Strong Wind, Eastern Essex
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Eastern Essex forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.639, -70.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood and Heat in Massachusetts, January 24 to 25, 1999
South winds gusted to as high as 55 mph in advance of a strong cold front. A peak wind gust to 63 mph was recorded at the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 17 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 17
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS BOX wrote it up.
South winds gusted to as high as 55 mph in advance of a strong cold front. The strongest winds occurred across eastern Massachusetts, and were accompanied by heavy rain showers and mild temperatures.A peak wind gust to 63 mph was recorded at the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton. Some of the other higher wind gusts reported include 50 mph at Otis Air Force Base in Falmouth, 48 mph in Cohasset, and 47 mph in Plymouth.Scattered showers produced localized rainfall of 2 to 3 inches in a short period of time. The Ware River in Worcester County overflowed its banks, and crested at 4.2 feet on the evening of the 24th, just over its flood stage of 4 feet. No flood damage was reported. Two record high temperatures were also broken. At Worcester Municipal Airport in Worcester, the high temperature of 59 degrees at 843 am broke the previous record high of 56 degrees which was set in 1906.In Boston, the temperature at Logan International Airport reached 62 degrees at 1000 am, which broke the previous record high of 61 degrees which was set in 1967.
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:04 UTC.
Event by event
13 strong wind, 2 heat, 1 high wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong Wind, Barnstable
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Barnstable forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.684, -70.274 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Dukes
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Dukes forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.389, -70.699 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Eastern Norfolk
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Eastern Norfolk forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.171, -71.184 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Eastern Plymouth
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Eastern Plymouth forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.079, -70.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Nantucket
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Nantucket forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.270, -70.022 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Northern Bristol
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Northern Bristol forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.757, -71.088 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Southeast Middlesex
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Southeast Middlesex forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.486, -71.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Southern Bristol
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Southern Bristol forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.757, -71.088 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Southern Plymouth
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Southern Plymouth forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.987, -70.737 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Suffolk
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Suffolk forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.264, -71.125 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Western Norfolk
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Norfolk forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.171, -71.184 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Strong Wind, Western Plymouth
- When
- January 24, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Plymouth forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.987, -70.737 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Western Norfolk
- When
- January 24, 8:14 AM EST
- Where
- Western Norfolk forecast zone
- Measured
- 55 kt (63 mph)
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 42.171, -71.184 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blue Hill Observatory
Heat, Southern Worcester
- When
- January 24, 8:43 AM EST
- Where
- Southern Worcester forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 42.351, -71.908 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Suffolk
- When
- January 24, 10:00 AM EST
- Where
- Suffolk forecast zone
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 42.264, -71.125 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Worcester
- When
- January 24, 4:30 PM EST to January 25, 4:00 AM EST
- Where
- Worcester County, Barre
- Reported by
- OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
- Coordinates
- 42.351, -71.908 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Ware River
What these are
- Strong Wind
- Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
- Heat
- Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, January 24, 1999
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in New York, January 24 to 26, 1999
- Tornado in Florida, January 24, 1999
- Flash Flood in New York, January 24, 1999
- Flooding in Kentucky, January 24 to 31, 1999
- Flooding in Michigan, January 24 to 28, 1999
- Flooding in New York, January 24 to 27, 1999
- Flooding in Pennsylvania, January 24 to 25, 1999
- Heavy Snow in California, January 24 to 25, 1999
- Heavy Snow in California, January 24 to 25, 1999
- Flooding in Ohio, January 24, 1999
- Flash Flooding in Virginia, January 24, 1999
More
Every storm in Massachusetts in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Massachusetts, January 1999
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5683816, 5683817, 5683818, 5683819, 5683820, 5683821, 5683822, 5683823, 5683824, 5683825, 5683826, 5683827, 5683828, 5683829, 5683830, 5683918, 5683919.