April showers are on tap for southern and central Maine for the remainder of the week.

Following Tuesday’s warmth, most of the area can expect rain Wednesday through Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Michael Ekster, a meteorologist at the weather service’s office in Gray, said Tuesday that showers will be widespread, but most communities should get a break from the rain here and there.

“Wednesday night into Thursday, it could be area-wide,” Ekster said. “During the day on Thursday, it’s towards the New Hampshire border mostly, but then it should spread eastward overnight.”

Temperatures should hover in the 50s across much of the area the rest of the week, Ekster said, though the National Weather Service projected temperatures overnight may fall into the high 40s in coastal communities, including Portland.

Sporadic rain is expected during the day Friday, the meteorologist said, but then there might be some relief.

“Friday night and Saturday are looking like the best times of the week,” Ekster said, before a cold front and some more rain are expected to move through the area on Sunday.

But the rain this week is not expected to be heavy.

“Nothing that’s going to bust the current drought we’re in,” Ekster said.

As of last week, no parts of Maine were considered to be in extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. However, the entire state remains under severe and moderate drought conditions.

Wildfire season is also upon us. The wildfire danger level throughout the state, declared every morning by the Maine Forest Service, has fluctuated from low to high in the past week. On Tuesday, the southwestern half of Maine was at moderate risk while the northern and Downeast regions were at a low risk.

Fire departments across the state have responded to brush fires in recent days. As of Tuesday, Maine has experienced 65 wildfires burning approximately 45 acres so far this month, according to the Forest Service. Last April, there were 193 wildfires in Maine that burned approximately 177 acres.

The rain is expected to be heavier and be accompanied by thunderstorms in New Hampshire and parts of other New England states. Ekster said that’s par for the course in April.

“We get warm fronts that set up just to our south because of the southeast winds off the cold water,” he explained. “That generally leads to showers and drizzles and colder temperatures (in Maine).”