High Wind — Southern Worcester, Massachusetts

2023-02-03 · Southern Worcester, Massachusetts

Event narrative

Winds generally were gusting to 50 to 60 mph. At the Worcester Airport, the ASOS (KORH) recorded a wind gust to 60 mph at 643 PM EST. In Upton at 950 AM EST, a tree was down on wires near James Road. In Auburn at 4 PM EST, a tree was down on Hill Street. In Sturbridge at 615 PM EST, a tree was down on Dennison Drive. In Charlton at 630 PM EST, a tree was down on A. F. Putnam Road at Willow Tree Lane. In Worcester at 7 PM EST, a large tree was down on a house on Indian Lake Parkway and at 740 PM EST, a tree was down on wires and cars on Mallard Road and Austin Street. In Grafton at 8 PM EST, a tree was down on a house on Sartell Road.

Wider weather episode

A major Arctic cold front blasted through southern New England on the morning of March 3rd. It was followed by a few rounds of strong and locally damaging wind gusts. Temperatures plunged to 10 to 20 below zero on the morning of March 4th. The -10F reading at Boston's Logan Airport was the coldest there since 1957. There were numerous instances of burst pipes due to the cold across the region, but it is impossible to quantify dollar damage. Wind chill indices reached 30 to 40 below zero across southern New England.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1080697. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.