So much for Dry January.
It’s been a wild, wet month in Massachusetts so far in 2024, with snow, wind, and rain pummeling the coast on what feels like a near-daily basis.
In 1979, a late January storm wreaked havoc up and down the coast, giving residents flashbacks to the Blizzard of ’78. Flooding cut off the Marblehead Neck at high tide and debris was strewn across the area. Trouble was also reported in the area of lower Front Street and Fort Beach.
One resident of the Neck reported a foot or so of water in the street in front of his house. That resident, Alan Bell, was quoted as saying “this is where the cars are getting stopped and turning back.”
Water began coming over the wall onto Bell’s property around 7 a.m., he said. He had boarded up the ocean side of his home, but could still hear waves striking the house through the boards. Water collected in his cellar, and Bell said the anemometer he installed showed winds of 35 to 45 miles an hour outside. At around 3 a.m., he noted gales of 68 miles an hour.