Weather

Milton Avenue. Photo by BFD.

The Boston Fire Department reports quick work by firefighters stopped a fire - possibly sparked by a lightning strike - from spreading beyond the attic of 101 Milton Ave. in Dorchester. The fire, reported around 3:30 p.m., caused no injuries.

Ominous cloud over Cambridge. Photo by Jayne Hendry.

UPDATE: The storm knocked out power in Salem and Saugus and NECN reports cars in flood waters on Broadway in Malden.

Around 2:05, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for "extreme northeastern Suffolk County." Which would be, what, Revere and Winthrop? In any case, the NWS based its warning on radar showing "a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado" near Lynn that was moving east at 25 m.p.h.

Amazing storm photo from State Street.

Ed. note: All of a sudden my phone's screen lit up with a giant red triangle with an exclamation mark of doom in the middle warning me to "take shelter now." NWS should probably want to give better definitions that people actually use around here, like town names, rather than "extreme northeastern Suffolk County."

But you knew that. Still, here's the official NWS heat advisory and here are tips from the city of Boston (bonus tip: City Hall has some nice AC).

The Herald interviews witnesses who saw two people get hit by lightning in South Boston's Thomas Park on July Fourth.

Photo from last night.

Background on the photo.

Boston EMTs and firefighters rushed to Thomas Park in South Boston shortly before 11 p.m. to find and treat a man and a woman hit by lightning. Both were reported conscious when crews arrived.

Update, Thursday morning: Police report the two, both 29, were taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital "alert, conscious and talking" and are expected to survive.

Photo of some real fireworks by Tmccool.

State officials started evacuating the Esplanade around 9:30 as a potentially violent thunderstorm headed toward the thousands of people crammed in there for the Pops concert and fireworks. Channel 5 reports many sang "God Bless America" as they filed into the Storrow Drive tunnel. Concertgoers on the Boston side were also given shelter in the Hynes Convention Center garage.

The storm, however, passed the Esplanade by and shortly after 10 p.m., state and Boston police began letting people back onto the Esplanade, after the National Weather Service declared the area safe again.

WBZ meteorologist Barry Burbank tweets authorities made the right call:

Bottom line is safety of every person. With the frequent vivid lightning nearby, officials called the evacuation then the storm died!

The view from Millennium Park around 6 p.m.

Saul B. took this photo by South Station this afternoon.

Some more storm photos, including one of the start of a funnel cloud over Nahant:

Photographynatalia captured a girl in the Copley Square fountain at the height of the heat yesterday. One guy brought a chair.

Copyright Photographynatalia. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Heidi watched the sun come up over Dorchester Bay this morning.

Posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

The grass is always cooler on the other side of the street in West Roxbury.

Amy Derjue captured a longest-day party at a Greenway fountain this evening.

The city reports Allston blinked out this afternoon, at least in the areas around Brighton Avenue and Allston street. However, the traffic lights, at least, were also out at Brighton and Harvard avenues.

UPDATE: Around 6, Dorchester in the vicinity of Dot. Ave. and Freeport Street went out.

It's so hot, people are turning to Twitter to say how hot it is:

AlertNewEngland reports that rescue crews, including a dive team, rushed to the North Washington Street Bridge shortly after 11:30 a.m. on a report of somebody plunging into the water and not coming out.

Just kids jumping off the bridge, both witnessed exiting the water at the marina. Everyone clearing the scene

Boston's issued its first heat advisory of the year, for the possible triple-digit temps we might get over the next couple of days - and yes, one tip is to "avoid cooking."

Boston parks with spray fountains.

R.S.Y. Buchanan photographed this ominous cloud outside his Cambridge office around 2:10 p.m.

Copyright R.S.Y. Buchanan. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Anne of No Gables took this picture of impending doom out the window of her office in the Hancock building this afternoon.

Will the state have to roll out this sign again? Photo by Lauren Glynn.

The National Weather Service has issued a high surf advisory for the Massachusetts coast for tomorrow, with surf of three to five feet possible. Do yourself a favor, the NWS advises, and stay way the hell away from the pounding surf:

VIEWERS OF LARGE SURF SHOULD BE IN SAFE AREAS WELL AWAY FROM POSSIBLE SPLASH OVER. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH CAN SWEEP A PERSON INTO THE WATER FROM WHAT MAY SEEM TO BE A SAFE VIEWING AREA. FALLING INTO THE TURBULENT AND SOMETIMES ROCKY WATERS CAN RESULT IN INJURY THAT REDUCES THE CHANCE OF SURVIVAL.

Daniel Brim captured a double rainbow over Lynn this afternoon.

Boston has canceled street sweeping for tonight and tomorrow due to the predicted heavy rain.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for eastern Massachusetts (actually, pretty much the entire state) starting Sunday night.

Greg MacKay wandered around downtown just before today's hail storm.

Copyright Greg MacKay. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr.

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for pretty much the entire state for Monday, which means we're at high risk for bad wild fires, due to a combination of dry ground conditions, low humidity and high winds.