Vehicles Emerge In Somerville, Massachusetts After Massive Piles Of Snow Dumped On Them In Winter Storms

A junked car emerges from an enormous snow pile melting
this month in Somerville, Massachusetts. The cars were
buried intentionally because they were junk and city
officials didn't have tine to move them when two
enormous snowstorms covered the city this winter, 

 Back in those horrible snowy days in January and February, some cities, especially in hard hit southeast New England, hauled the snow off of clogged streets and piled it up into immense piles in empty lots and back alleys until it all melted in the spring. 

About two weeks ago, something odd began emerging from the massive snow pile in Somerville, Massachusetts.

A vehicle. Actually vehicles. Plural. Six of 'em. 

The first vehicle anyone notices was an old Ford Escape, which clearly did not escape the clutches of this past winter. It turns out the car belongs to the city of Somerville Department of Public Works.Did it belong to someone who's been looking for their vehicle since a blizzard struck last February. 

Actually no. Somerville buried the cars. On purpose.   

According to CBS Boston/WBZ:

"The Somerville Department of Public Works says these cars are inoperable and awaiting disposal. With back to back major snowstorms this year, they didn't want to divert storm resources to move the cars. With dwindling places to put snow, burying them was their best choice."

Somerville is one of the most densely populated cities in New England, so there were very few places to put the feet of snow that fell on the city this past winter. The relatively large lot comprising four acres at 90 Washington Street with the junked municipal cars was the most logical places to put the snow. 

The weight of the snow took their toll on the cars, it seems. Meteorologists at CBS Boston estimated there might have been 50,000 to 60,000 pounds of snow and ice on top of the cars

News video of the Ford Escape that had been most exposed from the melting snow showed. Its tires were flat and it appeared the axles might have broken under the weight. The rear window is broken out and the entire body of the vehicle appears somewhat flattened. 

Even though the vehicles were buried on purpose, the jokes about the situation raced through social media. 

"Hey boss, I found that car we've been missing for  4 months," someone deadpanned on Reddit. 

A photo on the WBUR website of a person peering inside a still-half buried vehicle had a caption that read, "Oh, that's where left my wallet."

About a week ago, the city used equipment to pull some of the cars out and break apart sections  of the snow pile, which might hasten its melt a little. But snow piles as big as the one in Somerville can stick around until June.

There might not be any more snow dumps or vehicles hidden under the snow at that lot in Somerville. The city is planning to sell the property for redevelopment, WBUR reports.  

Time To Say Goodbye To New England's Biggest Snowman Since Perhaps 2008

The giant snowman in Shirley, 
Massachusetts, lit up at night. 

The forecast in New England calls for warm weather later this weekend and next week, so it might be time to say a fond farewell to Parker the giant snowman. Maybe. 

I say maybe because Parker is so big that it will take a lot of thawing to get rid of him.

He was built in February, towering 20 feet above an adjacent street in Shirley, Massachusetts. Then the big blizzard hit in late February, so Parker grew to 23 feet tall. 

Video of all this is at the bottom of this post. 

No offense to Parker, but he's a fat guy. He's a little wider at the base as he is tall. That's for stability's sake.  Parker's eyes, mouth, arms and buttons down his front also light up at night. 

His hat is a trash can atop a circular four-foot piece of plywood. 

Parker is named after the street in Shirley, Massachusetts where he and his creators live.  Said creator are the Aalerud family, especially Eric Aalerud, who built most of Parker. 

When Parker was a mere 20 feet tall, Eric Aalerud told WHDH 7 News in Boston that the creation of Parker was a lot of work.

"I was very sore.....And I'm an electrician and I flip houses, too, And I will say, I was more sore doing this than anything I've done in the last five, 10 years."

Aalerud used a snowblower, a shovel, wood and a ladder to build Parker, then sprayed water on the giant snowman to freeze everything. 

 Last year, the family built a smaller, but still impressive snowman that stood 15 feet tall. That one lasted until the end of March. 

Parker is now where close to  being the largest snowman in U.S. history. 

