North Andover Spared by Storms

New England was ravaged by severe storms Wednesday afternoon and evening that produced several tornadoes and golf ball-sized hail and resulted in four deaths.

At about 8 p.m. Wednesday night, weather radars showed a large ominous red/purple menace on track to roll over the Merrimack Valley. North Andover was right in its path eastward.

But by 9 p.m., the ground was still dry and the flowers were still intact. That large menace of a storm had banged a right and headed south.

Yesterday morning, the region was hit with heavy rain and, in some areas, hail. Then things calmed down and it looked to be a decent day -- until the afternoon, when the National Weather Service for much of New England including the Merrimack Valley.

The storms produced "super cells," which brought tornadoes, hail paths of destruction stretching many miles each. And Wednesday evening, two tornadoes ripped through Springfield, resulting in massive destruction and four deaths.

Gov. Deval Patrick has declared a state of emergency for the Commonwealth and has posted information on what to do in case of a tornado.

Merrimack Valley residents braced themselves for the eastward storms. Radars showed a massive super-cell storm ripping through Gardner and Fitchburg on a path for the Greater Lawrence area.

North Andover, however, lucked out. Shortly after passing east over Lowell, that super-cell turned south and skipped the rest of the Merrimack Valley. In fact, other than some heavy winds and a few rain drops, North Andover was spared completely.

Are you helping out the disaster relief in western Massachusetts or know people or groups who are? Let us know.

And if you have photos or video from yesterday's storms, you can upload them directly to this story or email them to Bryan.McGonigle@patch.com.