Flooding Rain, High Winds, Freeze Warning Signal Sharp Shift Across MA: See Latest Forecast

MASSACHUSETTS — Weeks of dry weather and temperatures well above normal will be replaced with a sharply colder stretch — including perhaps the first freeze warning of the season — and more storm chances heading into the long holiday weekend.

A line of very heavy rain moved across southern New England on Wednesday morning with downpours potentially causing flooding in poor drainage areas along the South Coast and other vulnerable areas, as well as wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour.

The cold front will pass by early Wednesday afternoon, paving the way for much cooler days and frigid overnights over the next couple of days, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures that hovered near 70 degrees much of the overnight on Tuesday will steadily drop on Wednesday to the high 50s by sunset as clear skies emerge over the course of the afternoon.

Thursday is looking like a sunny, brisk, fall day with highs near 57 degrees and northwest winds 10 to 13 mph.

Thursday night will be the first night where many residents should consider bringing in or covering up plants and flowers as temperatures plummet. Lows will be in the high 30s in Greater Boston but could drop well into the 20s in some of the valleys and colder locations of eastern and central Massachusetts with radiational cooling.

Friday and Saturday will be very pleasant and seasonable with moderating temperatures. The NWS is forecasting a high of 61 degrees on Friday and 67 degrees on Saturday.

Sunday and Monday bring the chance of a very strong storm moving up the East Coast, while running into high pressure to the north. New England appears to be on the fringe of the damaging weather with the NWS forecasting rain arriving by Sunday afternoon and lasting as mostly scattered showers through Monday as the heart of the storm passes to the south.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)