Tornado that ripped through NH town snapped as many as 1K trees, picked up garage, NWS says

An EF-1 tornado ripped through a town in New Hampshire earlier this week, leaving behind a trail of destruction, the National Weather Service confirmed.

The tornado traveled 1.8 miles through the Grafton County town of Lyme on Tuesday night, reaching a peak wind speed of 110 mph, according to a NWS damage survey report .

The tornado, estimated to be between 200 to 250 yards wide, touched down at 7:29 p.m. and was on the ground until 7:36 p.m., the report indicated.

The tornado first touched down near Post Pond with a path width of about 25 yards and became much wider as it tore through Whipple Hill Road and tracked north up Culver Hill Road, the NWS noted in an updated report released Thursday.

About 500 to 1,000 trees in the path of the tornado were snapped or uprooted, the NWS said. A garage was picked up and moved 15 feet and five homes also sustained minor damage.

The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies an EF-1 tornado as “weak” with wind speeds between 86 and 110 mph, however, the major event caused widespread damage throughout the town and knocked out power.

“The NWS toured town today with the FD and the Emergency Mgmt and confirmed that we did in fact have a tornado touch down in Lyme,” the Lyme Fire Department wrote in a Facebook post. “It was confirmed to have 110 mph winds which puts it into a high level EF1 almost an EF2 event.”

The fire department added, “We were very fortunate to not have any injuries or loss of life in this event, although several property owners in this community are working through repairs.”

Photos and videos shared by the fire department showed a swath of toppled trees, tree trunks split in half, and downed power lines in the area of Whipple Road from Route 10 to Culver Hill, as well as in the Post Pond Lane neighborhood.

Storm cleanup efforts remain ongoing in Lyme.

The NWS said a microburst also hit the town of Milford , which is about 90 miles south of Lyme.

The minute-long, 95-mph microburst occurred just before 8 p.m. Tuesday, toppling about 150 trees in its 50-yard path.

A survey team also reported that seven homes were damaged and at least two vehicles were destroyed in Milford.

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