Special Weather Report · September 26, 2026
A new wind record on Great Blue Hill
As the nor’easter moved through on Saturday afternoon, the summit recorded a 58 mph gust, breaking a daily record that had stood since 1977.
Peak wind gust for September 26
Recorded
5:12 pm EDT
Record stood
49 years
Summit
635 feet
What happened
At 5:12 pm on Saturday, September 26, the anemometer at the summit of Great Blue Hill recorded a wind gust of 58 mph. That broke the previous record peak gust for the date, 54 mph, set in 1977. The gust came as the nor’easter brought strong winds and heavy rain to eastern Massachusetts over the weekend.
Why this record matters
A daily record only means something when there is a long, consistent history to measure it against. Every day since 1885, Blue Hill Observatory observers have recorded conditions at the summit, building the longest continuous weather record in the Western Hemisphere. Saturday’s gust now joins 141+ years of data that scientists, forecasters, and our community rely on.
A second record the next day
The storm wasn’t finished. On Sunday, September 27, the summit recorded 5.15 inches of rain, more than doubling that date’s previous record. Read about the record rainfall →
A note on timekeeping: Blue Hill Observatory keeps its official records in Eastern Standard Time all year, so every observation since 1885 can be compared on the same clock. In the official record, this gust appears at 4:12 pm EST.
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weather@bluehill.org →Report prepared by Amanda Joly, Deputy Chief Observer
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