WINTHROP — Danny Bright III, 12, wants to be a meteorologist one day. But even he had to admit the winds were a little too fierce.
“I kind of can’t stand,” said Bright, as the winds whipped off the Winthrop coast. “It’s bad.”
Bright and his dad were among the few hardy souls who ventured onto Winthrop Shore Drive during the height of the storm early Tuesday afternoon. Johnny Chirichiello, a home builder who lives nearby, said he loves watching storms from the water.
“You can see everywhere,” said Chirichiello, who used his phone to record the rough surf. “If you don’t mind getting beat up like this, it’s great.”
On the Revere-Winthrop line, waves crashed over the sea wall at Short Beach, spilling onto Winthrop Parkway. Officials roped off a section of Endicott Avenue where a utility pole with a transformer leaned precariously in the wind.
Despite the strong winds, the neighborhood hadn’t lost power, Joe Heafitz said.
“That’s the strange thing,” he said. “My siblings in Marblehead don’t have power, but we got all this wind and we got power.”
During previous storms, the surf has crashed into homes along Winthrop Parkway, he said. But as the high tide came in Tuesday, it appeared the homes had been spared.
“It’s blowing downward,” he said. It’s not coming straight in at the houses.”
At the Blue Hill Observatory and Science Center in Milton, winds were measured at 67 miles per hour, while a station in Wellfleet recorded a gust of 72 miles per hour.
In Marblehead, the highest wind gust Tuesday morning was 38 miles per hour, Souza said.
“Things are just starting to pick up,” Marblehead harbormaster Mark Souza said at 11 a.m.
The Marblehead harbor crew checked marinas, but reported no issues. All vessels had been moved to a safe harbor in Salem before the storm, Souza said.
The possibility that strong winds could accompany a 1:30 p.m. high tide spurred concern along the coast. Wind gusts were expected to reach 55 miles per hour at the storm’s height, the National Weather Service said.
In Scituate, town administrator Patricia Vinchesi said officials are keeping an eye on flooding. It’s a common feature of nor’easters, but the severity of flooding depends on the wind.
“The wind is supposed to pick up between 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., with a critical period being at 2 p.m.,” she said.
By early afternoon, snow had turned to rain, flooding some roads along the coast. As of 2:30 p.m., there were about 80 customers without power, and more outages were expected. Public works crews had received reports of more than a dozen downed tree limbs.
Jessica Toohey, 45, brought her daughters, Leah, 6, and Jocelyn, 8, to grab a bite at the Lucky Finn Cafe before going home and doing crafts, and maybe playing a few board games.
“When high tide combines with the storm, it’s no joke,” she said.
Jody Miller, 62, who lives in Scituate, savors every storm. She walked two miles Tuesday morning to take in the sights near the Old Scituate Lighthouse.
“I love it out here,” she said. “I don’t know. I love New England. I love the weather. I just think it’s beautiful.”
Laura Crimaldi can be reached at laura.crimaldi@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @lauracrimaldi.
Cristela Guerra can be reached at cristela.guerra@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristelaGuerra.
Maddie Kilgannon can be reached at maddie.kilgannon@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaddieKilgannon.