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((Short description|F4 tornado in Connecticut, United States))
((Infobox weather event
| name                 = Windsor Locks, Connecticut tornado
| image                = Windsor Locks tornado damage.jpg
| alt                  = 
| caption              = Destroyed houses in Windsor Locks. Image by Windsor Locks Fire Department.
| formed               = 3:00 PM [[Eastern Daylight Time|EDT]], 3 October 1979
| duration             = 
| dissipated           = 
))((Infobox weather event/Tornado
| basin                = atl
| winds                = 
| fujita-scale         = F4
))((Infobox weather event/Effects
| year                 = 1979
| deaths               = 3
| injuries             = 500
| damages              = $420 million (1979 [[United States dollar|USD]])($((Inflation|US|420|1979)) million ((CURRENTYEAR)) USD) <ref name="WWLP">((cite web|title=Windsor Locks Remembers Devastating Tornado 40 Years Later|url=https://www.wwlp.com/news/connecticut/the-40th-anniversary-of-the-windsor-locks-tornado|publisher=[[WWLP]]|date=2019-10-03|access-date=2023-04-07))</ref>
| affected             = North-central [[Connecticut]]
))((Infobox weather event/Footer
| season               = [[Tornadoes of 1979]]
))

The '''Windsor Locks, Connecticut tornado''' struck the towns of [[Windsor, Connecticut|Windsor]], [[Windsor Locks, Connecticut|Windsor Locks]], and [[Suffield, Connecticut]], and [[Feeding Hills, Agawam, Massachusetts|Feeding Hills, Massachusetts]], on Wednesday, October 3, 1979. The short-lived but intense [[tornado]] struck without warning and caused three deaths and 500 injuries along its ((convert|11.3|mi|km|adj=on)) track. It received a rating of F4 on the [[Fujita scale]], one of only three F4 tornadoes in Connecticut's history.

==Storm synopsis==
The storm system that caused the tornado had produced severe weather, including two weak tornadoes, in eastern [[Pennsylvania]] and [[New Jersey]] that morning.<ref name="MWR">((cite journal| last = Riley| first = Gary T.|author2=Bosart, Lance F. |date=August 1987| title = The Windsor Locks, Connecticut Tornado of 3 October 1979: An Analysis of an Intermittent Severe Weather Event| journal = [[Monthly Weather Review]]| volume = 115| issue = 8| pages = 1655–1677| publisher = [[American Meteorological Society]]| doi = 10.1175/1520-0493(1987)115<1655:TWLCTO>2.0.CO;2| url = http://ams.allenpress.com/archive/1520-0493/115/8/pdf/i1520-0493-115-8-1655.pdf| access-date = 2009-06-04|bibcode = 1987MWRv..115.1655R )) ((Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot))</ref> This was an unusual setup for a significant tornado, associated with a [[warm front]] near a [[low-pressure area|low-pressure]] center. A thunderstorm cell formed south of [[Long Island]] around 10:20 am, and became a [[supercell]] sometime later after interacting with a surface low-pressure center.<ref name="MWR"/> It turned north as a left-moving supercell, meaning it moved left with respect to the mean atmospheric flow. Left-moving supercells are very rare, as cyclonic storms usually turn to the right of the mean flow.<ref>[http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/significant_events/2004/04_07/index.php Anticyclonic (Left-Moving) Supercell] [[National Weather Service]] Birmingham, Alabama. Accessed 2009-06-05.</ref> It is unknown whether this leftward movement was due to an atmospheric interaction or [[Orographic|terrain-induced]] movement, as the storm moved straight up the [[Connecticut River]] valley.<ref name="MWR"/>

[[File:Windsor Locks tornado 1900z satellite.PNG|thumb|250px|Infra-red [[weather satellite]] image of the northeastern United States at 3 pm local time (the same time the tornado touched down)]]
No [[tornado watch]]es or [[tornado warning|warnings]] were issued before the storm struck. This was later determined to be because of missing [[atmospheric sounding]] data, as well as an incorrect assessment of the height of the [[tropopause]], which led to an underestimation of the strength of the thunderstorm which produced the tornado.<ref name="MWR"/> Although a [[severe thunderstorm warning]] was issued at 2:57 pm, very few people received the warnings in time.<ref name="WJ">((cite web| title = It's Been Five Years Tornado's Destruction Never to Be Forgotten| url = http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13050589&BRD=1633&PAG=461&dept_id=11608&rfi=6| publisher = [[Windsor Journal]]| pages = 5–6| date = 1984-10-05| access-date = 2009-06-05))((dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes ))</ref>

