A powerful nor’easter produced heavy rain and damaging winds Tuesday in parts of the Northeast. Truckers will have to deal with more of the same Wednesday before the storm heads out to sea.
Record daily rainfall of 3.24 inches Tuesday hit New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport. Farther north, winds knocked down trees and power lines, especially in Massachusetts, south of the Boston area. Wind gusts exceeded 80 mph in some areas, peaking at 94 mph in Edgartown on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.
As of 8 a.m. ET Wednesday, about 460,000 customers in Massachusetts had no electricity. More than 130,000 customers were offline in Rhode Island, New York and Maine combined.
Hurricane-force winds will continue to batter portions of the Boston area Wednesday, with a high wind warning in effect. This includes Plymouth, Provincetown, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Newport, Rhode Island; and New London, Connecticut.
Gusts in these areas could reach 75 mph, leading to additional power outages and potential roadblocks from downed trees and utility lines.
Further inland, gusts of 40 to 50 mph will impact drivers from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Augusta, Maine.
The risk of rollovers will remain high, but winds should die down later in the day and driving conditions will improve by the evening.
Heavy rain could return to some areas. Combined with swells and some storm surge, localized flooding is possible.
Major lane of concern
• Interstate 95 from Bridgeport to Augusta.
Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.
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