BOSTON (WHDH) - Wind gusts as strong as a tropical storm battered parts of the Bay State on Thursday as a record-breaking bomb cyclone knocked out power, downed trees, sparked fires, and disrupted travel across the region.
The system broke low-pressure records for October in Boston, as well as Providence, Rhode Island, Hartford, Connecticut, and Portland, Maine.
The storm’s pressure dropped 24 millibars in just 14 hours and plummeted 35 millibars over 24 hours, according to the 7NEWS meteorologist Jeremy Reiner.
“We haven’t seen a storm this low in pressure since October of 2006,” Reiner said. “Today’s storm, last night’s storm sets the record for the deepest area of low pressure across southern New England for the month of October.”
RELATED: Man hospitalized after massive tree crashes down on Beverly home
A bomb cyclone is a storm that earns its name by strengthing greatly through rapid pressure drops in a short period of time.
“When you lose 24 millibars or greater in 24 hours, that’s when you classify it as rapid intensification. You have an area of low pressure and that creates a hole in the atmosphere,” Reiner explained. “Mother Nature says I ain’t having that, she likes balance. To create that balance, that hole in the atmosphere, you generate wind. The deeper the hole in the atmosphere, the stronger the wind is going to be.”
RELATED: Cleanup continues on South Shore after wind gusts down trees, cause power outages
The storm also dropped more than three inches of rain in some parts of Massachusetts but it was the wind that left behind punishing damage.
Consistent gusts between 40 to 50 mph whipped most areas, while gusts in Provincetown reached 90 mph. Boston’s Logan Airport recorded gusts of 70 mph. Atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire, 125 mph gusts were clocked.
Here’s a town-by-town check on the storm’s strongest wind gusts, according to the National Weather Service:
Provincetown – 90 mph
Wellfleet – 89 mph
Fairhaven – 88 mph
Deer Island – 81 mph
Duxbury – 80 mph
Yarmouth – 79 mph
Woods Hole – 79 mph
Mashpee – 78 mph
Scituate – 75 mph
Boston – 70 mph
Chatham – 66 mph
Nantucket – 66 mph
Plum Island – 63 mph
Milton – 62 mph
Salem – 60 mph
Sagamore Beach – 59 mph
Orange – 51 mph
Bedford – 49 mph
Worcester – 46 mph
Click the map below for a look at additional wind gust recordings.
Anywhere from 1 to 3 inches, upwards of 4 inches of rainfall. Wind gusts as high as 90 mph. We're still gathering reports. Here's the very latest. https://t.co/3cmvgXBKjY pic.twitter.com/nXeaJagC6B
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) October 17, 2019
Click here for the latest weather updates.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)