Eyewitness reports have the tornado ripping the roof off a grocery store in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Trees were uprooted in East Hartford, Connecticut. The tornado then touched down in [[Poquonock, Connecticut]], a village in the town of Windsor, just north of [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]]. Poquonock Elementary School was heavily damaged; fortunately, students were sent home early at 1:30 pm on Wednesdays.<ref name="SPT"/> Students at a [[Brownie (Girl Guides)|Brownie]] meeting were led into a hallway just before the auditorium they had been in was destroyed.<ref name="LJ">((cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PV4gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JmUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4830%2C358056|title=These people share common nightmare|agency=Associated Press|date=1979-11-03|work=[[Lewiston Journal]]|location=Lewiston, Maine|page=2A|access-date=2015-11-01|via=[[Google News Archive]]))</ref> The historic Poquonock Community Church building had its roof ripped off. All but one of the stained glass windows from the old church was salvaged.<ref name="PCC">((cite web| title = Poquonock Community Church History| url = http://www.pccwindsor.com/history.html| access-date = 2014-07-14))</ref> The tornado traveled almost due north, an unusual direction for a tornado. The most severe damage occurred along River Road, Hollow Brook Road, Pioneer Drive and Settler Circle, where large [[Framing (construction)|frame houses]] were left "in splinters".<ref name="WJ"/> The tornado roughly followed [[Connecticut Route 75]] just east of [[Bradley International Airport]]. The airport's weather station recorded a wind gust of ((convert|39|m/s|mph km/h|abbr=on)) as the tornado passed nearby.<ref name="MWR"/> A [[United Airlines]] flight with 114 passengers was attempting to land as the tornado was passing the airport; the pilot saw the tornado and was able to [[Go-around|abort the landing]] just in time.<ref>((cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FqQSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LvkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1882%2C1564816 | title=As Jet Is About to Land on Tornado, 'It's Not Noisy When All Are Praying'|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=1979-10-05|work=[[Spokane Daily Chronicle]]|location=Spokane, Washington|page=1|access-date=2015-11-01|via=[[Google News Archive]]))</ref> The tornado then crossed the northern portion of the airport, where the [[New England Air Museum]] was located. More than 20 vintage aircraft were completely destroyed, with many more damaged. The museum's hangar was also rendered unusable.<ref name="NEAM1">((cite web| title = Tornado!| url = http://www.neam.org/tornado1.htm| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/19980710071633/http://neam.org/tornado1.htm| publisher = [[New England Air Museum]]| location = [[Windsor Locks, Connecticut]]| archive-date = 1998-07-10| access-date = 2009-06-05))</ref> The tornado moved north into Feeding Hills before dissipating near the Westfield city line, about five miles north of the [[Massachusetts]] state line.

The tornado was accompanied by more than ((convert|7|cm|in)) of rain, and several instances of [[downburst]] winds.<ref name="MWR"/> Damage from downburst winds was reported across the Connecticut River in [[Enfield, Connecticut|Enfield]].<ref>((cite web|url= http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~16505|archive-url= https://archive.today/20070613042331/http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~ShowEvent~16505|url-status= dead|archive-date= 2007-06-13|title= Event Record Details 03 Oct 1979, 1345 CST|access-date= 2009-06-05|work= NCDC Storm Events Database|publisher= [[National Climatic Data Center]]))</ref>

