Heavy Rain With Very Gusty Winds Are Expected This Afternoon & This Evening

For The Rest Of This Afternoon Through This Evening: A wild and very windy afternoon and evening is expected across the region as a strong cold front now pushing into the eastern Great Lakes is expected to cross Southern New England late this afternoon and early this evening. Rain will continue to develop across Western Mass over the next hour or two with the rain developing across Central Mass by about 1 to 2 pm or so. A period of heavy rain is then expected across the entire area beginning around mid-afternoon and continuing until about 7 to 8 pm or so. Additionally, it is possible that a couple of thunderstorms are possible when the front crosses the region, which looks to occur between about 5-6 pm and about 7 pm or so. The rain is expected to come to an end across Western Mass by about 7-8 pm and across Central Mass by about 8-9 pm or so. The bigger story, however, looks to be the very gusty winds that are expected this afternoon and tonight. South winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 to 50 mph are expected this afternoon and in particular during the mid and late afternoon hours. All indications point to that the passage of the front will bring with it a period of winds that gust up to 50 to 60 mph. The timing of these possible 50 to 60 mph wind gusts looks to be around the 5-7 pm time frame across Western Mass and around the 6-8 pm time frame across Central Mass. Once the winds shift into a west to northwest direction this evening, they will still blow at speeds of about 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35-40 mph. The strong winds, especially between 3 pm this afternoon and 8 pm this evening, will lead to the potential for some tree damage and power outages. Temperatures this afternoon will rise to near 50 Degrees and then fall back into the 30s this evening when that front moves through. For Late Tonight: There will be a brief lull in the winds late tonight with West to Northwest winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph expected. Skies late tonight are expected to be partly cloudy and there could be a passing brief snow flurry or snow shower. Low temperatures late tonight will be near 30 Degrees. Thursday: A windy and cold, but sunny day is expected on Thursday with high temperatures between 35 and 40 Degrees. Winds will be West at 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 to 50 mph. Friday: An area of high pressure will control the weather during Friday. This means that lots of sunshine can be expected on Friday with high temperatures near 45 Degrees. Winds will be Southwest at 5 to 10 mph.