Severe weather warnings for flash flooding, severe thunderstorms or both were lifted Tuesday evening in parts of central New England, including in Boston itself, amid oppressive heat and humid weather that will continue through Wednesday evening.
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Lightning and wind damage were reported across the region, with gusts threatening up to 60 mph in places. A large tree fell on a home in Haverhill, Massachusetts, making it uninhabitable for the time being.
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"Everything was so loud. The lightning was loud," said Haverhill resident Joe Cammarata. "Then I saw that when I came out, and it was incredible."
In Georgetown, Fran Joncas says a lightning bolt caught her roof on fire when she was home cooking.
"We've got a ton of damage on the second floor, where the three bedrooms are, but the first floor is OK," Joncas said.
Her neighbor, John D'Olimpio, was driving by and pounded on her door when he saw smoke.
"I thought I was just driving to my house until I looked over and saw smoke coming through the roof," he said.
Joncas says because of D'Olimpio, she got out safely, along with her cat, Ozzie.
Peak heat indices again reached into the upper 90s to 100 degrees Tuesday, with the exception of the Cape and Islands, where fog and low made the temperature a bit more tolerable. High temperatures were a few degrees lower than Monday, around 90 degrees, but the humidity higher and more noticeable.
The weather made a Cambridge apartment building that hadn't turned on air conditioning -- not legally required until mid-June -- unbearably hot. Building officials said Tuesday they'd turned on the cooling system.
By this afternoon, we turned our attention towards slow-moving thunderstorms. A disturbance moving through New England, combined with the moist atmosphere, triggered the development of heavy showers and thunderstorms, with large hail and spotty wind damage.
The main timeframe for these heavy showers and thunderstorms will be between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Localized street flooding will be a threat with any storm.
In some cases, a few towns were getting training storms -- that's one after another, generating several inches of rain in a very short time. At the same time, just a few towns away, there was little in the way of rain.
Overnight, showers and thunderstorm activity will wane after sunset. Lows will again only drop down into the upper 60s to low 70s.
Tomorrow will feature another day of heat and humidity, though a few degrees cooler than today, with highs reaching into the upper 80s. Clouds will increase Wednesday ahead of an approaching cold front.
On Thursday, the cold front will likely be offshore by the morning, ushering in MUCH needed relief and cooler temperatures to the region. Drier and cooler air will filter in throughout the day on Thursday with winds blowing from the north-northwest. Expect mostly sunny skies with highs reaching into the 60s to low 70s at the coast, mid 70s to low 80s elsewhere.
On Friday, an area of low pressure will pass south of New England, offering the chance of showers. Expect a mostly dry day with some clouds around. Highs reach into the mid 60s to low 70s.
Looking ahead to the weekend, there’s a chance of showers on Saturday but, not expecting much in the way of active weather beyond that. The weekend will feature mostly sunny skies and highs in the 70s on the exclusive First Alert 10-Day Forecast on NBC10 Boston and NECN.
