Cape Ann mostly spared as nor'easter brings 61 mph gust and needed rain

Last weekend's nor'easter sent strong gusts and high surf across Cape Ann, but the four towns came through with little reported damage, and the storm left some welcome rain behind.

The wind

The strongest gust reported on Cape Ann was 61 mph, at a weather station about 2 miles east of Rockport at 6:25 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, according to the National Weather Service in Norton. Another Rockport station recorded 55 mph at 8:30 p.m.

At the Dog Bar Breakwater off Eastern Point, a station recorded a 58 mph gust at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. A marine station about 8 miles south of Gloucester recorded 54 mph, and a station in Gloucester recorded 45 mph just after 9 p.m.

A marine station about 12 miles south of Manchester-by-the-Sea peaked at 45 mph late Saturday night.

The rain

The weather service's rainfall reports through Monday morning showed:

• About 2 miles west of Manchester-by-the-Sea: 2.14 inches
• About 1.8 miles west-southwest of Gloucester: 1.20 inches
• A Gloucester weather station: 0.89 inches

Hamilton, next door, reported 2.85 inches. The weather service listed no gauges in Rockport or Essex.

Whether the rain eases local water rules is up to each town. See the latest water rules for all four towns. (Why Rockport banned outdoor watering as the drought eased.)

Damage

The weather service logged one damage report on Cape Ann: a tree down on East Main Street in Gloucester at 10:44 a.m. Saturday, relayed by amateur radio from police.

The weather service did not log any coastal flooding reports for the four towns.

No active alerts were posted on the Rockport or Manchester-by-the-Sea town websites as of Wednesday, and neither Manchester nor Essex had posted a damage notice.

Before the storm

Ahead of the peak Saturday, Rockport Town Administrator Mitchell Vieira told CBS Boston that officials were most worried about power outages, coastal flooding and erosion. Gloucester Mayor Paul Lundberg urged residents to have enough supplies to get through an outage and to stay inside during the worst of it. CBS reported that most businesses and roads in both communities stayed open that day as people came out to watch the waves.

The storm also pushed back the Cape Ann Symphony's season opener from Sept. 27 to Sunday, Oct. 4, the symphony said. See what's on this weekend.