Forecasters say Boston could get 4 inches of snow on Saturday

By Melissa M. Werthmann, Globe Correspondent

Bay Staters should have a shovel handy Saturday afternoon, as some areas could pick up half a foot of snow, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures today will be in the mid-30s, the weather service said. It will be breezy in the city, with gusts as high as 25 miles per hour.

A system moving through the region Saturday afternoon will blanket much of Eastern Massachusetts with two to four inches of snow, said meteorologist Bill Simpson.

The bull’s-eye of the storm will be interior Southeastern Massachusetts, he said. Areas near Foxborough, Taunton, and Plymouth could see six inches of snow.

Boston should see about four inches, Simpson said.

Some forecasting models show the storm heading further west of the city, which would pull in warmer air and force the snow to transition to rain in Boston, he said.

The central and western parts of the state will get two to four inches, Simpson said. The precipitation will not transition to rain there because it will remain cold enough for snow.

The Cape and Islands will see mostly rain, he said. Temperatures will hover in the mid- to high 30s, so it might be cold enough to pick up a dusting of snow.

Snowflakes will start to fall at about midday and continue through Saturday night, Simpson said.

“Maybe you’ll see some flurries early in the morning Sunday,” he said.

Sunday will be partly sunny with temperatures in the mid-30s, the weather service said.

Temperatures Sunday night will plummet to 17 in Boston and will get as cold as 10 in the western part of the state.

New Year’s Eve will be sunny with daytime temperatures near 30 and nighttime temperatures in the mid-20s.

Melissa Werthmann can be reached at melissa.werthmann@globe.com.