Damaging Wind in Massachusetts, May 21, 1996

A major downburst occurred in Plymouth County, MA late in the afternoon on the 21st. A National Weather Service ground and aerial survey indicated that the damage was from straight-line winds and not a tornado. These winds swept east-southeast from Brockton to Marshfield. A weather spotter in Brockton reported 70 mph winds, but a few minutes later, a spotter in Whitman measured a wind gust to 104 mph! Calculations from NWS doppler radar indicated that winds from 97 to 129 mph occurred near the ground on the leading edge of a well-defined bow echo as it traversed northern Plymouth County. Thousands of trees and tree limbs were blown down from the northwest to the southeast across a wide area, some striking homes and automobiles. The maximum damage occurred in Brockton, Whitman, and Abington, but extensive damage to trees also occurred in Rockland, Norwell, Hanover, Hanson, and Marshfield. Other towns affected to a lesser degree included East Bridgewater, Holbrook, and Scituate. Fifty trees were toppled at one home in Hanover.In Brockton, sixty people were injured by falling trees or flying debris; three were serious injuries. There was no tally of injuries in surrounding towns. Some of the injuries occurred when falling trees or large limbs struck automobiles. A 14-year-old boy drowned in New Bedford Harbor when a raft he was on capsized in the strong winds. Trees were reported blown down in Acushnet. The governor mobilized about 100 National Guardsmen to help clear roads of fallen trees in the hard-hit communities of Brockton and Whitman. Property damage in Whitman included numerous crushed cars, smashed sheds, and punctured roofs, but no homes were rendered uninhabitable. Power outages affected up to 71,000 electric customers and 95% of the town of Whitman was without power. Several thousand remained without power for several days after the storm. A number of cemetaries were severely damaged when large trees were toppled and uprooted. Many headstones were upset and broken and some coffins unearthed. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency placed the damage figure at approximately $4,000,000. Golf ball size hail was reported in Abington and nickel size hail in Whitman. Remnants of this hail were still noticeable two hours after the event, when an NWS survey began. In Hingham, north of the damaging wind area, lightning struck a building in the center of town, causing an estimated $5,000 damage. The severe storm continued across Cape Cod Bay to the outer portion of Cape Cod, where trees and wires were reported down in Provincetown and windows smashed in Truro.