5:50 pm Tuesday Weather Update For Western & Central Mass & Especially For Central & Southern Worcester County

Strong thunderstorms continue to impact areas from Paxon and Spencer eastward through the Worcester Metro and into Shrewsbury and Westborough. These storms have had a history of producing very gusty winds that have brought down trees in Paxton & produced a 68 mph wind gust at Worcester Airport, small hail, frequent lightning and heavy downpours. It is expected that these thunderstorms will last for another 30 minutes or so.

I'm also now watching a developing squall line that now stretches from near Auburn southward through Oxford, Webster and Dudley. This squall line will affect far southern parts of Worcester County, including I-395 and Route 146 over the next 30-45 minutes. These storms will have the potential to produce 60 mph wind gusts, small hail, frequent lightning and torrential downpours.

Other thunderstorms are now affecting the Sturbridge, Southbridge and Charlton areas right now & will push eastward affecting areas south of the Mass Pike over the next 30-60 minutes.

5:30 pm Tuesday Weather Update For Western & Central Mass

Some strong thunderstorms currently stretch from near Clinton and Boylston west-southwestward through Holden and the north side of Worcester & then westward into Paxton, North Brookfield and just southeast of Ware. These thunderstorms are moving to the east at 30 mph & will affect areas around the Brookfields, Spencer, Worcester, Shrewsbury and Westborough over the next 30 to 45 minutes or so. These thunderstorms will be capable of producing pea size hail, wind gusts of up to 40-50 mph, heavy downpours and lightning.

Another strong thunderstorm is currently located around Hampden and Monson & is moving to the east at 30 mph. This thunderstorm is expected to affect Wales, Sturbridge, Southbridge and Charlton over the next 30 minutes and will then affect Dudley, Webster and Oxford between 6 and 6:30 pm. This thunderstorm will be capable of producing small hail, wind gusts of up to 40-50 mph, heavy downpours and lightning.

Hot & Humid Weather Expected This Afternoon With Scattered Thunderstorms Expected By Late This Afternoon Across Western & Central Mass

Sunny, hot and humid weather this afternoon will lead to the development of some scattered thunderstorms as we get into late this afternoon.

Temperatures during this afternoon will be in the low to middle 90s. Some temperature readings in the upper 90s are possible in the Connecticut River Valley. It'll also be humid with dew point temperatures in the low to mid 60s.

I do think that we'll see some scattered thunderstorms develop first across the Berkshires and the middle and upper Pioneer Valley of Western Mass by about 4 pm.

These scattered thunderstorms are then expected to head in a east-southeasterly direction and move through the lower Pioneer Valley and into western and northern Worcester County by about 5 pm or so.

From there, it's possible that these thunderstorms will push into central and southern parts of Worcester County by 5:30-6 pm before they move out of the area by 7 pm.

These thunderstorms will have the capability of producing heavy downpours and frequent lightning. It's possible that one or two of these thunderstorms may be on the strong side & be capable of producing up to 50 mph wind gusts as they move through.