Storm Damage at West Rock

August 2020 Tropical Storm and Tornado Damage West Rock

West Rock experienced tree damage in August 2020, as the result of Tropical Storm Isaias and the tornado that passed through Bethany and Hamden into North Haven.

The northern end of Baldwin Drive (top photo) and the Regicides Trail (third photo) were completely blocked by multi-trunk oak trees across the road and trail on Aug. 31, 2020. Through a combination of volunteer and state labor, the road and trail are now accessible as of Sept. 9, 2020.

Tornado Affects Northern Section of West Rock

   A strong thunderstorm passed through Connecticut on Thursday, Aug. 27, one that spawned a tornado from Bethany to North Haven, and a microburst from North Haven to Guilford. The northern end of West Rock was hit hard by this storm. The rest of the park seems to be relatively unaffected by it.

       Friday, Aug. 28, I decided to walk the Sanford Feeder Trail after work and I chose well. There were multiple oak tree crowns blocking the trail, all of which I cleared. There were three oak trees across the trail, ranging in diameter from 12 to 15 inches. One is located midway along the trail just north of the open area with the culvert. The other two were located near the Regicides Trail, where the trail levels off. The one at the Regicides Trail was a double trunked tree.

      I cut away enough branches from one of the trees that people could slide over it. I cleared enough branches from the double trunked tree, so people could stoop between the trunks. On Saturday, Aug. 29, I returned with two volunteers, one of whom had a chain saw and we cleared the trees blocking West Shepard Ave. There was also a tree down on Baldwin Drive at the junction with West Shepard Ave. that was blocking one side of the road, which we did not have time or energy to clear.

   While one volunteer cleared the trees on the Sanford Feeder at the Regicides Trail with his chainsaw, the other volunteer and I walked the Regicides Trail to the junction with the Quinnipiac Trail, clearing several broken oak crowns along the trail. As we left I looked at the Regicides Trail by Baldwin Drive and saw a line of trees down heading north, which clearly defined the tornado path.

    We cleared these trees on Monday, Aug. 31, and some a bit further south, but found additional downed trees on both the trail and road that hopefully the state can clear as there are too many large ones for volunteers to handle.

     I returned to West Rock on Friday, Sept. 4 and did work on the Red-White and Red Trails starting from the Hill Street parking area. The Red Trail is clear from the Red-White junction near the field to its northern end at the Regicides Trail. Someone had cleared a tree crown on the Red Trail along the climb to the top. I cut the top part of oak trunk at the Regicides Trail junction, leaving a log on the ground that is easy to step over.

     Another volunteer used his chainsaw to clear the oak trunks from the Regicides Trail. The state had used their chainsaws to clear the oak trunks from Baldwin Drive. I used my saw to clear the tree crowns as best I could from the road and trail. The Regicides Trail is now clear at least from the final crossing of Baldwin Drive to the Quinnipiac Trail.

    Driving to West Rock on Aug. 31, I drove on Hatfield Hill Road in Bethany, which sustained noticeable tree damage from the storm. This road is on a direct line pointing toward West Rock.

    On a related note, the Regional Water Authority's Lake Bethany property, located on the north and south sides of Hatfield Hill Road, is closed to hikers. The property was so damaged by the storm that the RWA is hiring a contractor to clear the trails. The RWA's Lake Saltonstall property in Branford also had damage, but is still open to those who are RWA passholders.

A line of trees block the Regicides Trail, just north of the end of Baldwin Drive, showing the path of the Aug. 27 tornado. Volunteers cleared these trees on Aug. 31, as seen in the second photo.

     The National Weather Service issued a statement about the tornado and microburst. I changed the formatting from the original ALL CAPS, and added paragraphs and indents, so people can actually read this.

    This includes a rough trace of the path that I did based on the starting and ending points. Based on the description of the destruction, the path seems a bit to the north, as the damage along the Sanford Feeder Trail, which follows the old Sanford Road, is obvious, and this trace is slightly north of both Lake Bethany and Hamden Town Hall.

Public Information Statement

National Weather Service New York NY

10:46 PM EDT Fri Aug 28 2020

NWS damage survey for 08/27/2020 Tornado and Microburst  Events

EF1 tornado confirmed from Bethany to North Haven CT

Start location...Bethany in New Haven CT

End location...North Haven in New Haven CT

Date...08/27/2020

Estimated time...353 pm to 403 pm EDT

Maximum EF-scale rating...EF1

Estimated maximum wind speed...110 mph

Maximum path width...500 yards

Path length...11.1 miles

Beginning lat/lon...41.448, -72.992

Ending lat/lon...41.349, -72.828

Fatalities...none

Injuries...none

Summary

    Based on a National Weather Service damage survey done in conjunction with CT Division Of Emergency Management And Homeland Security and local CT town emergency managements, it has been determined that a strong EF1 tornado, with maximum wind speed of 110 mph, tracked southeast from Bethany to North Haven, CT.