That honor goes to a snowwoman named Olympia, who was built in Bethel, Maine during the snowy winter of 2008. She was 122 feet and one inch tall and had a 125-foot diameter at the base, which is still in the Guinness Book of World Records as biggest snowman.  About 13 million pounds of snow created Olympia. 

Her arms consisted of 27-foot tall evergreens. Here "carrot" nose, which was painted by school children is eight foot long. Here eyes were made of giant wreaths. 

Back in Shirley, Massachusetts, Aalerud vows to build an even bigger snowman next winter. And perhaps give the future Parker a wife named Shirley, after the town they're in, of course. They'd better hope next winter is an even snowier one than this one was in Massachusetts.  

Video:

News video about the giant snowman. Eric Aalerud's New England accent helps. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Some Of The Best Videos To Come Out Of The Blizzard Of ' 26

Blizzard aftermath in Fall River, Massachusetts. This
city reported the most snow out of the storm - 41 inches. 

The Blizzard of '26 was certainly one of the most photogenic storms we've had. 

The blinding snow, the coastal flooding and the immense effort to clean it all up made for some good visuals.  

There is of course TONS of videos taken in the storm. I'm sure I missed some really good ones But I found some dramatic and cool videos too.

We have some of them here. 

Here's how New York City looked. I'll never understand why New Yorkers try to use umbrellas in blizzards. Anyway, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

As always, videographer John Petramala went out into the storm, hanging out amid the whiteouts, waves and storm tides of Scituate, Massachusetts. Toward the end of the video, I'm not sure what's up with the driver of the white car, but JEEZ! Again, click on this link to view or if you see it, click on the image below. 

One man's experience battling the blizzard from his home in Rhode Island. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that.  

News report from Sandwich, Massachusetts on Cape Cod give you an idea of just how extreme the blizzard was.  Click on this link

We have more of the obligatory nor'easter ocean waves crashing onto Scituate, Massachusetts houses, and also the whiteout conditions on local highways, and stuck cars. Click on this link to view or if you see the image below, click on that.

Really cool mostly drone video by Aaron Rigby of people in Providence, Rhode Island neighborhoods trying to dig out from the city's biggest snowstorm on record, the day after the snow ended. You can see  some side streets hadn't been touched by city plows yet. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

In Herbert Von King Park in Brooklyn, New York, area residents turned the open space into a snow sculpture park. It appears dozens of them are there. There's even an igloo where the television reporter conducted part of her interview. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Blizzard Update: More Snow, Power Outages Linger, Damage Assessments Begin

Satellite views of the Blizzard of '78 and the Blizzard of 
26 look eerily similar. The Blizzard of '78 was
more destructive because it brought storm surges
through four high tide cycles. This week's
blizzard caused coastal flooding through one
high tide. However, snowfall was greater this
time compared to 1978 

It was snowing again this morning in the areas hardest hit earlier this week in the Blizzard of 26. It's not much snow, but it's adding insult to injury as people continue to dig out. 

More than three feet of snow fell in some areas.

The death toll from the storm is still being assessed. Many winter storm deaths come in the days after the snow has stopped falling. 

That's when people have heart attacks shoveling snow, die from carbon monoxide as snow blocks vents and exhaust systems.  There's also car crashes on icy roads and accidents during storm clean ujp. 

So far, six deaths have been reported just on hard-hit Long Island, New York. Five people died on the island from heart attacks as they were shoving the deep snow

A sixth person was  found deceased beneath mounts of snow in Deer Park, Long Island. A worker hired to shovel snow at the complex for residents age 55 of over found the body. The cause of death has not been determined, but police said it's not suspicious. 

In Rhode Island,  a college student was found dead in a running car Monday evening. Snow blocked the tailpipe, which means carbon monoxide backed up into the car. Another person died when he was struck by a truck on the Mass Pike as he  were trying to remove snow from a vehicle.

AccuWeather is estimating $36 billion in damage and economic losses from the storm.That includes damage to homes and businesses, disruptions to commerce and supply chains, problems with shipping operations at majorhubs, financial losses from power outages, travel delays and damage to infrastructure. 

