Flood — Franklin, Maine

2023-12-18 to 2023-12-19 · near Farmington Falls, Franklin, Maine

Event narrative

The Sandy River reached major flood level on the afternoon of December 18th. The river crested at a stage of 17.35 feet which was the 3rd highest crest ever recorded. The flooding was most severe in the headwaters between Sandy River Plantation and Farmington where bridges were washed out and homes were inundated. Between Farmington Falls and Madison the flooding was widespread. Several homes in New Sharon were flooded along Route 134. Main thruways in the area were cut off including Route 2 which flooded in multiple locations including the New Sharon bridge. Route 134 north of the river flooded into Beans Corner Road and Glenn Harris Roads. On the south side of the river, several local roads flooded including Flagg Road, Starks Road, and West Dandy River Road. Multiple homes were surrounded with basement and minor first floor flooding, particularly in Farmington Falls. Further downstream in Norridgewock, the Sandy River Road flooded.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure began organizing in the Gulf of Mexico on the 16th, setting record low sea level pressures as it traversed the Southeast through the 17th. Strong high pressure over the North Atlantic created a deep southeasterly flow that drew warm air into New England ahead of the approaching storm. By the time precipitation arrived on the evening of the 17th, temperatures were warm enough for rain everywhere except the highest peaks. Early on the 18th a shortwave trough was approaching from the Great Lakes and led to rapid deepening of the low pressure as it paralleled the Eastern Seaboard. Even as the center of the storm remained near Chesapeake Bay on the morning of the 18th, a strong low level jet had developed and winds began to gust in excess of 50 mph well inland from the coast. Damaging wind gusts continued into the afternoon. Hundreds of thousands of customers lost power due to falling limbs and downed wires. The anomalously warm air mass also led to intense rainfall rates beginning on the evening of the 17th, which continued into the 18th. Upsloping winds also enhanced precipitation along the southeast facing slopes of the mountains. Widespread 3 to 4 inches of rain fell, with isolated pockets of 6 to 8 inches. This fell on top of snow that was ripe from previous rainfall about a week earlier. An additional 2 to 3 inches of snow water equivalent was likely added to rainfall runoff. Numerous road washouts and road closures occurred due to flash flooding and fast responding small stream and tributaries. Widespread moderate to major flooding occurred along mainstem rivers. The storm destroyed 13 homes, caused major damage to 106 others, with an additional 65 homes receiving minor flood damage. Private damage was in the millions with public infrastructure damage of 20+ million being reported by FEMA.

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Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1152139. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.