Power returns in southeastern Mass. as strong storm blows out

Power is coming back on for thousands of households and businesses across parts of Massachusetts affected by outages caused by a strong storm that blew into southern New England Sunday into Monday morning.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported about 1500
customers remained without power around the state just before noon Monday. That number was significantly down from hours earlier, when more than 10,000 customers lost electricity around 4 a.m.

Downed trees, branches and power lines were reported in multiple communities, particularly in towns and cities south of Boston, according to WBUR meteorologist Danielle Noyes.

Moosup, a town in Connecticut, was drenched in 5.15 inches of rainfall in just 24 hours, according to National Weather Service Boston. Some communities in Massachusetts saw totals hit over 4 inches.

Boston topped 2 inches of rain, with surrounding neighborhoods seeing a range of totals.

As utility companies worked to restore power, milder weather was expected to move in for the rest of the day. Sun could break out in Greater Boston around midday Monday, Noyes told WBUR's Morning Edition.

However, several communities could see wind speeds between 25-35 miles per hour, with gusts upwards of 50 miles per hour possible on the Cape and islands, according to the NWS Boston.

As the storm departs, cooler air will keep rushing in, NWS meteorologists predicted Monday. Boston began the day in the 60s, with temperatures steadily dropping into the 40s.

Elsewhere in the Northeast, Vermont and parts of northern New York were under winter storm warnings that began Sunday evening, with the possibility of up to 10 inches of snow falling in some places.

The weather service said that snowfall rates of an inch an hour were possible. Many schools were closed in Vermont.

A mix of rain and snow was falling in New Hampshire and some roads had minor flooding in Maine. The gusty winds were expected to affect areas throughout New England Monday afternoon.

With additional reporting from The Associated Press