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« Man arrested in Florida in Lowell homicide | Main Friday, July 21, 2006Tropical Storm Beryl fizzles as it passes over Nantucket
By Andrew Ryan and Yuxing Zheng, Globe Correspondents, and Peter Schworm, Globe Staff Tropical Storm Beryl buffeted Nantucket with 45 mile-per-hour winds as it passed over the island this morning at 3 a.m., churning up 19-foot seas off the coast but causing no injuries or significant damage. “Nantucket weathered, in my opinion, a brief gale,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Walt Drag. “This was definitely not a serious storm for most people. We don’t know of any injuries, we don’t know of any damage.” The fast moving tropical system dumped 1/2 to one inch of rain on the island, with less falling on Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod. The storm blasted both Plymouth and Boston with periods of heavy showers, but the rain was brief and accumulations inland were less than 1/4 of an inch. Winds in Boston never blew harder than 15 miles-per-hour overnight, Drag said. Police on Nantucket reported no weather related incidents in what has been described as summer Nor’easter. Tropical storm warnings and watches have been cancelled for the southern New England coast, including all of Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the islands as Beryl continued to weaken as it raced toward Nov Scotia at 21 miles-per-hour. The center of the storm passed near the north coast of Nantucket, with the heaviest rain and wind to the southeast, where winds gusted up to 55 miles-an-hour over the open sea. Beryl’s impact on the island was limited to some large puddles, a few loose cables and telephone wires, and downed tree branches, said Nantucket Police Sgt. Brendan Coakley. Harbormaster Dave Fronzuto stayed up all night to watch moorings, but no boats came loose. About half of the 700 boats in the town harbor were removed from the water in anticipation of the storm, Police Chief William Pittman. A persistent rain fell on the island throughout the night, letting up around dawn. Early morning gusts greeted town workers and visitors. “It’s definitely much milder than I anticipated,” said Megan Keller, 34, a worker at Island Coffee. “I woke up to the usual galing sound – you can hear it outside your house – but when I drove in, it’s not that bad.” The Steamship Authority, the main ferry service from Nantucket to Boston, cancelled service until noon because of choppy waters, said Paul Curtis, an engine department worker for the company. Service normally begins at 6:30 a.m., he said. In Chatham on Cape Cod, there were strong overnight rains and occasional strong winds. Police in this coastal town reported no storm-related problems but warned of strong, dangerous currents. A high surf and small craft advisory remains in effect, and police seemed happy that the storm passed long before high-tide. "Things are quiet," said Chatham Police Sgt. Joseph Fennell. The seas off Chatham, however, stayed choppy, and a light mist covered the beach. Harbors in Wellfleet and Provincetown also sustained no damage from the storm. "It's a minor blow for us," said Rick Silva, assistant harbormaster in Provincetown. "But we had everything battened down." The Wellfleet Harbormaster also monitored the waterfront all night as a precaution, but reported little impact. "Nothing's moved," said Lenny Croteau, assistant harbormaster. "It wasn't that bad." Forecasters predicted sunshine to follow Beryl today in Eastern Massachusetts, which could be trouble as high waves continue to crash onto beaches in the storm’s wake. “The rip currents are going to be problems for bathers on the exposed sea coast,” Drag said. “This will be a dangerous day for anyone to be swimming.” Rip currents, often mistakenly called an undertow, are strong but narrow currents of water flowing from the beach out past the surf that can drag a person out to sea, leaving a swimmer exhausted and in deep water. At 6:00 a.m., seven-foot waves were reported off Martha’s Vineyard. Six to 10 foot swells could continue throughout the day, subsiding late this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 08:13 AM
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