A neighborhood full of people try to dig their street
out of record deep snow in Providence, 
Rhode Island on Tuesday. 

AccuWeather did not tease out how much of the total was in damage and how much was economic losses due to power and transportation disruptions. 

As of noon today, more than 150,000 homes and businesses still had no power in Massachusetts, mostly on or near Cape Cod.  

Power was still out across most of Cape Cod on Tuesday. Six towns on the Cape had virtually no powFew gas stations were open, and those that did had long lines. Things had improved by this morning. Only Wellfleet was completely without power. Service was partly restored to the other towns. 

Utility officials said they hope to have electricity restored to almost everybody on Cape Cod by Friday night. 

Vermont  has sent help in the form of snow clearing equipment. Thirty-two VTrans employees left Vermont this morning to help clear snow in Massachusetts. Video showed a convoy of state dump trucks and bucket loaders an Interstate highway Tuesday morning bound for Massachusetts. 

 We can spare the equipment because only southern Vermont received snow from the blizzard and even that amounted to only a few inches. No large snowstorm are in the Vermont forecast. 

As the snow its cleared, damage to buildings is becoming apparent. 

A high school gym room in Kingston, Massachusetts collapsed under the weight of the snow.  A gas station canopy on Cape Cod was shredded by high winds and heavy snow.  Fallen trees are still blocking some roads in southeastern Massachusetts. 

In New Jersey, a church steeple was left leaning after the blizzard and will have to be torn down. 

Other cities are beginning to emerge as having set all time records for a single snowstorm. New Bedford, Massachusetts received 37 inches of snow, its biggest-ever snowstorm. We have a new front runner for city with the most snow. Fall River, Massachusetts reported a storm total of 41 inches. 

It's late in the winters, so you'd think a thaw would come along and just melt all this snow fairly quickly But nope! 

Temperatures in the blizzard zone will get above freezing this afternoon, tomorrow and Saturday, but not be overly wide margins. A late season Arctic blast will keep temperatures below freezing Sunday and early next week. 

Even worse, a little more snow is in the forecast. An inch or two of new snow fell from New York City to Cape Cod this morning. A little more snow might fall Thursday night and again Sunday. Luckily, these snowfall do not look very big. At least at this point. 

I'm sure a several million people that got hit by this blizzard are seriously pining for spring. 

Quick Hitting, Fast Storms To Zip Through Vermont/New England, Windy, Maybe Snow, Too?

The last leaves of autumn clinging to the trees in St.
Albans on Monday under overcast, gusty skies. 
The leaves won't last much longer on those trees.

 The first in a series of fast moving storms zipped through yesterday and last night, spraying us with a little rain, and gusts of winds. 

The next week or so will feature more of the same: Lots of wind, quick hits of rain, which won't be particularly heavy, and, with each passing cold front, increasing chances of snow with temperatures stepping down with each front. 

Since temperatures will stay cool, especially in the mountains, this might portend an early ski and riding season. 

Each storm will deposit a little snow in the mountains. More importantly, for resorts that want to get an early start, like Killington the chilly air has the snow guns blasting. 

WPTZ reports Killington had 175 snow guns firing away on their slopes this past weekend. I'm sure they will have plenty of opportunities to make snow in the coming week to 10 days. It'll trend colder than normal, especially as we head into next weekend. 

There's no word yet on when Killington will open, the resort says they hope to open soon. 

The series of modest, but gusty storms could gradually increase snow depths on the northern Vermont summits over the next week. I wouldn't be surprised if the top of Mount Mansfield and Jay Peak have close to a foot of snow on the ground by this time next week. 

Unlike recent oddly mild Novembers, this one is shaping up to be more traditional in Vermont: Windy, overcast, unsettled, with occasional cold rain and wet snow. Lovely. 

THE DETAILS

The first gusty storm, as we know, went through with light showers yesterday and last night. 

This storm got weird in Massachusetts. A brief tornado might have touched down around Somerset, near Fall River late last night in southeast Massachusetts. Other nearby towns had strong, straight line winds.

