Tornado Warning Issued For Parts of Massachusetts

Residents in parts of Massachusetts were issued a tornado warning on Monday afternoon as a storm rolled through the state bringing the potential for hazardous weather conditions with it.

According to officials from the National Weather Service, just before 2:30 p.m., a radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado near Lancaster, about six miles outside of Leominster. The storm was moving northeast at roughly 25 miles-per-hour, officials said, and would impact residents in Essex, Middlesex, and Worcester counties. The warning was quickly lifted, but remained in effect until 3:45 p.m. for parts of Essex County, according to the report.

A “tornado warning” means a tornado has been indicated by a weather radar, and there is an “imminent danger to life.”

Trained weather spotters reported a “funnel cloud” near Danvers just after 3:15 p.m., and officials said the tornado could “develop at anytime,” calling it a “dangerous storm.” The storm was moving to the Northeast at roughly 25 m.p.h.

While no tornado has been spotted, the Weather Service advised residents to “take cover now” and go to a basement or interior room on the lowest level of a building. “If in a vehicle, or mobile home, get to the closest shelter and protect yourself from flying debris,” officials said in the advisory. The Weather Service also issued a flood advisory for those same locations throughout the state.

To prepare for the potential of a tornado, the Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts Tweeted information on how to use an app created to help people figure out what to do before, and after, the bad weather hits their location.