Tornado Warning Issued For Parts Of Middlesex County: NWS

MASSACHUSETTS — A tornado warning was issued for parts of Middlesex County on Thursday as most of the state remains under a severe thunderstorm watch, according to the National Weather Service.

The warning is in effect for northwestern Middlesex County. At 3:47 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Templeton, or 11 miles west of Fitchburg, moving east at 25 mph.

The storm is also capable of producing quarter-sized hail, according to the NWS alert. It is expected to expire at 4:15 p.m.

The storm is expected to be near:

• Ashburnham around 4:10 p.m.
• Westminster around 4:15 p.m.
• Fitchburg around 4:20 p.m.
• Ashby around 4:25 p.m.
• Leominster around 4:30 p.m.
• Lunenburg, Townsend and Shirley around 4:40 p.m.

Anyone in the path of the storm should take shelter immediately.

Our earlier coverage:

The National Weather Service has placed several counties in Massachusetts under a severe thunderstorm watch, as sweltering heat batters most of New England for the third day in a row.

Thursday's storm watch covers a large part of Massachusetts from the New York border east through Worcester, Middlesex, and Essex counties while a heat advisory remains in place for all of Massachusetts, according to the NWS.

The severe thunderstorm threat should pop up in scattered places throughout the afternoon and evening and will stretch from the northwest to the southeast across the Bay State. Areas south and east of the line from Boston to Providence will likely not have storms until the late evening.

The storms will swing across the state starting on the western side beginning around noon, possibly bringing hail, lightning, thunder, and high winds up to 75 mph, the weather service said.

The storms could bring a slight change in weather as temperatures remain close to 90, but humidity levels are expected to start to drop by Friday.

The high temperatures remain a factor in this 'hazardous weather outlook' as heat and humidity are expected to peak Thursday, and again on Sunday. Each day is supposed to reach temps in the 90s with a heat index value of around 100 degrees.

Dry air coming in with increasing wind could create problems with thunderstorms Thursday, prompting the NWS to call severe thunderstorms warnings across the state.

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