MA Tornado Is Unlikely, But Forecast Foreboding

A severe thunderstorm watch has expanded into Massachusetts and a wind advisory now stretches to the coast as forecasters warn of potentially damaging winds. While Massachusetts has avoided the very rare tornado watch that is in Vermont and New Hampshire, the National Weather Service's severe thunderstorm watch warns that "a couple tornadoes" are "possible" in Western Massachusetts. The watch also warns of hail as big as a quarter and scattered wind gusts of up to 75 miles per hour.

The severe thunderstorm watch doesn't include Worcester or Boston as of 7:30 p.m., but it surrounds those metro areas to the west and north. The Springfield area and Southern N.H. are under the watch, which expires at 2 a.m.

The likelihood of a tornado in Massachusetts is low, but so is even a watch in this region. For New Hampshire, it's the strongest tornado watch in six years - even though it's just at 10 percent.

The wind gusts expected to blow across the state are expected to settle down after sunrise Saturday.

The forecast could change throughout the evening. The forecasts for parts of Vermont and New York are intensifying, and it appears to be largely the same storm that is extending out east.

It's a harrowing forecast that caps three summer-like days this week. The temperature hit 80 degrees each day, but tonight begins a downward turn that will result in midweek temperatures in the 40s.

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