Storms rake Mass., roiling evening commute

Chelsea resident Cheryl Ciliberto made her way along Atlantic Avenue in Boston on Tuesday. The city has received 8.84 inches of rain this month.JESSICA RINALDI FOR THE GLOBE

Powerful and fast-moving thunderstorms swept through the region Tuesday, producing pea-size hail and flash flooding from Worcester to Boston and areas south.

The heaviest rain fell in the southern parts of Worcester and Middlesex counties and the northern part of Norfolk County, said Alan Dunham of the National Weather Service.

Shrewsbury was hit the hardest with 2.9 inches of rain and hail measuring about an inch in diameter, the Weather Service said.

Flash flooding along Route 9 in Framingham frustrated commuters Tuesday evening, said State Police, who added that they received complaints from callers held up in traffic.

It is not unusual for the highway’s underpasses to flood during heavy rain and cause backups, said Reid Bagley, a State Police spokesman.

The Massachusetts Avenue bridge inbound was also closed for a little over an hour because of a power outage that affected traffic lights in the area, State Police said. It was unclear if the outage was weather-related.

As the night progressed, the rain shifted to Plymouth and Bristol counties, northern Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Other than a few isolated showers overnight, Boston is looking clear for the rest of the week, with temperatures in the low 70s Wednesday, mid-70s Thursday, and upper 70s Friday, Dunham said. The weekend is also expected to be bright and sunny with highs in the low 80s, he said.

Tuesday’s storms were not as severe as those that struck the Bay State Monday, which flashed lightning and whipped up winds that downed trees and utility poles throughout the state, according to Weather Service spotter reports. However, Tuesday’s system produced heavier rain and flooding across Massachusetts, the Weather Service reported.

The Weather Service has also issued a river flood advisory for the Sudbury River in the Saxonville area of Framingham until early Thursday morning.

Monday’s round of rain helped propel Boston to its fifth-wettest June ever. By midnight Tuesday, 8.84 inches have fallen this month, Dunham said.

Though Boston’s heaviest rainfall for June, 13.20 inches in 1982, is out of striking distance, Dunham said, this month could make it into the top three, overtaking 9.13 inches set in 1931.