25K Lose Power As 60+ MPH Wind Gusts Whip Across MA

UPDATED 3:40 p.m.

MASSACHUSETTS — More than 25,000 customers were without power across the state early Tuesday afternoon as strong winds with gusts exceeding 60 miles per hour hammered Massachusetts.

Outages steadily increased as winds ramped up late Tuesday morning, with 25,743 without power across the state as of 1:15 p.m.

While most of the outages were sporadic — including a few dozen to few hundred in many cities and towns in eastern in central Massachusetts — the South Shore was especially hard hit with 5,398 customers without power in Abington, 4,554 customers without power in Whitman and 3,739 without power in Rockland.

The Central Mass. town of Bolton reported 646 customers without power, while Westford had 1,180 customers in the dark.

The 25,000 outages turned out to be a peak for the day with about 4,000 outages reported as of 3:30 p.m.

Temperatures peaked across the region in the mid-30s in the morning before dropping into the 20s with wind chills in the teens throughout the afternoon.

Strong winds were expected to continue through Tuesday afternoon before easing Tuesday night as snow develops. Up to 3 inches of snow is forecast overnight, according to the National Weather Service, with most areas getting an inch or two in the pre-dawn hours.

Wednesday will be a warmer and mostly sunny day with a chance of a rain or snow shower in the afternoon and a high of 42 degrees before it again turns sharply colder on Thursday with a harsh northwest wind.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)