Historic rain totals in Massachusetts unleash floods south of Boston - up to 6 inches of rainfall in just 3 hours

Mike Toole
CBS News
Thu, 10 Jul 2025 19:21 UTC

© CBS

All lanes of Interstate 93 were closed in Quincy, Massachusetts Thursday because of major flooding on the highway during rush hour.

An historic amount of rain fell in parts of Massachusetts Thursday, unleashing floods in towns south of Boston.

In a very rare sight, Interstate 93 in Quincy was closed in both directions during the height of rush hour because there was so much water.

Norfolk and Plymouth counties were hit the hardest.

WBZ-TV executive weather producer Terry Eliasen said the rain totals "equated to a 1 in 200 year event this morning."

Here is the latest from the National Weather Service and the SKYWARN weather watchers' network.

Weymouth 6.37 inches of rain
North Hingham 6.21
Braintree 5.23
Sharon 4.67
Hingham 4.48
Hull 3.91
East Walpole 3.87
Milton 3.71

© Cohasset Police Department

Route 3A at Lower King in Cohasset, Massachusetts, was closed Thursday morning due to flooding.

Cohasset 3.47
Mendon 2.75
Scituate 2.49
Boston (Logan Airport) 0.83

Comment: Also from CBS News:

The flooding south of Boston Thursday will be a day to remember in Massachusetts. It was a very rare and somewhat historic weather event.

Most of the rain fell in just a few hours, right during the morning commute. Three-to-six inches fell in a 2-to-3 hour deluge over a relatively small area. It was a highly localized event. The highest impact was only felt over a swath of land about 5-to-10 miles wide.

© CBS Boston

The hardest hit areas during Thursday's storm

The first downpour was right around 5 a.m. Then, in the next few hours, torrential downpours continued to "train" over the same areas, dropping 2-to-3 inches per hour at times.

Finally, by about 9 a.m., the rain began to decrease in intensity, but the damage was already done. Interstate 93 was completely shut down in Quincy and traffic was at a complete standstill.