Heavy rain, strong winds could have high impact on Friday commute

By Terry Eliasen, Meteorologist, WBZ-TV Exec. Weather Producer

BOSTON – The WBZ Weather Team is issuing a NEXT Weather Alert for a period of heavy rain and strong winds coming Thursday night through early Friday.

Heaviest rain comes through overnight, essentially 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The two main impacts from the storm will be locally heavy rain (causing some localized flooding), with 1-2″+ in many areas, along with winds gusting 30-40 mph (over 40mph on the Cape and Islands).  

This could cause some limbs or small trees to come down and certainly will rip a lot of leaves off the trees, putting a bit of a damper on the bursting foliage season.

There could also be a few embedded thunderstorms as well.

There will be a few showers during Thursday evening’s commute, however the commute which is likely to be most impacted is Friday morning. While the majority of the rain will be coming to an end, there is still a likelihood of some flooding on area roadways and downed limbs.

There are some signs that the front will get hung up in eastern Mass. on Friday. . . so the rain may linger along the coast and especially over southeastern Mass. for much of the day. The farther west you live or travel on Friday, the more sunshine. The entire area should clear by Saturday morning and make way for a pleasant, dry weekend.