This Advisory From The National Weather Service
There is some potential for severe thunderstorms late this afternoon or evening. There remains the potential for more widespread severe thunderstorms during Thursday afternoon and evening.
Severe weather potential for late this afternoon and/or evening...
The air mass will become very unstable by late today. To realize that potential, there will need to be some mechanism to get the thunderstorms started. That may come in the form of a weak warm frontal boundary.
Any thunderstorm activity late this afternoon or evening is expected to be widely scattered. However...any thunderstorm that should be initiated could very quickly become severe with damaging winds, large hail, and locally heavy rainfall. The area of greatest threat is along and to the northwest of a Manchester, NH, Worcester, and Hartford line. Confidence is not high because there is uncertainty regarding the triggering mechanism. Nonetheless, we have much concern if any thunderstorm is able to get initiated late this afternoon or evening.
Severe Weather Potential for Thursday afternoon and evening...
An approaching cold front will likely trigger widespread thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and evening from generally northwest to southeast. Most of central and southern New England are at risk for some of these thunderstorms to become severe with damaging winds, large hail, and excessively heavy rain. This is still too far away to know precisely how the event will unfold. It does seem likely, however, that there will be at least a few severe thunderstorms as a result of a very unstable air mass, approaching cold front, and moderately strong winds aloft. There is some suggestion that the storms may form in one or more squall lines but it's too early to be sure. There will be a greater chance of strong or severe thunderstorms making it to the coast Thursday evening (as compared to this evening).
The Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA) is the state agency responsible for coordinating federal, state, and local resources to protect the public during disasters and emergencies. RIEMA helps develop plans for effective response to all hazards, trains emergency personnel, provides information to families and communities, and assists in recovery from disaster losses. You can learn more about RIEMA by visiting the RIEMA homepage at www.riema.ri.gov