High Wind — Southern Bristol, Massachusetts

2021-10-26 to 2021-10-27 · Southern Bristol, Massachusetts

Event narrative

Winds generally gusted to 55 to 75 mph in southern Bristol County. In Westport at Horseneck Beach at 5 AM EDT (4 AM EST), a Weatherflow mesonet station recorded a wind gust to 75 mph. In Fairhaven at 543 AM EDT (443 AM EST) on the 27th, the West Island Weatherflow mesonet station recorded a wind gust to 66 mph. There was widespread wind damage with trees and power lines downed. According to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, the damage estimates totaled $1,880,039 for all of Bristol County, the majority of which was from utility damages and debris cleanup. Some of the specific reports received by NWS-Norton follow. In Fairhaven at 1025 PM EDT (925 PM EST) on the 26th, a tree was down on Chestnut Street and a power pole was snapped, with wires downed, on Alden Road. Also in Fairhaven, at 319 AM EDT on the 27th, a tree and power lines were down on Middle Street. In Acushnet at 1111 PM EDT, a tree was down on power lines on Hathaway Road; at 204 AM EDT on the 27th, trees were down on Mendall Road and Mattapoisett Road; and at 240 AM EDT, a tree was down on a house on Joseph Street. In Dartmouth at 1140 PM EDT, a tree was down on Cross Road; at 211 AM EDT on the 27th, a tree was down on Reed Road and a sailboat ran aground at Padanaram Harbor; at 343 AM EDT, a tree was down on wires on Shipyard Lane; and at 1115 AM EDT a large tree was down on power lines on Potomska Road. In New Bedford at 113 AM EDT on the 27th, high tension wires were down and a transformer exploded on Mount Pleasant Street. At 621 AM EDT, there were several social media accounts of a parked plane at the New Bedford Regional Airport (EWB) being picked up by the strong winds and coming to rest in the middle of the road up against a tree.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure nor'easter underwent bombogenesis as it developed east of Nantucket on the 26th. It then moved west toward Nantucket Sound, before heading eastward again back out to sea on the 27th. Winds gusted to 60-90+ mph. More than one-half million power outages were reported...495,000 in MA and 96,800 in RI. Schools were closed for multiple days, as it took a while to clean up the downed trees/wires and to restore power.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 988022. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.