Heavy rain and cooler temperatures in New England on Saturday

An area of low pressure will intensify as it moves over Southern New England and toward the Gulf of Maine today, bringing widespread showers, isolated thunderstorms, and locally heavy rainfall, particularly in the Berkshires and in Northern New England, where up to 2-3 inches of rain is possible by the end of the weekend.

Other areas can expect either side of an inch of rain – not enough for widespread flooding, though some clogged storm drains may result from a combination of fallen leaves and the rain.

Rain will gradually taper off this evening and overnight from west to east in southern and central New England. The wind will shift to the west-northwest with strong gusts overnight along the South Coast – particularly the Cape and Islands to 45 mph. 

Tomorrow, expect frequent gusts to 35 mph, creating a brisk feeling regionwide with highs only in the 50s.  Much of southern New England will be dry tomorrow, until a threat for late day showers arrive from north to south. 

Farther to the north, numerous showers will crop up, so you’ll want to have the wet weather gear with you for any plans you may have. 

At the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, this all means widely varied race conditions: rain and not too much wind today, then a gusty headwind with chop on the Charles River tomorrow. 

Beyond the weekend, cool and dry conditions start the week Monday and some frost is possible for inland suburbs of Boston Monday overnight – and more likely the farther north and west one is as temperatures dip into the 30s. 

Overall, it’s a quiet week of weather ahead with plenty of sunshine, mainly dry weather and a warming trend; highs should be near 70 on Thursday.