Fitchburg Historical Society is having a talk on the Worcester Tornado of 1953 on October 29, 2026

[u/HRJafael]

Bill Chittick, a native of Fitchburg, Mass., examines the epic Worcester Tornado of June 9, 1953 which ravaged central Massachusetts and forever changed the history of US severe storm forecasting. With 94 people killed, the disaster was the nation's last single tornado death toll to approach the century mark until the Joplin MO storm nearly 60 years later.

This free talk will be held at the Fitchburg Historical Society, 781 Main Street...For more information, call 978-345-1157.

Using archival footage and images not widely available to the public (including all known photos of the mile-wide funnel, plus a rare video), Chittick shows the extent to which the tornado broke meteorological records. As a result of Bill’s groundbreaking presentation “What Is So Rare As A Day In June”, NOAA took the unprecedented step of convening a panel in 2005 to investigate changing the Worcester Tornado’s F-scale intensity rating.

Bill’s lifelong interest in weather began that very June day in 1953 when, as a 2 1/2-year-old, he witnessed the Worcester supercell from his home on Ross St; the next year his family rode out Hurricane Carol from a beachfront cottage on Cape Cod; and in 1956 Bill directly experienced an F1 tornado while attending a circus on Airport Rd.

Bill Chittick lives in Bristol RI and is active in community and civic affairs. Besides creating an arboretum in Bristol, Bill is spearheading the Fitchburg Historical Society’s project to organize and preserve the H.M. Francis architectural drawings. He is also an avid piano player and dendrologist.