Storms Bring High Winds, Power Outages

The National Weather Service has confirmed that a microburst and a funnel cloud were part of a fast-moving storm that downed power lines and trees in some Massachusetts communities.

Officials say the microburst that struck Bedford, west of Boston, Monday caused "straight line wind damage," at speeds of 90 to 100 mph, knocking over dozens of trees. The weather service said after an on-site assessment the area was about half a mile wide and about 2.5 miles long.

Between 50 and 70 trees, mostly 100-foot-tall pines, were blown down or broken in half. Eight fell on houses. No one was injured.

The weather service said damage in other towns likely was from straight-line winds. There have been no eyewitness reports of tornadoes, though there were images of what appeared to be a funnel cloud in Medford and Malden.