Power Outage in Newport, RI

Winds generally were gusting to 55 to 75 mph in the heavier showers. At Halfway Rock, just south of Prudence Island, a Weatherflow mesonet site measured a gust to 68 mph at 449 AM EDT (349 AM EST). In Jamestown at 448 AM EDT (348 AM EST), fire department officials reported power lines down on North Main Road. In Little Compton at 557 AM EDT (457 AM EST), police reported two oak trees down on wires (street not given). In Newport at 611 AM EDT (511 AM EST), the fire department reported a tree down on Harrison Avenue at Ridge Road. All of the aforementioned reports were relayed by amateur radio operators.

In Tiverton, a mesonet site at Fogland Beach recorded a wind gust to 58 mph (50 kt) at 452 PM EDT. No reports of damage were received from Newport County, but it is likely that isolated tree or power line damage occurred.

On Washington Street near Newport Harbor, a large tree was down. A small sailboat was blown over in the harbor. Large branches were down, with power outages, on both Bellevue Avenue and Easton's Beach.

In Newport there was a large tree and power lines down on Kay Blvd.

Trees and power lines were downed in Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth.

The Automated Surface Observing Station in Newport (KUUU) recorded a wind gust of 46 mph. In addition, trees and wires down in Middletown contributed to power outages in the Third Beach area.

A powerful low pressure system tracked across the Great Lakes and brought strong |and damaging winds to Rhode Island Monday late morning through the evening. A very strong and highly anomalous low level jet brought southerly wind gusts of 60-70 mph ahead of a cold front that moved through Monday evening.

Powerful low pressure moved from eastern Pennsylvania across central Connecticut and central Massachusetts on February 7, 2020. A southerly jet of 85 to 95 mph was just above the surface at 925 mb. Damaging winds occurred across much of eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island with some damage reported farther to the west.|There were widespread power outages and numerous trees down, some falling on homes and vehicles.

A powerful low pressure system over the Canadian Maritimes and strong high pressure over the Great Lakes resulted in a strong pressure gradient over southern New England. This produced strong, gusty winds that produced some minor wind damage in parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

An historic winter storm deposited tremendous amounts of snow over all of southern New England, mainly from the mid-afternoon on Friday, February 8 and lasting into the daylight hours of Saturday, February 9. What made this an amazing storm was the widespread coverage of heavy snowfall. Most locations received 2 to 2.5 feet of snow! Isolated thunderstorms were common across the entire region during the height of the storm.||A low pressure system advancing from the Great Lakes region combined forces with a very moist low pressure system moving northeast from the Gulf Coast states. Explosive deepening took place Friday evening, February 8, as a low center moved from the North Carolina coast to south of Nantucket. Strong high pressure to the north of New England helped ensure that cold air remained in place over the area. Snowfall gained intensity during the afternoon, but during the night, 2 to 3 inch per hour amounts were common throughout the region. Snow ended in the morning in western and central MA, southwest NH, most of CT and RI, and in the early afternoon across eastern MA. ||The Blizzard of 2013 also produced a prolonged period of very strong winds Friday night along the MA and RI coasts. Gusts exceeded hurricane force (74 mph) at a few locations. Gale force gusts (to 50 mph) continued on the MA coast through Saturday afternoon. The strong winds, combined with a wet snow, led to extensive power outages from downed trees and wires in southeast coastal MA and in southern RI. Elsewhere, farther inland, the snow became drier and did not cling to trees like it did along the south and southeast coast of New England. Some wind gusts included: 76 mph at Logan Int���l. Airport (Boston, MA), 75 mph at Bedford, MA, 77 mph at Hyannis, MA and 68 mph in Jamestown, RI. Damaging gusts to 60 mph were recorded as far west as Worcester County, MA. Wind gusts of 35 to 50 mph were common elsewhere in southern New England.| |Minor tidal flooding occurred along the south coasts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island during times of high tide Friday night and Saturday morning.||The Providence Journal reported that almost 170 people sought treatment for storm-related heart attacks, falls, and other injuries related to the storm at Lifespan network hospitals (which includes 4 major Rhode Island hospitals). In addition 10 people were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning. No further information was available.