      The tornado first touched down in a forested area to the southeast of Judd Hill Rd in Bethany CT. The tornado tracked southeast over primarily forested areas from Amity Rd, to Munson Rd towards Litchfield Tpke, creating a path of damage about 75 yards wide, with hardwood tree damage consistent with wind speeds of 80 to 90 mph. The path of damage widened to around 300 yards as the tornado tracked southeast towards Lake Bethany.

        Structural damage, including significant roof damage to several homes, and snapped hardwood trees indicated wind speeds of around 100 mph in this area. The tornado path continued southeast for another 4 miles to near the town center of Hamden CT, with tree and structural damage indicative of wind speeds of 70 to 80 mph.

       The intensity picked up significantly as the tornado approached the center of Hamden, as evidenced by extensive damage to numerous buildings, including the flat roof of a 2 story building across from Hamden Town Hall being torn apart.

        Wind speeds are estimated to be around 100 mph based on the damage to these buildings, bent metal fencing around town hall, and uprooted and snapped trees. The tornado reached maximum strength and width from this point on as it continued southeast across Wilbur Cross Parkway, Interstate 91, and down to the intersection of Arrowdale and Thompson St in North Haven, CT.

         Tremendous hardwood tree damage and structural damage was indicative of wind speeds of 110 mph and an expanded width of 500 yards. It is at this point that the tornado appears to have dissipated with its destructive straight line winds fanning out to the coast.

    The notice also described microbursts from North Haven to Guilford, and ends with this statement:

    The information in this statement is preliminary and subject to change pending final review of the events and publication in NWS storm data.

URL: https://nwschat.weather.gov/p.php?pid=202008290246-KOKX-NOUS41-PNSOKX

These photos show the damage along the Sanford Feeder Trail on Friday, Aug. 28. The photos are arranged sequentiall from Brooks Road to the Regicides Trail. The tree crowns were midway up the trail. The tree trunks are near the Regicides Trail. Some photos are dark and fuzzy because it was dusk. I walked out by the gleam of my eyeballs, although I did have a flashlight just in case it was truly dark. The photos prior to clearing I took on Saturday, Aug. 29, so they are brighter. Only a part of the tree was removed to create an obstacle against any illegal ATV or motorized dirt bike use.

Tropical Storm Isaias Brings Down Limbs

West Rock was somewhat impacted by Tropical Storm Isaias on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

I have been out to the park multiple times since the storm, sometimes with other volunteering working mostly on the trails at the southern end of the park between the ballfield in Westville to the base of Lake Wintergreen.

This includes the entire Teal Trail, Westville Feeder, Green Trail, and Orange Trail. Also included is the Regicides Trail from the South Overlook to the Orange Trail, and from the Blue-White Trail to the Purple-Orange Trail. The Red Trail has been surveyed and cleared from the stairs north to Baldwin Drive, and a short section near the northern end of Mountain Road.

There were occasional tree crowns to clear, plus many small branches to toss off trail. The worst damage was along the Teal Trail where there was a carpet of leaves and small branches across the trail, plus periodic blowdowns. I cleared about four blowdowns that were partially blocking the trail, mostly oak crowns, one blowdown behind Common Ground High School that was completely blocking the trail. Someone had cleared a couple of blowdowns along the Red Trail south of the main entrance.

North of Lake Wintergreen, there has also been minimal to moderate damage. On Aug. 10, I walked a circuit north of Lake Wintergreen with two other volunteers, and found surprisingly little damage. We had to cut only a couple of small limbs along the whole area, but certainly found plenty of little branches and leaves along the trail. From Lake Wintergreen, we walked north on the White Trail to the Purple Trail, and took that west up the ridge to the Purple-Orange Trail. From there we headed south on the Regicides Trail and descended back to the start on the Gold Trail. We cleared one tree crown that was along the side of Baldwin Drive.

State workers cleared Regicide Drive to the South Overlook and Judges Cave. The state had also cleared Baldwin Drive as far north as the gravel road to the antennas. Other parts of the road I have seen looked good at that time, although I did hear reports of a couple of trees down near the northern end of the road. 

The state cut down a leaning tree at the junction of White and Gold and also cut some downed trees near the south end of the lake.

