After a series of site surveys, the National Weather Service confirms that four tornadoes hit Connecticut on Saturday-- the first November tornadoes recorded in Connecticut since 1950.
--Cheshire (EF-0), 3;30-3:34 pm,up to 75 mph winds, path 3.5 miles (NWS: "an SUV and an RV were crushed")
--Branford (EF-0), 3:44-3:46 pm, 85 mph winds, path 1.9 miles (NWS: "tornado apparently lifted just before reaching" I-95)
--Plainfield and Foster, RI (EF-0), 4:48-5:02 pm, 80 mph winds, 6 mile path (NWS: In addition to uprooted trees, "a heavy, large red trailer was... moved approximately 50 feet")
--Stonington and Westerly, RI (EF-1), 4:54-5:00 pm, 90 mph winds, 1.4 mile path (NWS: "several hardwood trees were uprooted or snapped about half way up the trunk")
The NWS confirms a total of three tornadoes in RI.
Our previous story, published Saturday night:
What started as a perfect fall afternoon turned dark, wet and windy as a line of strong thunderstorms ripped through Connecticut, causing power outages and notable damage.
Meteorologists suspect tornadoes touched down in two locations-- Branford, on the coast, and Plainfield, in Eastern Connecticut.
As of 10:30 am Sunday, Eversource was reporting about 1,500 power outages. The company had reported more than 10,000 outages early Saturday evening.
A possible tornado hit Branford and Guilford in the 3 pm hour. Branford Fire Chief Tom Mahoney confirmed two wires down and two transformer fires. Guilford fire officials also confirmed damage.
Later in the afternoon, another possible twister hit Plainfield and Sterling. Police in Plainfield reported that Norwich Rd. (Rte. 12) was closed.
The National Weather Service will inspect damage at the sites to determine whether the incidents were officially tornadoes.
The Southington Fire Department reports a head-on collision between one of its emergency vehicles and a civilian's car while responding to a storm-related call.
Fire Officials say Unit Squad 1 was responding to the report of a tree down with wires when the crash happened just before 4 p.m. Saturday in the area of South End Road.
Additional backup was called. Another squad within Southington's Fire Department had to extricate the civilian victim. Everyone involved in the crash was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation.