Summer Storms Whip Bay State

TAUNTON, Mass. -- Thunderstorms and heavy rain continue to drench the Bay State Thursday after a water spout was spotted off the coast of Rhode Island Wednesday, triggering a tornado warning in southeastern New England.

Summer Storms Drench Bay State

Parts of Massachusetts remained under a flood watch Thursday as a slow-moving cold front chugged across the region, dumping between 1 to 3 inches of rain an hour in some areas.

The National Weather Service posted a tornado warning for parts of southeastern Massachusetts late Wednesday when a water spout was detected off the coast of Rhode Island, but no injuries or damages were reported.

Heavy bands of rain were expected to rake the region throughout the day Thursday, with pockets of heavy rain moving in a northward direction. Forecasters said temperatures will climb to about 80 degrees, but humidity will be high. There will be flooding rain in some spots, with 2 to 4 inches of rain expected before the day is over.

The drenching bands of rain were already causing havoc on the highways early Thursday as the morning commute began, with scattered accidents reported on major roads.

Barrington, R.I. firefighter Nick Caisse, 23, captured photos of the water spout that sprung up off Barrington Beach, over Narragansett Bay on Wednesday.

"I came down here just to take some shots of the storm coming in because it was coming in from this direction. While I was down here I happened to see somebody on his phone and it sounded like he was giving a report to a news station around here and as I looked out I saw a funnel cloud forming. I had my camera with me so I grabbed it and started taking some pictures," Caisse said.

There were reports of trees down in Barrington and neighboring Bristol, but police said there were no reports that tornadoes hit those towns.

National Grid spokesman David Graves said about 8,900 customers were out of power in Rhode Island around 5 p.m., and fewer than 1,000 had lost service in Massachusetts.

The storm moved north, sweeping through Taunton, Mass., spawning torrential downpours. The Taunton courthouse was closed Thursday after the Wednesday storms apparently sparked an underground fire on Court Street and several manhole covers were blown off.

Two people suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Power was cut to downtown businesses, but it was restored by about 8 p.m.

In Upton, Mass., a lightning bolt struck a roof and chimney, sparking a fire. No one was home at the time.

"We got a call from a neighbor that we had a structure fire here. That lightning had hit the house and we had flames showing," Fire Chief Mike Bradford said.

In Hopkinton, Mass., fire officials said two men were hit by lightning Wednesday as they worked on electrical equipment during the storm. One man was working on a computer and another was handling a utility cord.

Thursday night, the low and the cold front will continue moving slowly through the state from the west, reaching the coast by Friday morning.

Showers and thunderstorms should end after the front goes by and most areas should be seeing improving skies after midnight as less humid air begins to flow in from the west.

On Friday, much better weather is on tap for Maine and New Hampshire as the cold front moves out to sea and the air continues to dry out over New England.

Sunshine will be widespread Friday and temperatures will warm into the mid and upper 70s, with comfortable humidities and only a chance of a few afternoon thunderstorms.

As for the weekend, it should start off fair and comfortable Saturday morning before another front moves in later on to bring increasing humidity and more showers and thunderstorms for late Saturday, Saturday night and early Sunday.