High Wind — Eastern Hampshire, Massachusetts

2021-03-01 to 2021-03-02 · Eastern Hampshire, Massachusetts

Event narrative

In Easthampton at 930 PM EST on March 1, a wind gust to 51 mph was reported. In Amherst at 930 PM EST, a gust to 48 mph was reported. However, atop nearby Mt. Tom in Holyoke, a mesonet site recorded wind gusts to 62 mph at 407 PM EST and to 78 mph at 412 AM EST on March 2! A wind gust to 61 mph was reported on the nearby ASOS at Westfield-Barnes Airport (KBAF) at 453 AM EST on the 2nd. In Belchertown at 921 PM EST, a tree and wires were down on Allen Road. In Hatfield at 956 PM, a tree was down on a house on Main Street.

Wider weather episode

An arctic cold front moved through southern New England on the afternoon of March 1st. It was followed by very strong/damaging west-northwest winds, which continued through much of the night and into the early morning hours on March 2nd. There were many reports of downed trees and at one point, more than 60,000 customers were without power in Massachusetts.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 940235. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.