Another volunteer told me he cleared blowdowns on the Yellow Trail off Mountain Road, and on the Red Trail and Red-White Trails north of Mountain Road to Hill Street. There still remained one overhanging tree that would be dangerous to cut, and a step over trunk near the Regicides Trail.

I pruned back the Red Trail, heading south from the northern part of Mountain Road, on Aug. 14. Someone had previously cleared two trees. I focused on pruning back the trail. This section is heavily affected by invasive plants.

I suggest reporting any large trees blocking trails to the park office, based out of Sleeping Giant, by calling (203) 287-5658. Be as specific as possible by naming the color of the trail that is blocked and an approximate location, often best described in relation to an intersecting trail.

My concern about the delay in getting to any blowdown is that people typically will trample through the woods to get around the blockage, killing vegetation and creating a new trail. Anyone walking on the trail can help by moving to the side any loose branches they can safely lift.

These pictures show some of the storm damage along the Teal Trail, following Tropical Storm Isaias. The top photo shows the blocked trail behind Common Ground High School on Aug. 5 with the middle picture showing it cleared well enough to make the trail passable. The folding hand saw I was carrying was not suited to fully clearing this blowdown. I stopped when I reached the blowdown across the entire trail because I ran out of water and needed water on the 93 degree day to stay properly hydrated to clear this blockage. I returned on Aug. 20 and cleared the blowdown across the trail, and also finished cutting the tree that was across the trail.

Three Storms in 2018 Deliver a Punch to West Rock

This blowdown was on the Red-White Trail by Lake Wintergreen. On March 8, 2018, I cut the branches hanging down to allow people to walk under the tree.

I returned on March 22, 2018 to cut the tree away from the trail. It was sad to have to cut such a vibrant looking tree, but it was rooted on thin soil and when it fell, most of the roots were pulled out of the ground, giving the tree a dim prospect for survival. Propped against the tree is a Silky Katanaboy 500, an impressive pruning saw that I was using for the first time.

Storms Deliver a Punch to West Rock

West Rock Ridge State Park experienced damage related to two storms in spring 2018, the March 7 northeaster and the May 15 thunderstorm. Damage from the two storms at West Rock was moderate, as compared to the devastation at Sleeping Giant State Park and on the Quinnipiac Trail from the thunderstorm-related microburst and tornado on May 15.

The northeaster was the first significant storm to affect the trails since Super Storm Sandy in 2012. Pine tree limbs were scattered across the Lake Wintergreen parking lot and the spruce tree in the center of the parking lot was snapped in half.

The hardest hit area was the Red Trail from Lake Wintergreen to Mountain Road, and in particular, the Red Trail from the Purple Trail north to the powerlines. A series of trees on the opposite side of Wintergreen Brook crashed down across the trail, as they were growing in the soft soil along the top of the bank, and the weight of the heavy snow uprooted them. One oak tree completely blocked the trail, while other evergreen trees leaned at an angle with branches hanging down.

The other trails suffered the occasional blowdown, usually a combination of a small tree or shrub (4 inch diameter) that snapped in half with the crown hanging over the trail, or a large tree (10 inches in diameter) that fell across the trail. The White Trail along Lake Wintergreen encountered this type of damage. Other trails were only lightly affected.

Over a series of visits with some help from others, we cleared most of the overhanging limbs, cut back some of the smaller trunks, and opened up some of the larger blowdowns. I also cut away one large hemlock. Weeks later the state cleared the rest of the trees along the Red Trail.

May 15, 2018 Thunderstorm, Tornado and Microburst

The second significant storm to affect West Rock was the thunderstorm on May 15, 2018, which in Beacon Falls, Bethany, and Hamden was an EF-1 tornado with 110 mile per hour winds. The tornado track passed about 2 miles north of West Rock, extending over to Sleeping Giant State Park and Wharton Brook State Park. Those parks suffered extensive damage resulting in their closure to clear fallen and damaged trees. Sleeping Giant did not reopen until June 14, 2019, the damage was so extensive.

Dramatic drone footage of the parking lot damage at Sleeping Giant may be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trN7pxjbkyA The Sleeping Giant Park Association has photos of the damage to the park and the cleanup: https://www.facebook.com/Sleeping-Giant-Park-Association-SGPA-Official-Site-124405787638472/

West Rock suffered scattered thunderstorm damage with some large trees down in the northern half of the park, but was relatively unscathed in the southern half from the South Overlook to the Purple Trail. I made 17 visits to the park from May 19 to July 5, 2018, to inspect trails and clear any damage with a handsaw, sometimes by myself, and other times with another person.