It looks like the National Weather Service will investigate those reports. 

Nothing like that in Vermont, but you'll still feel those blustery winds today.

Places on and near the east slopes of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains could see gusts as high as 45 mph.  That would be enough for some isolated power outages. 

Most of us should stay dry, though the Northeast Kingdom should stay with the showers into the early afternoon. High spots like Jay Peak will probably see some snowflakes. 

The next storm comes at us fast, zipping in from the west, strengthening as it does so.  It won't have a huge amount of moisture to work with, so we'll just have periods of light rain and Wednesday afternoon and some gusty showers tomorrow night. There could even be a rumble of thunder. 

Rainfall with the Wednesday night storm will probably run from about a tenth of an inch south and maybe a third of an inch north.  Not enough to help with the lingering drought, but it won't hurt, either! 

The back side of the storm late Wednesday night and Thursday will feature winds even stronger than today.  We might see a wind advisory as gusts could reach 50 mph in a few favored spots and 40 mph in quite a few other locations. That could cause a few scattered power outages once again.

The gales of November indeed.

On Thursday morning, those of you living at or above 1,500 feet in elevation could wake up to a slushy coating of snow. Mountain summits could see a few inches of snow, we'll see!

Another quick system comes in Saturday, but shouldn't be a biggy.

Things could get interesting with the next zippy storm Sunday. A blast of really cold air should come behind that one, which could give valley floors, even in the warmer Champlain Valley, some snow. It's too soon to say how much, but we do know it won't exactly be a tremendous blizzard. 

It'll probably be closer to a dusting in the valleys, with several inches up in the mountains. 

You know how the first snow of the season is in Vermont.  A dusting of snow, and the fact that people have somehow forgotten how to drive in the winter can turn a simple drive to work into a real, frustrating and sometimes scary mess.

I'm already dreading next Monday. 

But, forecasts can change, so we'll keep an eye on it.  

Vermont Getting Lucky With Storms, Rest Of New England, Not So Much

Severe flooding in Leominster, Mass.
Monday. Photo by Judy Jollimore.

If you live in Vermont, you might have been justified to complain a little about the gloomy, overcast conditions that lingered all day, or at least most of the day. 

You'll be pleased to know, though, we dodged another weather bullet. And more bullets flying in our general direction look destined to miss, too.

We've been dealing with a nearly stalled weather front over New England since last Thursday, which has caused round after round of storms in various parts of the region. 

The front settled just to the south and east of Vermont Monday, leaving us in the cool-ish damp murk.

MASSACHUSETTS DISASTER

The southeastern half of New England was still on the warm,  humid side of the stalled front, and that's been causing flash flooding from torrential downpours since Saturday.

Yesterday, all hell broke loose in central Massachusetts, and to a slightly lesser extent in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

In Massachusetts, training thunderstorms, one after another going over the same spot, unleashed incredible downpours and flash floods, especially around Leominster, Fitchburg and surrounding communities. 

Leominster had 9.5 inches of rain in just a few hours. (The entire month of September there normally yields less than half that amount of rain).  Fitchburg, Massachusetts got a whopping 2.77 inches of rain in just one hour and a storm total of five inches. 

Numerous houses and businesses were flooded, at least one building collapsed in Leominster, and you basically couldn't get around town since all the roads were under water. This flood was on par with the inundation we got here in Vermont back in July, except yesterday's Massachusetts mess covered a smaller area. 

WEDNESDAY STORM

The next storm we have been talking about for days is still on track to hit New England tomorrow. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center continues to have most of the region, including Vermont, in a slight risk area for flash floods. 

I think the real danger zone might be southern New England again, which is most likely to get some torrential thunderstorms with this. 

A strong cold front will accompany this system. Here in Vermont, this thing should generally be well behaved, dumping less than an inch of rain on us through the day.  The isolated flash flood risk comes if any thunderstorms can get going just ahead of the cold front. The heavier downpours with those thunderstorms could cause a  high water problem here or there. It doesn't look like anything widespread will happen here. 