Superstorm Sandy, a hybrid storm with both tropical and extra-tropical characteristics, brought high winds and coastal flooding to southern New England. Easterly winds gusted to 50 to 60 mph for interior southern New England; 55 to 65 mph along the eastern Massachusetts coast and along the I-95 corridor in southeast Massachusetts and Rhode Island; and 70 to 80 mph along the southeast Massachusetts and Rhode Island coasts. A few higher higher gusts occurred along the Rhode Island coast. A severe thunderstorm embedded in an outer band associated with Sandy produced wind gusts to 90 mph and concentrated damage in Wareham early Tuesday evening, |a day after the center of Sandy had moved into New Jersey. In general, moderate coastal flooding occurred along the Massachusetts coastline, and major coastal flooding impacted the Rhode Island coastline. The storm surge was generally 2.5 to 4.5 feet along the east coast of Massachusetts, but peaked late Monday afternoon in between high tide cycles. Seas built to between 20 and 25 feet Monday afternoon and evening just off the Massachusetts east coast. Along the south coast, the storm surge was 4 to 6 feet and seas from 30 to a little over 35 feet were observed in the outer coastal waters. The very large waves on top of the storm surge caused destructive coastal flooding along stretches of the Rhode Island exposed south coast. ||Sandy grew into a hurricane over the southwest Caribbean and then headed north across Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas. As Sandy headed north of the Bahamas, the storm interacted with a vigorous weather system moving west to east across the United States and began to take on a hybrid structure. Strong high pressure over southeast Canada helped with the expansion of the strong winds well north of the center of Sandy. In essence, Sandy retained the structure of a hurricane near its center (until shortly before landfall) while taking on more of an extra-tropical cyclone configuration well away from the center. Sandy���s track was unusual. The storm headed northeast and then north across the western Atlantic and then sharply turned to the west to make landfall near Atlantic City, NJ during Monday evening. Sandy subsequently weakened and moved west across southern Pennsylvania on Tuesday before turning north and heading across western New York state into Quebec during Tuesday night and Wednesday. ||In Southern New England, Rhode Island was hardest hit. A peak wind gust of 86 mph occurred in Westerly, and nearly the entire Rhode Island shoreline experienced moderate to major coastal flooding. Numerous power outages occurred with winds gusting to 60 mph over the interior and to 80+ mph along the south coast. Major coastal flooding struck the Rhode Island ocean exposed south coast during the Monday evening high tide. This storm tide, especially destructive across shorelines in Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingston, Narragansett, and Block Island, rivaled the impact from Hurricane Bob in 1991. Along the Rhode Island south coast, the damaging coastal flooding was fueled by a storm surge around 5 feet and waves of 30+ feet that propagated on a long fetch into Block Island and Rhode Island Sounds. A survey of impact along Misquamicut Beach revealed an inundation extent consistent with the upper boundary of a category 1 Hurricane and very severe erosion. It should also be noted that the previous high tide during Monday morning produced minor to moderate impacts along the Rhode Island coast and likely weakened dunes and other coastal structures in advance of the more destructive Monday evening high tide.

A rare and historic October Nor'easter brought very heavy snow to portions of southern New England on Saturday October 29. Low pressure tracked northeast from the North Carolina coast Saturday morning, rapidly strengthening as it passed well south of Nantucket Saturday evening. As the storm intensified, colder air from aloft was drawn into New England resulting in heavy snow in the interior. ||Snowfall accumulations of one to two feet were common in the Monadnocks, Berkshires, Connecticut Valley, and higher elevations in central Massachusetts. Up to 31 inches of snow was reported at Jaffrey, New Hampshire and Plainfield, Massachusetts. Minor accumulations were even reported down to the south coast as the rain changed to a period of snow late Saturday night before ending. The accumulation of the heavy wet snow on trees and power lines resulted in widespread tree damage and power outages across many communities in central and western Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, and northeastern Connecticut. ||The precipitation started as mainly snow early Saturday afternoon across the interior of southern New England, although a brief period of rain at the onset was common across the lower elevations. Several hours of heavy snow occurred from mid afternoon through late evening on Saturday October 29. Snowfall rates reached 3 inches per hour for several hours in the Berkshires and Monadnocks as a nearly stationary band of heavy snow set up across this region. The snow tapered off just after midnight Saturday night in western New England with the last of the precipitation exiting eastern New England Sunday morning. This storm also brought damaging winds to Cape Cod and the islands with wind gusts up to 70 mph occurring early Sunday morning October 30 as well as minor to moderate coastal flooding to east coastal Massachusetts during the high tide early Sunday morning.

