Figure 1 depicts the surface observations at 8:00 am EDT, which shows an occluding front across the Great Lakes and a warm front near Massachusetts. The warm front became the focus for intense thunderstorms throughout the day on August 9th, which ultimately led to three tornadoes across the state.
![](https://highwaysandhailstones.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Untitled-63.png)
The Philipston, MA F2 tornado of August 9, 1972 impacted Worcester County in Massachusetts. According to NOAA (2019), the F2 tornado caused no fatalities, but caused 1 injury and $25 thousand dollars in property damage. The tornado touched down near Philipston at 3:30 pm EDT. The tornado travelled for 9.7 miles and had a maximum width of 10 yards.
Sources
NOAA Central Library. (2019). U.S. Daily Weather Maps. Wednesday August 9, 1972 [PDF]. Retrieved from https://library.noaa.gov/Collections/Digital-Collections/US-Daily-Weather-Maps
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2019). Storm Events Database. Retrieved from: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/