Tropical Storm Isaias blows into Massachusetts, downing trees and knocking out power

Powerful wind gusts took down trees and wires across Massachusetts on Tuesday, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands in the Bay State as the remnants of Tropical Storm Isaias blew into the region.

The fast-moving afternoon storm brought heavy rain and 60 mph wind gusts for many parts of the Bay State, followed by sunshine and rainbows for dinnertime.

“The straight line winds of up to 60 miles per hour definitely caused quite a bit of damage in communities,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Rodney Chai, who’s based in the Norton office.

As of Tuesday evening, there were 214,671 reported power outages across the state, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

“The biggest impact today was the numerous power outages across the state,” Chai said. “We expected to have power outages, and that number keeps going up.”

Many roads were blocked by trees and wires — from Leicester to Spencer to Braintree to Middleboro. In Northampton, Interstate 91 was impassable because of a downed tree across all travel lanes, Massachusetts State Police reported.

The MBTA reported downed trees across tracks in various locations — along the Green Line D Branch near Longwood, the Red Line near North Quincy and the Mattapan Trolley between Milton and Butler.

The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings for Massachusetts, but none were confirmed on the ground as of 6:30 p.m.

But storm chaser Greg Forrister said he witnessed rotation over Wachusett Reservoir in West Boylston. The Fitchburg resident was watching the radar and thought he might be able to “see something pretty cool” at the reservoir.

Forrister said he came across a rain squall pushing across the water, and believes he saw a waterspout.

“It was pretty intense, really wild out there,” he said. “You don’t see that every day.”

Less rain fell than expected across the state. About 1 inch of rain was measured in the Berkshires, and the eastern part of Massachusetts got less than an inch.

“We have to deal with power outages and downed trees, but at least it’s not flooding,” Chai said.

There was a risk for minor flooding at coastal communities, but that potential flooding had not happened as of the evening.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2DcMmaF