The cold front will give us a belated new introduction to autumn. In Burlington, Vermont it has been continuously above 60 degrees since the morning of September 2, which is a very strangely long time to stay that warm. 

This will end tomorrow night as both delightfully dry air with normal temperatures for mid-September finally arrive.

HURRICANE LEE

Though things could still change, it continues to look like Hurricane Lee won't be that big a deal here in Vermont. If the forecast track holds, it could end up being pretty breezy Saturday and/or Sunday, but beyond that, not much. Again, if the forecast track verifies, Vermont probably will get no rain, or at least very little rain from this hurricane.

For a few days now, the computer models, generally speaking have been making Hurricane Lee make landfall somewhere near western Nova Scotia. That the forecasts have been consistent on this gives me a little more confidence that this path will become reality. 

Again, though, hurricanes can always surprise. If the track of the storm goes much further west than expected, though, all bets are off. 

However, it looks like southern and especially eastern New England will take the brunt of this. As Hurricane Lee moves north, its top winds will weaken, but the area raked by strong winds will expand. That means coastal New England, especially Rhode Island on north to Maine, can expect high tides, large wages, beach erosion, and especially in eastern Maine, heavy rain.

The timing is still a bit of a question  mark, as some models bring Lee to near New England early Saturday, while some hold off until early Sunday. 

We still have to keep an eye on this, but if you have weekend plans for Provincetown, Nantucket or Bar Harbor,  you might want to reconsider.  

Rare Rhode Island/Massachusetts Tornadoes Friday Morning

Screenshot from a Tesla video on I-295 in
Rhode Island shows the tornado crossing the highway. 

 While I was a post for this blog thingy early Friday morning and noticed quite a thunderstorm complex coming into Connecticut.  

At the time the forecast included a very low but not zero chance of tornadoes in New England, all the way into Vermont.  I wrote that I thought the Green Mountain State was pretty safe from a twister, but I wondered about far southern New England.

Well, I was right to wonder, as it turns out.  

A pretty concentrated area of tornadoes hit Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts a bit later Friday morning, causing quite a lot of damage, but no super serious injuries.

The most impressive tornado took an off and on path through Scituate, Johnston, and North Providence, Rhode Island. It was an EF-2 with top winds of 115 mph.  It was the strongest Rhode Island tornado since August of 1986,

Dramatically, the tornado crossed I-295 in Rhode Island, lifted a car several feet in the air, turned it around and then slammed it back down on the highway. The woman driving the car was taken to a hospital but her injuries were reported to be relatively minor. 

One house directly struck by the tornado lost most of its roof shingles, had windows blown in and the front door was dislodged from its frame. Hundreds of trees were uprooted or snapped off.

There were at least three other tornadoes in that general area, according to the National Weather Service office in the Boston area.

 An EF-1 with 80 to 90 mph winds caused damage in North Attleborough and Mansfield, Massachusetts. Another, higher end EF-1 with winds of up to 110 mph caused roof and tree damage in Weymouth, Massachusetts. A weaker, brief tornado, an EF-0 with winds of up to 90 mph, caused a little more damage in Stoughton, Massachusetts.

Meteorologists will be investigating other damage in Scotland, Connecticut to determine whether yet another tornado touched down there. 

So, four, possibly five tornadoes in southern New England. Like I said the other day, it's almost as if we have another tornado alley in that region.  

Here in Vermont, the weather Friday stayed well-behaved.  I saw no reports of any severe weather.  Although one or two instances of flash flooding had been considered possible, I have no reports of any high water or washouts. 

Today might not be the nicest Saturday ever, with clouds and plenty of light showers around, especially north. It'll be a cool one, too, as temperatures will barely make it to the low 70s in the warmer spots and many places will stay in the 60s. 

Autumn is coming!

Historic Cape Cod House Miraculously Survives Nor'easter, Will Live Another Day

This historic house teetering on the eroding dunes in Truro,
Massachusetts narrowly escaped falling into the Atlantic
Ocean during a late January nor'easter. It was moved
back from the brink shortly after the storm.  Photo
by David Ryan, Boston Globe. 

