After a relatively dry Monday marked by high heat, Massachusetts is set to experience lots of rainfall beginning Tuesday morning and continuing into Wednesday morning, according to National Weather Service forecasters.
Some rain was already falling in most areas of the state on Tuesday morning and forecasters say the precipitation will continue until the late morning. The morning’s rainfall was likely not to intensify into “anything severe” but forecasters say they cannot rule out the chance for heavier downpours or a few rumbles of thunder.
A brief dry spell will follow as morning turns into afternoon on Tuesday as heavy cloud cover brings lower temperatures than typical for early August, with highs in the 70s.
Forecasters say the real action starts Tuesday night.
“After a brief lull, do expect rather busy evening and overnight with the return of widespread rainfall, of which some could be locally heavy and lead to isolated flooding concerns,” forecasters wrote, adding that widespread rain is expected to develop over Southern New England beginning around 8 p.m. Tuesday.
While most of the heaviest rain is expected to fall south of major metropolitan areas in New England, forecasters warned that if the weather system shifted to the north, it could bring intense rainfall to Taunton; Hartford, Connecticut; and Providence, Rhode Island.
The rain will continue into the Wednesday morning commute, ending first in the western part of the state before the dry weather drifts east through the late morning. But on top of whatever rain comes down Tuesday, forecasters say the Bay State could see an additional inch or more of rain Wednesday morning.
In all, parts of Massachusetts could up to 2 inches of rain from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning.
Drier conditions will move in by Wednesday afternoon before another prolonged period of rain starts up on Thursday. That second period of rain could turn heavy on Friday and Saturday as Tropical Storm Debby and its remnants barrel toward New England.
It’s not yet clear what areas might be most affected by the rain, forecasters say.
