High Wind — Eastern Hampden, Massachusetts

2023-02-03 · Eastern Hampden, Massachusetts

Event narrative

Winds were generally gusting to 50 to 60 mph, but at the highest elevations, a mesonet site atop Mt. Tom recorded a gust to 78 mph at 617 PM EST. In Southwick at 1230 PM EST, a tree fell onto a SUV on Feeding Hills Road (Route 57), which sadly killed a 6-month old passenger.

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 1080705. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.