The day before a huge nor'easter struck New England on January 29, images of a house in Truro, Massachusetts made the rounds.  It was teetering over the edges of fast-eroding sand dunes. 

The house on outer Cape Cod would surely succumb to the waves the next day. 

It would have been a shame, really.  The house was built as long ago as 1850, (nobody is quite sure)  and nobody likes to see historic structures go.

Crews frantically reinforced the pilings under the house hours before the storm arrived and somehow, it worked! More of the sand dunes were swept away in the storm, and the only a small corner of the house was still on land.  But the pilings somehow held.

That would have been a brief victory. The next storm would have finished the house off. But more good fortune arrived. The house has been moved further back and is at a temporary spot firmly on sand dunes. They're looking for a permanent place for it. 

The Boston Globe reports the home is owned by the Dennis family, whoever they are, who could not b reached for comment.  The Dennises paid to move the house to its temporary spot off the stilts.  They'll need to obtain permits from the town of Truro to move it to a permanent location. 

I do hope that works out, as the historic house has gone through so much, so now we're left rooting for it. 

I mean, if walls could talk. The Boston Globe gives us a quick rundown of its history:

"Massachusetts Historical Commission records state that the building was constructed between 1880 and 1890, but Truro assessing records say it was built in 1850. It was originally built as a boathouse for the Pamet Life Saving Station, which had a full time staff that patrolled the beach for wrecks. The building housed rescue boats and eventually converted to a residential cottage after the station closed in the 1940s, according to Massachusetts Historical Commission records."

Cape Cod and the rest of coastal Massachusetts are dense with historic old buildings and houses. There's even an entire HGTV show called "Houses With History" which follows the exploits of three preservationists rescuing houses on parts of Cape Cod and the Massachusetts South Shore.

While many of the historic places in New England are very safe from any coastal erosion, some are not.  A combination of sinking land and rising sea levels due to climate change regularly endanger coastal landmarks. Two Massachusetts light houses had to be moved back from the shore back in 1996, and Nauset Light Bathhouse had to be moved in 2000.

The Boston Globe said many areas on the Cape lose three feet of land per year due to coastal erosion and a single bad storm can erase more than 60 feet of land.  This house in Truro is certainly not the last that will have to be moved inland from the shore on Cape Cod. Or worse, fall into the Atlantic Ocean. 

Cape Cod will continue to ever so slowly shrink as sea levels continue rising and the coastline erodes. Not only is this difficult for the people who have to move buildings, but for the entire communities affected.

Towns and cities in Massachusetts live or die by property tax revenue. Less property, less property taxes.  Plus, the beachfront homes are worth the most, so those create the most tax revenue. Get rid of those homes, and you leave a big hole in the budget. 

These are problems that will gradually keep getting worse as the years and decades go by.  The house in Truro this winter is just one symptom of that.  

Blizzard Continues To Blast New England But Avoids Vermont- Early Afternoon Update

Blizzard conditions in Niantic,
Connecticut this morning. Photo
from Twitter
@New_EnglandWx1

As of early afternoon our New England blizzard is behaving as forecast, so kudos to all the meteorologists who have been keeping us up on this one. 

Gusts over hurricane force in some coastal locations, near zero visibility, bitter temperatures and such are all slamming eastern New England.

The storm has left a trail of broken power lines because of the wind. At last report, 100,000 people were without power in the Northeast. 

It is kind of a weird looking nor'easter, with one main center southeast of Cape Cod late this morning and a subsidiary storm trailing it off the Mid-Atlantic coast 

The storm might not look pretty from space but it sure is doing its job down here on the ground. 

 There was an unofficial report of a 98 mph atop a bluff in Truro.  So far, the highest official wind gust I've seen is 78 mph.  

As of 11 a.m., the most snow reported in New England was a foot in Attleborough, Massachusetts, but those totals will rise tremendously before all is said and done. 

One especially heavy band of snow has been parked along the Massachusetts South Shore for hours. That's where the highest snow totals will be reported - possibly near three feet.  It's also where meteorologists have said for a couple days said would be Ground Zero for heaviest snow.  That's an incredible forecasting feat to get that right a couple days in advance. 

