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Storms, lightning cause flooding and fires in Mass.

Clouds were visible across the northern United States Sunday afternoon.NOAA via AP

Two fires were sparked by lightning strikes, flooding was reported in several Massachusetts communities, and a tornado touched down in Connecticut during a series of thunderstorms Sunday.

A fire on Hudson Road in Stow reached four alarms, police said.

That fire was caused by a lightning strike, as was one on Brook Lane in nearby Berlin, according to Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton.

The house in Stow caught fire at about 1:30 p.m., police said. It took firefighters about four hours to extinguish the blaze, Officer Michael Sallese said.

The fire in Berlin damaged a four-unit building at a senior housing development, fire officials said. It took firefighters less than an hour to put it out.

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No one was hurt in either fire, authorities said.

Thunderstorms traversed the state Sunday as part of a low pressure system that originated in the Great Lakes area, the weather service said.

The first two storm systems traveled west to east, but the second two systems hit the Berkshires and Springfield area before moving southeast into Connecticut.

The weather service in Taunton did not report any injuries in most of Massachusetts. Berkshire County is covered by the weather service in Albany, which could not be reached for comment Sunday night.

A funnel cloud developed over Springfield about 12:40 p.m. during the earlier round of storms and was spotted in Ludlow 10 minutes later, Buttrick said.

The same system caused a minor tornado to touch down in Wolcott, Conn., shortly after, according to the National Weather Service in Upton, N.Y.

It knocked over several trees, including some that fell onto a home and a trailer, and caused other damage, according to the weather service. No injuries were reported.

The earlier storms caused some street flooding in Worcester, Concord, and Peabody, Buttrick said. Route 2 in Concord near Crosby's Corner was briefly closed at about 2:15 p.m. because flooding made the road impassable, State Trooper Dustin Fitch said.

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Hail and heavy damage were reported in several Western Massachusetts communities during the evening storms, with the areas immediately west and south of Springfield being hit the hardest.

"We've got a lot of reports of trees and wires down across West Springfield, Agawam, and Longmeadow," said Stephanie Dunten, a meteorologist for the weather service in Taunton.

A spokeswoman for the American Red Cross said the organization was assisting a family in Agawam whose mobile home was damaged by a falling tree.

Dime-sized hail was reported in Chester in the northwestern corner of Hampden County, and penny- and nickel-sized hail was reported in West Springfield and Agawam in the central part of the county, the weather service said.

The weather service issued severe thunderstorm warnings for Massachusetts throughout the day, all of which had expired by 7:30 p.m.

The unsettled system that caused Sunday's storms will linger in the region through Monday, creating the potential for more severe weather, according to the weather service.

NStar reported a spattering of weather-related power outages in the suburbs west of Boston Sunday afternoon and evening.

In Sudbury, a lightning strike Sunday afternoon left 365 NStar customers without power, spokesman Jerry McDermott said. Downed tree limbs and power outages were reported in Weston, Lexington, Dover, and Cambridge as well.

As of 10 p.m. Sunday, NStar reported 83 customers remained without power. Police also reported a three-hour outage in Marblehead after winds broke off the top of a tree, blowing it onto power lines.

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The complex low pressure system with both a warm front and a cold front caused the rough weather, Buttrick said. The system is expected to move off to sea Monday night.

The region can expect a dry, mostly seasonable week, with high temperatures in the low 80s and low temperatures in the mid-60s, Buttrick said.


Globe correspondent Gal Tziperman Lotan contributed to this report. Nicholas Jacques can be reached at nicholas.jacques@globe.com.