Flood Danger Returns To MA With More Heavy Rain On Monday

MASSACHUSETTS — Areas of Massachusetts punished with torrential rains in recent weeks were bracing for more possible damage on Monday after the National Weather Service issued a Flood Watch for most of Eastern Mass., as well as Rhode Island, coastal New Hampshire, and the Springfield area.

The National Weather Service said on Monday morning that the Watch that was set for Eastern Mass. had been expanded to Worcester County, Springfield and parts of Connecticut as of 9:30 a.m.

A widespread dousing of 2 to 3 inches of rain was forecast through Monday night with 1 to 2 inches of rain per hour possible in areas that get caught in a torrential downpour.

The excessive runoff from the heavy rainfall — with the ground already heavily saturated — could cause flooding in small streams, creeks, urban areas, highways and low-lying spots.

The National Weather Service said the greatest risk of flooding will be in urban areas and roadways that typically experience water ponding issues.

The rain comes as another blow to communities like Leominster, which is still picking up from the catastrophic destruction of last Monday's localized 11 inches of rain within hours.

Most of Eastern Mass. was able to largely escape the effects of Hurricane Lee, however, with the storm passing about 300 miles east of Boston. Parts of Cape Cod did experience power outages and isolated damage with wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour early Saturday morning.

"Areas that received multi-day rain totals of more than 7 to 10 inches early last week may be especially prone to renewed flooding concerns," the National Weather Service said.

For more of the rest of the coast, the issues were more associated with rain in the morning, a windy day and high surf.

The good news is that once this latest rain moves through New England an extended stretch of sunny and seasonable weather with highs in the 70s is expected.

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