In the south end of the park as far north as the Purple Trail, the only real damage was a 12-inch diameter pine tree on the Red Trail at the south end of Lake Wintergreen that broke about 10 feet off the ground. Fortunately, only the crown fell on the trail, so another volunteer and I cleared it in a few minutes. The parking lot at Lake Wintergreen was fine with no evidence that anything had fallen, a change from the March storm when large limbs were scattered across the parking lot.

In the northern half of the park, other than the three sections discussed below, from the Purple Trail north to York Mountain, the trails encountered only minor damage. 
I cleared the occasional moderate sized tree or tree crown from the Regicides Trail, and there was nothing to clear on the Sanford Feeder. On the Red Trail between the two sections of Mountain Road, I cleared several small blowdowns (4 to 6 inch diameter trees).

There were six large trees down on the Regicides Trail just north of the Yellow Trail, a volunteer sawyer from the Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA) cleared with a chainsaw on May 31, 2018. These trees were either white pine trees or red oaks and they were uprooted by the wind, all of which fell from west to east. I am not a meteorologist, but I would guess this was caused by a downburst.

There was a large red oak across the Yellow Trail near Baldwin Drive that another volunteer and I cleared with hand tools. In the woods by the top of the Yellow Trail, a number of large oak trees also fell. Three large trees fell across Baldwin Drive, two in the vicinity of the Yellow Trail, and one about a mile north of the Yellow Trail. The sawyer who wished to remain anonymous cleared one, I cleared a second, and the state cleared a third. I cleared the crowns of two red oak trees near the north end of Baldwin Drive, again using hand tools.

In July, a different volunteer used his chainsaw to clear some large blowdowns remaining from the March storm. These were not a priority to clear because they were not blocking passage along the trail. One was an oak on the Red Trail that was easy to step over, another was an oak on the Red-White Trail near the Field of Dreams near Hill Street that was snapped high enough that people could easily walk under it, and there were three downed oaks to step over on the Regicides Trail.

A blowdown on the Quinnipiac Trail, about 0.3 miles east of Brooks Road, which has been cleared by volunteers.

A fallen tree blocks Baldwin Drive just north of the Yellow Trail, May 23, 2018. This was cleared on May 31.

The tree in the process of being cleared by a volunteer sawyer on May 31, 2018.

The road is now clear for bicyclists and hikers in this area.

A pine tree leans over the Regicides Trail, about a third of a mile north of the Yellow Trail, May 23, 2018.

This was cleared on May 31. This photo was taken June 7. Note that with the weight of the crown removed, the tree partially stood itself back up again.

A red oak trunk partially blocks the Regicides Trail, about a third of a mile north of the Yellow Trail, May 23, 2018.

The oak tree was cleared on May 31 and this photo was taken June 7, 2018.

A pine tree blocks the Regicides Trail, about a quarter a mile north of the Yellow Trail, May 23, 2018.

I cut away the limbs from the pine tree blocking the Regicides Trail, about 0.15 miles north of the Yellow Trail, allowing hikers to step over the left side. I had neither the time, nor the energy, nor the daylight to cut and remove the entire tree as it was nearing 8 p.m. on May 23, 2018. I also cut and removed and cedar tree felled by the pine tree. Just after I took this photo, I removed the dead hemlock beyond the pine tree.

The tree in the process of being cut, as seen from the other angle. The tree was cleared on May 31, 2018. Due to the rain that started falling when the work was completed, I do not have a photo of the cleared area, as I did not want to get my camera wet.

A double-trunked pine tree blocks the Regicides Trail, about a third of a mile north of the Yellow Trail, June 7, 2018.

A volunteer sawyer finishes a cut on the top trunk in this view from the opposite side of the tree on June 7, 2018.

The tree has been cleared as seen from the same direction as the first photo, June 7, 2018.

The crown of this red oak tree partially blocks the Regicides Trail, a bit south of the Purple-Orange Trail in June 2018. This moderate-sized blowdown is more typical of the damage at West Rock from the May thunderstorm.

I cleared the blowdown on June 12, 2018 in about 15 minutes with a handsaw, and used the pieces to block a rocky area above the trail, guiding hikers to stay on the trail.

These photos are all following the March 2018 northeaster. Note to the lack of leaves on the trees.

This photo of a downed red oak tree on the Red Trail is after I spent 35 minutes clearing away smaller limbs on one side. The state cut this open, so the trail is accessible.

This photo of a downed hemlock tree on the Red Trail is after I opened up the limbs enough for people to walk under the tree. The state cleared this one.

