Boston Alert For Severe Weather

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for Boston as hazardous weather forms in the northeast United States. Violent thunderstorms rolled across the state this afternoon, spawning an apparent tornado that damaged buildings and cars and downed trees and power lines in the city of Springfield, authorities said.

Funnel clouds were spotted and damage was also reported in numerous other communities as the storms rolled from west to east towards Boston. The tornado watch, which is in effect until 8 p.m. tonight, covers eight states, from Maine to New Jersey, and includes New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Providence and Hartford.


Shortly after 6:30 p.m., a tornado warning remained in effect for areas in Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester. The National Weather Service said that local law enforcement officials were reporting a tornado causing damage, once again, in the Springfield area, this time in the town of Palmer.

Other locations in the warning area included Wales, Ware, Brimfield, Warren, West Brookfield,New Braintree, Brookfield, Sturbridge, North Brookfield, Southbridge, East Brookfield, Spencer, and Charlton, the weather service said, urging residents to take cover.

Babcock said the agency believed the storm that hit Springfield was a tornado and had received damage reports from the city. He said the experts had reviewed webcam footage captured by a local TV station. “From what we saw on that, it definitely looked like a tornado,” he said.

State Police spokesman David Procopio said calls began to come in at 4:30 p.m. of a tornado that appeared to touch down in Westfield, then move from Springfield’s downtown area near the North End Bridge into the East Forest Park neighborhood. Sharing is sexy