Power Outages, 55+ Winds, Flooding Possible In MA Coastal Storm

MASSACHUSETTS — A High Wind Watch was issued for coastal locations of Massachusetts for late Wednesday night into Thursday morning as part of a strong storm that the National Weather Service could cause power outages and bring 60-mile-per-hour winds and flooding rains.

The National Weather Services issued the watch Monday afternoon for the storm that it said it expected to make its biggest impact from 4 p.m. on Wednesday until 3 a.m. on Thursday.

The High Wind Watch affects Cape Ann on the North Shore, the entire South Shore, Cape Cod and the Islands, interior southeast Massachusetts, and parts of Rhode Island.

"An impactful storm will bring heavy rainfall and strong coastal winds to (southern New England)," the NWS said. "Localized urban and poor drainage street flooding is possible with 50-60 mph wind gusts near the coast. The heaviest rain and strongest wind is expected late Wednesday (afternoon) and Wednesday evening."

The storm will bring with it very balmy air for this time of year with the high temperature on Wednesday forecast for 63 degrees in Boston.

It will be much chillier for scattered showers before that, however, with a possible coating of snow, light ice accumulations and the danger of black ice for interior Massachusetts Monday night into Tuesday morning.

Tuesday will be a cool, cloudy day in the afternoon with a forecast high in Boston of 46 degrees.

Wednesday's rain will begin in the morning and become heavy at times in the afternoon and evening with up to 1 to 3 inches expected before it tapers Thursday morning.

Windy, dry and more seasonable temperatures are forecast to follow on Thursday and Friday into the weekend.

(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.)