Amidst the haze and soupy air, nasty storms fired again today. Hardest hit areas were from Lowell/Tewksbury right up into Pelham and Portsmouth, NH. As the storm cycled between strong and severe, rotation was detected and a tornado warning was issued for Dracut and Pelham. Although there was some wind damage, there weren’t any reports of tornadoes. As the storm continued to Portsmouth, the updraft intensified and so did the lightning. See the number of strikes in the picture to the right? That spans a 5-10 min. time period! I have never seen that many in one thunderstorm!
Things will seemingly quiet down tonight, but I stress the word seemingly. The atmosphere remains ripe and juicy, so the slightest “bump in the night” will set them off. (That bump being an advancing cold front.) Threat remains for intense, flooding rain and possible wind damage. Like we learned this afternoon, lightning is a major threat as well.
We’ll remain in the hot zone for severe weather right through tomorrow afternoon. This time around, we’ll see more storms concentrate around Greater Boston and the North/South Shore. Keep an eye to the sky and don’t take the torrents of rain lightly. Flooding is a clear and present danger in any of these storms!
Pete