(Jan. 11, 2018) The first winter storm of the season walloped Nantucket with a one-two punch last week, bringing rain, gale-force winds and heavy flooding to the island last Thursday, followed by frigid temperatures over the weekend whose icy conditions halted most boat and plane service for nearly three days.
The National Weather Service in Taunton recorded a 76 mph gust around 1:15 p.m. Thursday on Nantucket, with sustained winds of 45 mph and up, and gusts over 65 mph throughout the afternoon. Winds gusting to over 50 mph continued into Friday. No power outages or significant structural damage was reported.
Thursday’s flooding was among the most significant many islanders had seen in more than two decades, behind only winter storm Juno in 2015 and the No-Name Storm of October 1991. Flood waters began to rise along the downtown waterfront an hour before the mid-day high tide, with nearly a foot of water in places as far inland as the Nantucket Hotel on Easton Street and the intersection of Broad and South Water streets.
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