Wallingford Tornado, deadliest in Connecticut history

Background. Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, centrally located between New Haven and Hartford. The day prior to the disaster was clear and described as one of the loveliest of the season. The storm system that eventually spawned the Wallingford tornado produced damaging winds and at least one tornado far before it reached the town.

Casualties. The tornado killed about 34 people, with estimated totals varying between sources, and injured at least 70, many severely. This death toll was thirty-one more than the second-deadliest Connecticut tornado. The event remains the deadliest in Connecticut's history and the second deadliest in New England, after the 1953 Worcester tornado.

Damage. The tornado, unofficially rated F4, destroyed most of the town. It devastated a branch of the Oneida Community that had operated in Wallingford from 1851 through 1878. Some sources insist the tornado dissipated a few miles west of the town, suggesting it was an entirely separate tornado, but without a modern damage survey, this is impossible to tell.