It may be the second week of spring, but the New England winter has one more storm to give after all.
A wintry weather system will arrive in Greater Boston Friday morning and linger in the region until Saturday, potentially leaving double-digit snowfalls in communities near the New Hampshire border, according to the National Weather Service.
The area below the Massachusetts Turnpike could get as much as a half-foot.
“I caution people that this is a pretty tricky system, and those numbers could change,” said weather service meteorologist Matt Doody late Thursday night.
The area north of the turnpike is of greatest concern, where anywhere from 3 to 9 inches of snow could fall, Doody said.
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Greater Boston is expected to receive between 2 and 5 inches, a possible mix of snow and sleet. “It could switch on and off,” he said.
The weather service issued a winter storm watch for much of northwestern Massachusetts, encompassing Franklin, Hampshire, Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties, as well as the northern half of Worcester County.
The watch will take effect at 8 a.m Friday and remain into Saturday afternoon. Much of the rest of the state will be under a winter storm advisory, according to the weather service.
The precipitation should arrive in time to disrupt the morning commute, but it remains unclear exactly what form that precipitation will take, Doody said. The storm should come in from the west and reach the coast between 7 and 9 a.m.
Icy road conditions should be expected, forecasters wrote.
Once the storm comes, it’s likely to continue for most of Saturday, Doody said.
“There could be a lull in the afternoon before things pick up in the evening, but it’ll linger well into the day Saturday,” he said.
The heaviest snow is expected to fall overnight Friday and in the early morning hours of Saturday, according to Doody.
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Dylan McGuinness can be reached at dylan.mcguinness@globe.com.