Fierce Winds Postpone Salem Willows Christmas Tree Bonfire

SALEM, MA — Fierce winds with gusts of 50 miles per hour or more forced the postponement of the Salem Willows Christmas tree bonfire at Dead Horse Beach on Thursday.

While officials previously said there would be no make-up date in the event of a weather cancellation, a make-up date has, indeed, been scheduled for Jan. 7 at 5:45 p.m. pending safe weather conditions.

• Damaging Winds, Power Outages As 55+ Gusts Blow Across MA

The National Weather Service issued a High Wind Advisory across the North Shore and eastern Massachusetts on Thursday with sustained winds at 20 to 30 mph and peak gusts at 55 mph or higher.

As of about noon there were 10,000 Massachusetts customers without power, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

(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.)