Spring-like temperatures to give way to cooldown, snowy commute on Wednesday

By Lauren Dezenski and Martin Finucane, Globe Correspondent and Globe Staff

The outdoors beckoned today with a bright, spring-like sun beaming down and temperatures rising to 60 degrees by early afternoon in some areas. But chilly temperatures are expected to make a comeback, with the thermometer dropping by 30 degrees in the overnight hours.

And some areas could see a sloppy commute Wednesday morning because of snow, National Weather Service forecasters said.

The weather service said that Tuesday night into Wednesday two to four inches could fall away from the coast and one to two inches along the coast and to the north.

Untreated roads will become slippery and visibility will be reduced, the forecasters said.

Just before 2 p.m. today, the temperature at Logan International Airport was 60 degrees after dropping to only about 50 overnight.

But a cold front swinging through Eastern Massachusetts will drive away the region’s humidity and unseasonably warm temperatures, forecasters sasid.

The cold front, shifting in from the west, will work slowly, quietly dropping temperatures and humidities throughout this afternoon and through the middle of the week, said meteorologist Matt Doody. With partly cloudy skies, tonight’s overnight lows will drop to about 24 in Lawrence, 26 in Foxborough, and 29 degrees in Boston.

“It will certainly feel colder beginning tonight,” Doody said. “Even though temps are closer to normal, it will feel cold in relation to the weekend.”

Highs Tuesday are expected to be around 40 in Boston, while the lows are expected to drop to near freezing in Boston and in the 20s in much of the rest of the state.

After the precipitation Tuesday night into Wednesday, the rest of the week will stay clear and quiet, with Friday’s forecasted high of 33 degrees in Boston the week’s coldest high. Overnight lows will stay in the mid- to upper 20s east of Interstate 495.

Saturday and Sunday could see a slight warmup with highs in the mid- to upper 30s.