Forecasters warn of ice storm in W. Mass., flooding in E. Mass.

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)

A woman found a dry space inside her transparent umbrella today as she strolled down Newbury Street making a cellphone call.

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff and Anne Baker, Globe Correspondent

Central and western Massachusetts face a potentially dangerous ice storm Thursday and Friday that could down tree limbs and power lines and make travel difficult. In eastern Massachusetts, the rain won't freeze, but it could cause flooding, the National Weather Service warned today.

The weather service issued the ice storm warning for 4 a.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday, saying that rain may stop tonight, but will return early Thursday as sleet, freezing rain, or freezing drizzle. The freezing precipitation will intensify and possibly become heavy Thursday night.

Areas above 500 feet could see power outages later Thursday and Thursday night as a coating of ice one-half to one-inch thick -- and possibly even thicker -- covers tree limbs and power lines, the forecasters warned.

In the eastern part of the state, two to four inches of rain could fall Thursday night through Friday morning, raising the possibility of flooding in rivers, small streams, and urban and poor drainage areas, forecasters also predicted.

Issuing a flood watch, the weather service said some areas could even see five inches of rain as a low pressure heading up the eastern seaboard brings "copious amounts" of Gulf and Atlantic moisture into southern New England.

The wet weather comes after a rainy, spring-like day today in which temperatures registered in the 60s and wind gusts reached nearly 60 mph.

The weather service received reports of knocked-down trees and power lines from a number of communities, including Monson, Westport, Fitchburg, Lakeville, Halifax, Newton, Tolland, Fairhaven, and Dartmouth.

Weather service meteorologist Bill Simpson said that while today’s temperatures were not rare for this time of year, the short duration of the temperature spike was. “It’s just unusual to happen in such a short time span," he said.

Tuesday's low in Boston was 17 degrees. Temperatures reached the 60s today, and they were expected to drop to the high 30s Thursday.

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