Hurricane Irene formed east of the Caribbean island of Dominica, part of the Lesser Antilles region, on the afternoon of August 20. Irene moved through the Caribbean and up the east coast of the United States making landfall twice. She first made landfall as a Category 1 Hurricane near Cape Lookout, North Carolina around 7:30am on August 27, then moved offshore again during the evening. She then made a 2nd landfall, again as a Category 1 Hurricane at 540am on August 28 near Little Egg Inlet in New Jersey. She moved over New York City and then into southeastern New York State and Connecticut as a Tropical Storm a few hours later. By the end of the evening of the 28th, Irene was crossing the U.S./Canada border having produced significant amounts of rain, storm surge, inland and coastal flooding, and wind damage across southern New England and much of the east coast of the United States. ||In Southern New England, the minimum surface pressure recorded was 976.9mb taken at Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield, Massachusetts. The storm surge experienced along the coast was generally in the two to four foot range with a high of 4.78 feet at Fox Point in Providence, Rhode Island. The highest sustained windspeed was 54 knots (62 mph) at the Physical Oceanographic Real Time System station at Conimicut Light in Narragansett Bay, RI. The highest sustained wind speed on land was 38 knots (44 mph) recorded on the Automated Surface Observing Systems at both Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, MA (KHYA) and Logan International Airport in Boston, MA (KBOS). Rainfall amounts ranged from nearly zero (0.03 at Nantucket Memorial Airport - ACK) to nearly 10 inches (9.92 in Conway, MA). ||Despite the relatively low wind speeds, sustained winds over a 6 to 12 hour long duration resulted in widespread tree damage and resulted in power outages to roughly half a million customers throughout the state. Some of these customers did not get their power back until the Friday following the storm (some five days later). Durring the passage of Tropical Storm Irene, the winds resulted in $0.19M in property damages. ||The collective effects of Tropical Storm Irene on August 28, resulted in 1 fatality, 0 injuries, and $127.3M in property damage in the following counties: Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester (all in MA), Hartford, Tolland, and Windham (all in CT), Cheshire and Hillsborough (all in NH), and Bristol, Providence, Kent, Washington, and Newport (all in RI).

A surface low pressure system moved up the east coast from the mid-Atlantic states (coastal storm), passing just southeast of Nantucket. While this storm track generally leads to widespread snowfall across most of Southern New England, the upper level storm track was pushed southward. This resulted in the heaviest snow confined to only southern Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Strong winds accompanied the storm across this area, resulting in numerous downed trees and power lines, knocking out power to many.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Noel impacted coastal Rhode Island with high winds. Trees, branches, and power lines were downed, resulting in power outages across coastal Rhode Island. In addition, at least one sailboat was damaged after being blown into a seawall.

A strong coastal storm (i.e. a nor'easter) entrained with energy and moisture from the remnants of Wilma brought rainfall amounts between 2 and 2.5 inches and damaging winds to portions of Rhode Island. The high winds brought down limbs, trees, and wires, resulting in scattered power outages. In Providence, strong winds knocked a large tree down on interstate 95, partially blocking the northbound side of the interstate. In addition, several trees, wires, and limbs were reported down in Woonsocket, West Greenwich, Exeter, and Tiverton.No known injuries directly resulted from this nor'easter.

A powerful winter storm brought heavy snow and strong winds to Rhode Island. Snowfall totals of 6 to 10 inches were widely observed throughout the state, along with winds gusting as high as 50 mph along the south coast. There were dozens of reports of accidents due to the combination of slick roads and poor visibility. Officially, the snowfall total at T.F. Green State Airport in Warwick was 7.0 inches. Other snowfall totals, as reported by trained spotters, included 10 inches in Portsmouth; 9 inches in Little Compton, South Kingstown, and Cumberland; 8 inches in North Kingstown, Tiverton, Bristol, Cranston, downtown Providence, and Woonsocket; and 7 inches in Hope Valley, Barrington, Burrillville, and North Foster.

Low pressure moving through the St. Lawrence Valley brought high winds to much of southern New England. In Rhode Island, peak wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph brought down trees and power lines.

Heavy snow fell across all of Rhode Island. The highest snowfall totals were found in Providence, Bristol, and Newport Counties, where as much as 8 inches of snow were recorded. Since the storm occurred over the weekend, impact on travel was kept to a minimum, but there were still several minor accidents throughout the state. Only a few hundred electric customers were left without power.Some snowfall totals from the storm include 8 inches in Tiverton, East Providence, Woonsocket, and Johnston; 7 inches in Burrillville, Cranston, Foster, and West Warwick; and 6 inches in Cumberland, Coventry, and North Kingstown.

A rapidly strengthening low pressure system west of New England brought a period of damaging southerly winds to much of the Ocean State, as lines of showers passed through southern New England. Following the passage of a strong cold front later in the day, increasing northwest winds caused damage over much of the state once again. Peak wind gusts of nearly 60 mph were common throughout Rhode Island, resulting in countless reports of downed trees, tree limbs, and power lines. About 5,700 electric customers were left without power statewide. Two people were injured just outside Providence, when the car they were driving in was struck by a falling tree. High winds and rough seas forced the cancellation of at least one run of the Block Island Ferry.

A strong cold front brought damaging wind gusts to portions of Rhode Island. Even though there were scattered reports of wind damage throughout the Ocean State, the strongest winds of nearly 60 mph were felt in the higher terrain of northwest Providence County, and along the coastal plain of Washington County. There were many reports of downed trees, tree limbs, and wires in these areas. About 3,500 electric customers lost power statewide. In addition, the combination of strong southwest winds ahead of the front and a high astronomical tide caused minor coastal flooding in low lying areas of eastern Narragansett Bay, including Bristol, Barrington, and Newport.