A slow-moving coldfront, coupled with steamy warmth and humidity, triggered scattered thunderstorms across Connecticut on Saturday afternoon.
The strongest thunderstorm moved across East Hampton and East Haddam. Doppler radar indicated hail to the size of quarters or ping pong balls, although the largest official report was hail to the size of nickels in East Hampton.
The storm also downed trees and tree limbs in East Hampton as it moved through, according to the National Weather Service.
At the peak of the storm, 4,850 Connecticut Light & Power customers were without power. The hardest hit towns were East Hampton, East Haddam and Marlborough.
In East Haddam, small hail was reported along with frequent cloud-to-ground lightning that may have ignited a fire on Clarks Gate Road.
Fire officials believe lightning was the cause of a fire that seriously damaged a home in the Moodus section of town.