==Aftermath==
Because there were no tornado warnings before the storm (and it occurred in an area where tornadoes are rare), the initial damage reports claimed an explosion had damaged a roof.<ref name="WJ"/> Soon, however, the storm's nature and impact became apparent. Governor [[Ella Grasso]] lived just a block away from the tornado's path, though she was in Hartford at the time of the storm. She declared an 8 pm&ndash;5 am curfew in the days following the tornado.<ref name="SPT">((cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cwIOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cHwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3038,1613495&dq=hartford+tornado|title=Connecticut tornado kills one, injures 400|last=AP, UPI|date=1979-10-04|work=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|pages=1, 16|access-date=2009-06-08))</ref><ref name="Ledger">((cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nNsvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DPsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5976%2C1285193|title=Tornado-ravaged area declared disaster|agency=Associated Press|date=1979-10-05|work=[[The Ledger]]|location=Lakeland, Florida|page=5|access-date=2015-11-01|via=[[Google News Archive]]))</ref> About 500 [[National Guard (United States)|National Guardsmen]] were activated to prevent [[looting]] and direct traffic, and the area was declared a [[disaster area]] by [[Jimmy Carter|President Carter]].<ref name="Ledger"/> [[FEMA trailer]]s were provided within a few days, and were used by many residents until reconstruction or repairs could be completed.<ref name="WJ"/><ref name="LJ"/> In all, at least 38 businesses were damaged or destroyed, 65 homes were completely destroyed, and at least 75 homes were damaged. Twenty-five [[tobacco shed]]s were "extensively damaged".<ref name="Toledo">((cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jU5PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mwIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3259%2C1274145|title=Connecticut Ravaged by Tornado|agency=Associated Press|date=1979-10-04|work=[[Toledo Blade]]|page=1|access-date=2015-11-01|via=[[Google News Archive]]))</ref> At the airport, at least 30 vintage aircraft were damaged or destroyed, as well as most of the state's National Guard helicopters.<ref name="NEAM1"/><ref name="Toledo"/>

Because of the vast scope of the damage, initially Windsor town officials feared many, possibly even hundreds, of people could have been killed.<ref name="WJ"/> While there were many serious injuries, only three people were killed by the storm. Two victims, construction workers working in a bank parking lot, took shelter in a work truck when they saw the storm approach. The first victim was killed immediately by a piece of flying lumber, the other died a few weeks later from his injuries becoming the third victim.<ref name="WJ"/> The second victim was found the next day across the street from her obliterated house.<ref name="WJ"/><ref>((cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/981508722.html?dids=981508722:981508722&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Oct+22%2C+1979&author=&pub=The+Hartford+Courant&desc=Twister+Injuries+Fatal+to+Laborer&pqatl=google|title=Twister Injuries Fatal to Laborer|date=1979-10-22|work=[[The Hartford Courant]]|pages=10|access-date=2009-06-05))</ref> Over 400 people were hospitalized, mostly for injuries from flying glass or the victims' having been thrown by winds.<ref name="SPT"/>

==Records==
The Windsor Locks tornado, with $1.568 billion in damages (when adjusted for inflation), remains the costliest on record in the [[Northeastern United States]] and among the costliest in United States history. The three fatalities resulted in the deadliest tornado in Connecticut since the [[1878 Wallingford tornado]].<ref name="tornado project">[[Tornado Project]]. [http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/worstts.htm#CT "Worst" Tornadoes]  ((webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035740/http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/worstts.htm|date=2016-03-04)) Retrieved on July 2, 2007.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Tornadoes of 1979]]
*[[List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks]]
*[[List of Connecticut tornadoes]]

==References==
((Reflist))

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160223010844/http://www.wlfd.com/photos/oct-3-1979-tornado-bia More pictures from the Windsor Locks Fire Department]
*[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jU5PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mwIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3259%2C1274145 Connecticut Ravaged by Tornado]
((10 costliest US tornadoes))
((1979 tornado outbreaks))

((DEFAULTSORT:1979-10-03 Windsor Locks, Connecticut tornado))
[[Category:F4 tornadoes by date]]
[[Category:F4 tornadoes by location|Windsor Locks,1979-10-03]]
[[Category:Tornadoes of 1979]]
[[Category:Tornadoes in Connecticut]]
[[Category:1979 in Connecticut]]
[[Category:1979 natural disasters in the United States]]
[[Category:October 1979 events in the United States|Windsor Locks tornado]]

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