Mid-week downpour to put a damper on mild September weather

By Alli Knothe, Globe Correspondent

Starting and ending with favorable weather, the middle of the week will bring heavy rain throughout the state, the National Weather Service reported Sunday.

Monday will be sunny with highs in the mid-70s because of a high pressure system.

Overnight temperatures will fluxuate between the upper 40s to the low 60s this week.

Tuesday afternoon a strong cold front is forecasted to hit Western Massachusetts and continue east, causing thunderstorms with heavy rain and wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour, the weather service reported.

The front is expected to hit Boston at about 5 p.m.

The weather service predicts about two inches will fall on average in the region, though some areas are expected to see up to four.

“At this point we’re not sure where [the heaviest rain] will be... that will depend on the speed of the front,” said meteorologist Rebecca Gould.

The rain will likely continue well into Wednesday for most of the state, teetering off in the afternoon and be mostly clear by the evening hours.

The extra few inches of rain will likely help to catch up to Boston’s normal precipitation total for 2012. So far this year, 25.43 inches have fallen, about 5 inches below the average. National Weather Service records date back to 1872. Sixteen days in, Boston is 1.72 inches above normal precipitation for September.