Nearly 23K Without Power As Damaging Winds Gust To 70 MPH Across MA

UPDATED 2:30 p.m.

MASSACHUSETTS — More than 20,000 customers were without power on Friday afternoon as winds approaching hurricane force pounded Massachusetts, bringing down trees and causing damage across the state.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported 22,657 customers without power as of 2:30 p.m. with dozens of communities in eastern and central Massachusetts reporting outages in the hundreds.

The highest wind gust of the day was 70 miles per hour recorded at Mt. Tom in western Massachusetts, and Logan Airport and Worcester Airport both reported gusts of 62 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

A High Wind Advisory remained in effect across the state until 7 p.m. on Friday with a High Wind Warning in effect for the Berkshires, Worcester County and parts of Middlesex County.

Route 1 in Topsfield was briefly closed in both directions late Friday morning because of a downed tree with 889 customers in that town still without power as of 2 p.m.

Pittsfield reported 3,353 customers without power, Haverhill reported 2,204 customers without power, Foxborough reported 2,151 without power, Maynard reported 1,606 without power, Chelmsford reported 1,134 without power, Lynn reported 1,148 without power, Rochester reported 909 without power and Wenham reported 445 customers (29 percent of homes) without power.

Top wind gusts across MA as of 2 p.m. (according to the NWS):

• 70 mph Mt. Tom, Easthampton
• 62 mph Logan Airport, Boston
• 62 mph Worcester Airport
• 62 mph Hull Yacht Club
• 61 mph Children's Island, Salem
• 61 mph Bedford
• 60 mph Lawrence
• 60 mph New Bedford
• 60 mph Fitchburg
• 59 mph Blue Hills Observatory, Milton
• 57 mph Falmouth
• 55 mph Beverly

Winds are expected to remain brisk through Saturday with gusts around 40 mph before they calm somewhat heading into Sunday and Monday as temperatures rise toward 60 degrees early next week.

(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.)