High Wind in Massachusetts, September 2, 1996

Hurricane Edouard moved to the north along 70 degrees West longitude for several days from August 30th to September 1st, before taking a turn to the north-northeast late on the 1st. This was a very powerful hurricane just before it reached 30 degrees North latitude, with maximum sustained winds at that point of 130 mph and a central pressure of 934 millibars or 27.58 inches. After passing north of 30 degrees, it very gradually began to weaken. When the center reached 40 degrees North and 69.5 degrees West...or about 100 miles south of Nantucket...during the early morning hours of September 2nd, the highest sustained winds were 90 mph and the lowest pressure was 961 millibars...or 28.38 inches. Edouard passed about 95 miles southeast of Nantucket moving northeast with an unusually slow forward speed of only 12 mph by late morning on September 2nd. Wind gusts reached hurricane force on Nantucket Island with unofficial reports up to 90 mph. The Steamship Authority reported a gust to 80 mph. Officially, the peak gust recorded at the Nantucket Airport Tower was 75 mph (65 knots) at 545 AM on September 2. Other peak gusts included: 77 mph at North Truro on Cape Cod; 69 mph at Falmouth; 64 mph at the Menemsha Coast Guard on the south side of Martha's Vineyard; 58 mph at Chatham. In the Boston area, some peak gusts included: 54 mph at Winthrop; 51 mph at Blue Hill, Milton; and 45 mph at Logan International Airport, Boston. Wind damage included power outages affecting two-thirds of Nantucket, all of Martha's Vineyard (for up to 6 hours), and most of Cape Cod lost power for up to several hours. Trees and tree limbs were blown down and the roof was blown off of a Hyannis fire station. Trees also were reported blown down in Kingston, in eastern Plymouth County. Twelve boats were washed ashore in Nantucket and there generally was moderate damage to boats reported from Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod. Heavy rainfall accompanied the storm and amounts of 3 to 5 inches were common across the area. The maximum amount reported was 6.37 inches in West Dennis. Other rainfall amounts included: Hyannis, 5.20 inches; Falmouth, 4.97 inches; West Yarmouth, 4.75 inches; Pocasset, 4.70 inches; Martha's Vineyard, 3.85 inches; Chatham, 3.70 inches; Nantucket, 3.13 inches; and Plymouth, 3.08 inches. The heavy rainfall resulted in minor street flooding. The lowest barometric pressure was recorded on Nantucket at 5:45 AM with 995.9 millibars or 29.41 inches. Tides generally ran 1 to 3 feet about normal tide levels. Coastal flooding was very minimal. A few coastal roads were closed due to overwash from large swells. Peak wave heights to 31 feet were reported from both the Nantucket Shoals Buoy and the buoy located in the southeast portion of George's Bank.