It’s the rain that just won’t quit.
Despite the sun this morning, clouds marching eastward will bring rain to the Boston area by the early afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson said, with heavy rain arriving in time for the evening commute.
Temperatures will also take a tumble as the day progresses, with the daytime highs dropping through the 60s. The outer Boston area will likely be in the upper 50s by the evening commute.
The heavy rainfall will continue overnight, with the most rain south of the Massachusetts Turnpike. The southernmost parts of the state will see 1 to 2 inches of rain. Rainfall totals will decline heading northward, with areas along the New Hampshire border expected to see half an inch. The weather service has issued a flood watch effective until 8 a.m. Sunday.
The storm’s main impact will be the heavy rain overnight as well as strong northeasterly winds. Look for gusts up to 40 miles per hour along east-facing shorelines.
The rain should begin to taper off ahead of the Friday morning commute, Simpson said, though some rain bands could linger into the mid-morning from a storm system that’s expected to skirt Long Island before moving out to sea by Friday afternoon.
Once the rain moves out Friday, afternoon sunshine will develop, though it’ll be a bit chilly with highs only in the mid-60s, Simpson said.
Remember the week-after-week slew of winter storms at the beginning of the year? Over the past three weeks, we’ve been seeing that same sort of repetitive weather pattern, Simpson said.
The state will be able to dry out this weekend with sunny skies and highs in the upper 70s, though we’ll return to the wet weather with the start of the workweek.
Lauren Dezenski can be reached at lauren.dezenski@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenDezenski.
