Boston Storms - Power Outage
Boston Storms = Power Outage
The latest batch of intense wet and windy weather has reached the city.
For the second day in a row, the region has been hit with extreme weather. Tornado warnings are in effect for the entire state except Cape Cod and the Islands, and severe thunderstorms and steady wind gusts have hammered the Bay State causing power outages, road closings and property damage, according to forecasts from the National Weather Service in Taunton.
“We have a line of shower and thunderstorms moving toward Eastern Massachusetts,” said Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. “The line will continue to move east into the evening hours.” The tornado watches are in effect until 8 p.m. when the storm is expected to taper off, she said.
The extreme weather began on Saturday, when the region was walloped by thunderstorms and severe winds. In North Andover, police said either a "a micro-burst or a mini-tornado" traveled a half a mile in North Andover knocking down trees, pulling down wires, and causing power outages, property damage and road closures.
The North Andover Police Department lost power at about 5:15 p.m. yesterday, said North Andover Police Sergeant Timothy Crane. "It was nice and sunny over at the police station, but then we heard a loud bang and all of sudden the power went out, came back on and went out again," Crane said.
Crane said no injuries were reported but roads there have been road closures as police clean up debris off the streets.
Microbursts occur "when you have wind being pulled up into the storm and ahead of it there is a downdraft that hits the ground and kind of rolls forward," Buttrick said.
"They can be quite impressive when they hit," she said.
Jackie Barry, a spokeswoman for National Grid, said that about 7,000 customers were without power on Saturday after the storm passed through the Merrimack Valley – including 1,800 from one outage in the North Andover area – but crews have restored power to almost all of the residences that lost power due to Saturday’s storms.
Just as crews fix power outages, however, the newest round of wind and rain is causing new outages in the state. More than 4,500 customers had lost power by 3 p.m. today, including 1,600 lost power in Plymouth County, and about 1,900 in Quincy. National Grid expects power to be restored in most affected areas by this evening, before the start of the NBA Finals game between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, which begins at 8 p.m.
Falling trees caused some of the power outages and have been an issue in several towns over the weekend. On Saturday, trees were also knocked down in Boxford, Milford, Hopkinton, and Georgetown, according to reports on the National Weather Service website. On Sunday, a tree in Hancock knocked over power lines, Barry said. Later in the afternoon, a tree in Southwick went through the roof of a home, according to reports on the National Weather Service website. Southwick police said there were no injures from the incident.