In New Jersey, the snow was gradually diminishing as of noon, but there were plenty of reports of 15 or 16 inches of snow on the Jersey Shore. That area, along with parts of Long Island and Connecticut, officially had a blizzard, which is defined as at least three consecutive hours of 35 mph or greater winds combined with lots of falling and/or blowing snow. 

I'm sure Massachusetts will also soon go into the confirmed blizzard zone.

VERMONT UPDATE

There's certainly no blizzard in Vermont.

Satellite view of the big nor'easter. Click on the image
to make it bigger and easier to see. Note the bumpy
nature of the clouds near the coast, indicating heavy 
precipitation. Also note the clear skies just to the west
of Vermont in northern New York. The dry air is winning
out so far, preventing snow from getting much into Vermont.

The frigid, dry air from Quebec was winning out in Vermont as of noon. The light snow in southern and eastern Vermont was not advancing northwestward, at least so far, and where it was falling, it was light.

Up here in northwestern Vermont, the dry air victory is obvious. The overcast in St. Albans has thinned a bit. Clear blue skies are visible far off to the west. 

The cold air drainage from Quebec plus the overcast skies have kept temperatures from rising. Burlington reached 3 below at 5 a.m. and was still at that level at 9 a.m, and had only risen to 1 above at noon. .......

Winds, as expected, had increased, and probably will get even stronger as the afternoon goes on, so wind chills will continue to be miserable - in the teens and 20s below zero in most spots. 

Nor'easter Blasts Massachusetts Coast; Gusts To 94 MPH

The Duxbury, Massachusetts Fire Department posted
this photo of nor'easter damage in that town this morning.

Thank goodness the big nor'easter stayed off the coast.  

Had it come closer or moved just inland, virtually all of New England would have had an incredibly destructive blow.  

Since this one stayed offshore, most of the havoc is south and east of Interstate 95 in southern New England.

There's plenty of havoc, though! As many suspected,the storm really over-performed in terms of wind along and near the Massachusetts coast.  Edgartown, on Martha's Vineyard, gusted to 94 mph early this morning. Other wind reports include gusts to 87 mph in Scituate, 84 mph in Duxbury  and several gusts over 80 mph on Cape Cod.

The storm was rapidly strengthening when those high wind gusts hit. You tend to get the highest winds in a nor'easter when the storm is in its fast building stage. 

The National Weather Service was advising everyone along and east of Interstate 95 to stay indoors this morning because so many trees and wires were falling.  At last check, more than 400,000 people in Massachusetts had no electricity. 

Luckily, there was a fairly sharp cut off between destructive winds to the east and not so bad to the west. Gusts were mostly in the 40 to 45 mph range north and west of Interstate 95, so there weren't too many problems once you get inland. 

Even though astronomical tides were low, there was still storm surge flooding and immense, crashing waves hitting shore. 

Today's nor'easter hit just days before the 20th anniversary of the Perfect Storm, that famous storm depicted in the book and movie. Though this nor'easter isn't quite as bad as the Perfect Storm, it's still a powerhouse.

The winds will this nor'easter will slowly diminish through the day as the storm center lumbers gradually to the east and out to sea.  It might take on some tropical characteristics once it's way out there, but at that point won't be any threat to land.

Here in Vermont, the only effects we'll see from the nor'easter today are some gusty winds reaching at times to 30 mph.  That won't cause any problems other than ripping much of the remaining fall foliage from the trees. Some sunshine will develop today as well, giving us a break from two days of gloom.

The next storm comes along Friday night and Saturday. Unlike some forecasts that were made earlier in the week, this next storm doesn't look all that scary.  I guess no spooky weather moments for Halloween this year.

We'll get a decent slug of rain Friday night and Saturday, but it will be a typical storm. Maybe a half to three quarters of an inch of rain.  There had been some fears that the upcoming storm might carry the risk of damaging winds, but now we see that won't happen. 

Just plan your indoor stuff for Saturday and your outdoor stuff for Sunday, as the storm will have pretty much departed by then.