were no reported injuries and the road was quickly reopened with the assistance of the Marlborough Fire Department and NH Department of Transportation."

Courtesy: Marlborough Police

In Boston, bricks flew onto Massachusetts Avenue after lightning struck a building.

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