Massachusetts isn't really the sort of place you would expect to have strong tornadoes, but around 7pm on Memorial Day of 1995 an F3-F4 tornado tore through Great Barrington, MA, flattening the Fairgrounds, killing 3 people, and injuring 12.
This tornado , and other strong tornadoes in New England, have inspired research into the relationship between tornadogenesis and local terrain. Meteorologists have found that the north-south orientation of the Hudson and Housatonic valleys, which Great Barrington is in between, increase lower level wind shear when the surface wind is southerly, increasing . This increases the likelihood of tornadoes forming in a local "Hot Spot" extending from Hudson valley, NY to Berkshire County, MA and Litchfield County, CT. (Local Tornado Hot Spot)
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