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The northeast moving north along the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast this weekend brings dangerous beach conditions, rain and gusty winds to southern Maine.
Some scattered rain began early Saturday in southern New Hampshire, coastal Maine, and some inland areas of Maine. That rain will become more consistent in the evening and Sunday morning and will remain moderate to heavy through Monday before the storm leaves the area Tuesday, said Zack Hargrove, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Gray.
Hargrove expects 1 to 2 inches of rain across most of coastal and interior Maine through Monday, but he said some areas of southwest Maine in York County could see up to 4 inches.
“That’s where the rain hotspot will definitely be,” Hargrove said.
The strongest winds will be on the coast, where coastal flooding and high surf warnings remain in effect. Hargrove said gusts will move between 25 and 35 miles per hour, with the strongest winds Saturday night into Sunday morning. Some gusts can reach 40 miles per hour.
“We will have water accumulating with this persistent northeast flow, so we will always have to keep an eye on it,” Hargrove said.
Strong winds and waves have already had an impact.
Jason Nappi, an independent meteorologist, said he was monitoring the storm at Kennebunk beaches this morning, where several tourists and surfers were also watching. At Middle Beach, he witnessed two “sneaker waves” – unusually large coastal waves that break much higher and farther than the waves before or after them.
He said one of the waves reached several feet beyond the beach seawall and momentarily submerged a line of cars waiting in traffic on Beach Avenue, shattering one car’s windows and soaking the interior. He said the car was parked on the road and abandoned as he approached it, and the wave also appeared to dent the vehicle.
Nappi said officers from the Kennebunk Police Department responded to the scene to investigate. Kennebunk Police Chief Robert MacKenzie did not immediately respond to requests for additional information about the incident.
“This storm is currently bordering on tropical storm or subtropical storm status,” Nappi said. “It’s a very powerful storm, and even though it’s not close to Maine, it still has a big impact.”
Central Maine Power has been monitoring the storm and will assign additional crews to some service centers, according to a CMP news release issued Friday. CMP crews can’t raise the arms of bucket trucks when winds exceed 30 mph, but they can help clear roads blocked by downed trees.
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