The trail gnomes had cut away a couple of branches under this downed hemlock tree on the Red Trail enough for people to squeeze through the tree.

The hemlock tree on the Red Trail after I cut away many of the smaller branches, allowing easy access. The state cleared this one.

This photo shows three problem trees on the White Trail near the junction with the Orange Trail. On March 8, 2018, a friend and I cut the birch tree on the right  sticking up at a 45 degree angle, which was knocked over onto the trail by the red pine tree lying across the trail. That same day, we cut the "horns" off the tree to allow people to more easily step over the fallen trunk. Crossing the entire trail at a 45 degree angle is a dead hemlock, leaning against another tree.

On March 22, 2018, I cut the red pine tree and rolled the trunk off the trail. I cut the hemlock at shoulder height and then threw another tree trunk at the cut. After they crashed to the ground, I cut up the larger tree and put the sections off the trail.
 

Quinnipiac Trail Devastated by the Storm

As compared to the main section of West Rock, the Quinnipiac Trail on the west side of York Mountain which crosses a mixture of water company land, private property, and isolated blocks of West Rock, suffered extensive damage, as did the dirt section of Downs Road on water company land.
The trail is this area is about three-quarters of mile north of West Rock, so although it was more than a mile south of the tornado track, the strong and devastating winds extended well beyond the storm’s path. 

On a Trails Day hike on June 2, 2018, in a three-quarter mile section of this trail, extending from Brooks Road east up the ridge toward the Regicides Trail, I counted about 15 blowdowns, many of them major. A dozen volunteers cleared these blowdowns in the first two weeks of June.

As part of a July 26, 2018 hike, we walked up the Quinnipiac Trail to the overlook from the shoulder of York Mountain, passing through this area. We appreciated the ease of walking along an open trail.

For those looking for a sense of the storm damage at Sleeping Giant, go 3 miles west from the state park to the Quinnipiac Trail between Downs Road in Hamden and Brooks Road in Bethany, which was also in direct line of the May 15 tornado and microburst. This area is 1.5 miles northwest of the northern boundary of the main part of West Rock, showing how close the park was to being directly affected by the storm.

I hiked this area with friends on July 26, 2018 to see how the Quinnipiac Trail was doing, as volunteers and staff from the Connecticut Forest and Park Association had cleared much of the damage, but still had work to do in the powerlines area. The area was subsequently cleared by the volunteers and is easy to hike.
In some sections, large oak trees with diameters as large as 18 inches were blown down every 10 to 15 feet. We could not find our way through the section that had not been cleared and bushwhacked out to the powerlines, rejoining the trail where it had been cleared.

In the cleared areas, piles of logs next to cut trees showed the damage, while in the other areas, we navigated over tree trunks, under downed tree crowns, and around the base of toppled trees with root balls standing taller than us. We eventually gave up navigating the maze and used the tree-less powerline area to reconnect to the trail south of the powerlines where it had been cleared.

On the way back, we decided to walk Brooks Road to Carmel Road to Downs Road, not wanting to navigate the Quinnipiac Trail. However, the damage along Downs Road across Regional Water Authority property between two sets of gates, was even worse. Oak trees as large as two feet in diameter completely blocked the road. In some sections, the trees were lined up like patients in a sick ward, with enough roots attached to the ground that they still had leaves.

The RWA did conduct a harvest that year, salvaging the trees that could be used as lumber.
The Rocky Top section of the Quinnipiac Trail between Kimberly Rd and Rocky Top Road was also massively impacted by the tornado.  A volunteer told the CFPA about 20 significant blowdowns blocking the trail. In response, CFPA staff showed up on May 23, 2018, and cleared the whole of Rocky Top in one marathon day, allowing a June 3, 2018 Trails Day hike to take place.

A sign for the Quinnipiac Trail at the Downs Road trailhead warned of trail damage, July 26, 2018. The sign has since been removed, since the trail is now clear.

 

Snapped trees are visible to the west from the dirt portion of Downs Road, between Hoadley Road and Gaylord Mountain Road, July 26, 2018.

An unrooted tree along the Quinnipiac Trail, 0.6 miles south of the Downs Road trailhead, with cleared trees visible ahead, July 26, 2018.

Just off the Quinnipiac Trail, 0.8 miles south of the Downs Road trailhead, a line of trees lies down on the grown, July 26, 2018.

Snapped and uprooted trees are visible from an uncleared section of the Quinnipiac Trail, 0.9 miles south of the Downs Road trailhead, July 26, 2018. The trail is now passable in this area.

Piles of cut logs line the Quinnipiac Trail, 0.1 miles east of Brooks Road, July 28, 2018.