Tornado watch issued for Massachusetts until 9 p.m. tonight, Weather Service says

By Melanie Dostis, Melissa M. Werthmann and Sarah N. Mattero, Globe Correspondents

Heavy rain and thunderstorms swept across the state Friday evening as strong wind uprooted trees and flash flooding hit parts of the state.

A tornado watch from the National Weather Service in the afternoon was lifted at 9 p.m. Friday, with weather officials reporting no tornados in Massachusetts.

Damage from the storm was felt most intensely in southeastern Massachusetts, according to weather service spokeswoman Rebecca Gould. Wind damage caused numerous trees to fall over and floods reaching up to four feet caused significant damage, especially in Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford, she said.

In Foxborough, an elderly woman suffered chest pains after a bolt of lightning struck a tree and traveled through the ground into her house, Fire Captain Donald Treannie said.

“The bolt basically put a pine tree in the yard making a two foot by two foot trench into the house,” Treannie added. “I can’t quite explain just how much damage it made unless you see it.”

The woman is in stable condition, Treannie said.

Earlier Friday, the Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook for the state continuing into Saturday, because some storms could produce strong winds and torrential rain.

Saturday’s rain will be more widespread. Simpson said the exact time that storms will roll through Boston is hard to predict, but that they will most likely arrive during the maximum heating hours of the day in the late afternoon.

“The warmer it is, the more fuel it is for the thunderstorms,” meteorologist Bill Simpson said.

Temperatures Saturday will be in the low 80s, but the humidity will be thick and uncomfortable, Simpson said.

The wet weather is caused by a tropical air mass that will be replaced by a cold front on Sunday, casting out the humidity and lowering the risk for rain, Simpson said.

There is a slight chance for a final round of storms Sunday morning, but the day will otherwise be partly sunny with a high of 85.

“By Sunday, we should be improving,” Simpson said.