Mass. weather: Rain, wind returns this weekend before midweek snow threat looms

Massachusetts is in for a weekend of rapid weather changes with soaking rain and strong winds before a potential snowstorm hits early next week.

Saturday night temperatures are expected to be cold across the region, with numbers falling into the low 20s, according to the National Weather Service .

Sunday will start dry. However, rain will move in by late morning and early afternoon as warmer air arrives.

In western and central Massachusetts, it might start briefly as a snow or a snow-rain mix between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., but it will quickly turn into plain rain.

The heaviest rain will fall late Sunday afternoon through the evening, dropping up to a half-inch of water, forecasters report.

Temperatures will then jump into the 40s statewide, with areas near the coast possibly reaching t