High Wind — Northern Bristol, Massachusetts

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

Event narrative

Winds in northern Bristol County were gusting as high as 55 to 60 mph. At 641 AM EDT (541 AM EST) on the 27th, a CWOP station in Taunton recorded a wind gust to 59 mph. In Mansfield at 745 AM EDT, an Urbanet station recorded a high sustained wind of 46 mph. Numerous trees and wires were downed. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported that damage figures for all of Bristol County amounted to $1,880,039, the majority of which was for damage to utilities and for debris cleanup. Some specific reports received by NWS-Norton follow. In Easton at 839 PM EDT (739 PM EST) on the 26th, a tree and power lines were downed on Alan Road. In Norton at 1 AM EDT on the 27th, a tree was down on Lincoln Street. In Mansfield at 320 AM EDT, a tree was down on wires on Stearns Avenue by Colonial Drive. In Taunton at 6 AM EDT, a tree was down on Rt. 24 at the Rt. 140 exit. In Rehoboth at 605 AM EDT, trees were down on Rocky Hill Road, Ash Street, Fairview Avenue, and Agricultural Avenue.

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 988023. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.