38-Foot Waves Recorded South Of Nantucket During Storm

The offshore waves south of Nantucket on Monday were taller than the Green Monster at Fenway Park.

That anecdote was shared Tuesday by the National Weather Service's Boston office to demonstrate the energy unleashed by the powerful coastal storm that lashed New England.

The observation came from the Nantucket Shoals buoy operated by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and located approximately 54 nautical miles southeast of the island. At 6:10 p.m. on Monday, the buoy recorded waves at 38 feet.

"To provide some context, the Green Monster at Fenway is ~37 ft.," the National Weather Service's Boston office stated in a post on X. 

When the waves arrived along Nantucket's souths shore on Monday they were, of course, much smaller, but still sizable enough to cause erosion in numerous locations. Waves spilled over into Miacomet Pond, punched through a dune near the Surfside Wastewater Treatment Facility, and battered the former Tom Nevers Navy Base property.

Despite the huge surf and wind gusts that topped 60 mph, there were no widespread power outages reported on Nantucket.

Others on the mainland weren't so lucky. More than 600,000 people lost power across New England for various portions of time during the storm, while heavy rains caused significant flooding in Maine and other areas of Vermont and New Hampshire. Sadly, three people died in weather-related incidents during the storm.