Massachusetts

From March Nor'Easters to Tornado Touchdowns, These are New England's Top 5 Weather Events of 2018

This makes you wonder, what will New England see in 2019?

As 2018 comes to an end, it’s time to look back at the top 5 weather events of the year across New England.

#5: Record Summer Heat

The temperature soared to 98 degrees in August, making this August the warmest in Boston’s recorded history.

The city also logged more warm nights and oppressively humid days than ever before.

Overall it was Boston’s third warmest summer on record.

#4: Record Wet Fall

A staggering 25 inches of rain soaked Milton’s Blue Hill Observatory this fall—more than doubling what’s normal.

And as you may suspect with all that rain, we also saw lots of clouds. The only autumn on record with less sun than this year was way back in 1896.

#3: Record High Tide

A new all-time high water mark in Boston was set this year, flooding downtown streets and even a blue line station.

Just days into the new year the Blizzard of 2018 struck, bringing more than a foot and a half of snow, and pushing Boston’s high tide to 15.16 feet.

That broke the old record set in the benchmark Blizzard of 1978.

#2: Tornado Touchdowns

Usually each New England state sees one or two small tornadoes each year. In 2018, nearly two dozen tornadoes touched down across New England.

Connecticut and Massachusetts recorded most of them, including rare waterspouts that came ashore on the Cape in October, but even tiny Rhode Island got hit by a small tornado that month.

#1: March Nor’Easters

Taking the number 1 spot—the series of nor’easters that battered the coast in March.

The first storm brought gusts close to 100 miles per hour in southeastern Massachusetts, and coastal flooding that nearly rivalled January’s record flood.

Just days later—more coastal flooding, and two feet of snow in parts of New England.

We weren’t done yet. A third major storm brought more than a foot of snow to Boston mid-month.

Now the only question that remains is, what will we see in 2019?!

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