Description: New England folklorist John Horrigan retraces the path of the Great Middlesex Tornado - a whirlwind that began in Worcester and tore through Wayland, Weston, Waltham, Belmont, Arlington, Medford, Malden and Lynn, Massachusetts. He will provide a chronological account of this fateful day of August 22nd, 1851, with the assistance of anecdotal evidence, historical recollections and a rare map belonging to the Waltham Historical Society. John will also present a concise history of New England Tornadoes beginning with John Winthrop's ``Sudden Gust'' of 1643. The Great Middlesex Tornado was a twister that began in central Massachusetts and raced eastward along modern day Route 60. Utilizing levity, John considers this to be one of his greatest lectures as he transforms an obscure whirlwind into high infotainment.
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The tornado began in eastern Worcester a little after 5 PM and rapidly moved eastward on the 22nd of August, 1851....
The funnel became more defined as it crossed Prospect Hill in Waltham.......
The cyclonic winds whipped in several directions......
It then tore through West Cambridge (modern day Arlington)......
A ceramic bust of President Millard Fillmore was lifted off of a pedestal and hurled a quarter of a mile, landing safely and undamaged in a garden.....
After grinding through Cambridge, the tornado swept through Medford, where it did the most damage and took a man's life....
As the funnel cloud intensified, the winds ripped up orchards, trees and houses....
The only known eyewitness rendering of the tornado in Medford appeared in Gleason's Pictorial dated September 13th, 1851.
Recorded on April 15th, 2008 at Waltham, Massachusetts. John reads about a tornado that raced through Middlesex County (along modern day Route 60) on August 22nd, 1851 (from David Ludlum's Early American Tornadoes). Time: 13:07 Size 12 MB
Recorded on April 15th, 2008 at Waltham, Massachusetts. John reads about a tornado that raced through Middlesex County (along modern day Route 60) on August 22nd, 1851 (from Sidney Perley's Historic Storms of New England. Time: 20:35 Size 19 MB
Recorded on June 14th, 2008 at Watertown, Massachusetts. John reads an eyewitness account of the Great Martha's Vineyard Waterspout in August of 1896. 1:46; 2 MB
Recorded on June 14th, 2008 at Watertown, Massachusetts. John reads about the salt water rain that fell on Martha's Vineyard after the Great Martha's Vineyard Waterspout of August 19th, 1896. 1:26; 2 MB
Recorded on June 14th, 2008 at Watertown, Massachusetts. John reads about the historic photographs taken from Cottage City, Martha's Vineyard of the Great Martha's Vineyard Waterspout of August 19th, 1896. :53; 1 MB
Recorded on June 14th, 2008 at Watertown, Massachusetts. John reads about the historic Martha's Vineyard Waterspouts of August 19th, 1896. Three were seen in succession. Time is 8:59; Size is 10 MB
Recorded on July 9th, 2008 in Watertown, Massachusetts. John reads from Sidney Perley's Historic Storms of New England about a tornado that swept across western Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire in June of 1782. Running Time is 3:19. Size is 6 MB.
Recorded on December 10th, 2008 at Watertown, Massachusetts. John reads from Sidney Perley's Historic Storms of New England about a tornado that wiped out Leicester, Massachusetts in 1759. 2 minute and 27 seconds; 3 MB
Recorded on May 4th, 2008 in Watertown, Massachusetts. John reads from David Ludlum's Early American Tornados about a tornado that rakes a southern Massachusetts community in 1671.
Recorded on May 4th, 2008 in Watertown, Massachusetts. John reads from David Ludlum's Early American Tornados about a "sudden gust" recorded by John Winthrop in his diary that moves on a northern line and scours land from Lynn, Massachusetts to Hampton, New Hampshire in 1643.
Recorded on December 27th, 2006 at Watertown, Massachusetts. John reads from David Ludlum's Early American Tornados about a "severe line squall" recorded by John Winthrop in his diary on July 5th, 1643 (O.S.) that hit Newbury, Massachusetts. 2 minutes and :08 seconds, 2 MB