High Wind — Eastern Essex, Massachusetts

2023-12-18 · Eastern Essex, Massachusetts

Event narrative

Winds generally gusted 45 to 55 mph. The strongest gust was 60 mph at Children's Island followed by 56 mph at Ipswich.

Wider weather episode

A strong storm system moved up the Atlantic coast Sunday night into Monday, merging with a short wave trough exiting the northern Great Plains and taking the surface low west of southern New England. This brought strong southerly winds and coastal flooding to southern New England. This was a very impactful storm flooding roads, closing schools, knocking out power to 300,000 across MA, cancelling flights, and killing one man in southern New England.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1146341. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.