Steady Rain, Snowy Mix To Give Spring Stormy Greeting Across MA

MASSACHUSETTS — The start of spring will include steady rain with a shot of snowflakes mixed in across parts of Massachusetts late Thursday night into Friday morning.

After temperatures surged well above normal in recent weeks, following a frigid winter, the first full day of spring will be chilly with snowflakes in the air for some near daybreak.

Precipitation is forecast to arrive around 3 a.m. on Friday, according to the National Weather Service, with rain in coastal sections and eastern Massachusetts and wet snow mixed in through parts of the Merrimack Valley, Worcester Hills, and the Berkshires around dawn. Little to no accumulation is expected for much of Massachusetts but there could be some snow on the ground across New Hampshire and Vermont.

A quarter- to half-inch of rain will douse much of eastern and central Massachusetts late Thursday night into Friday morning. A gusty wind will blow up to 30 mph out of the northwest on Friday as rain gives way to breaks of sun late in the day with high temperatures in the 40s.

Saturday will be much more like April or May with winds turning around to the southwest and high temperatures hitting near 60 degrees.

Sunday will retreat to more seasonable conditions with a high of 46 degrees and a brisk northwest wind.

(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.)