Coastal Flood — Coastal York, Maine

2024-01-10 · Coastal York, Maine

Event narrative

An intense and rapidly deepening area of low pressure over the Great Lakes region (975 mb) combined with modestly high astronomical tides to produce the third highest storm tide ever in Portland (records 1912-present). In the Portsmouth region at the relatively new Seavey Island gauge, the tide reached 12.46 feet at 9:36 am. The storm surge was recorded at 3.17 feet. In terms of erosion, significant splash-over occurred along the coast, especially in vulnerable southeast facing beaches. In Wells, flood waters damaged a home in Seabreeze Drive. In Kennebunkport, large waves closed the roads by depositing stones and debris on Ocean Avenue. Waves struck houses on Ocean Avenue in Kennebunkport. A portion of the sea wall and a garage along Beach Avenue in Kennebunk was ripped out by the waves. Private seawalls and bulkheads were heavily damaged by large rocks moved by the waves. Inundation flooding was also extreme across Southwest Maine. In Saco, the community of Camp Ellis was completely shut off with over a foot of water covering the corner of Route 9 and Lower Beach Road. North Ave in Camp Ellis was destroyed by wave action, and up to 2-3 feet of sand was left on parts of Riverside Ave and North Ave in Camp Ellis. Flood waters impacted businesses in Ocean Park area of Old Orchard Beach, several roads, including West Grand Avenue, and Cascade road were closed with water a foot deep and foam pouring onto Old Orchard Street. New Salt Road was heavily damaged due to flood waters. In Kennebunkport, numerous shops were flooded with water up to 2 feet deep. In Biddeford, Granite Point Road flooded up to 2.5 feet deep, with flood damage also occurring along Fortunes Rocks Beach.

Wider weather episode

A powerful storm tracked northeast through the Mid Mississippi River Valley on the 9th, rapidly deepening as it approached the southern Great Lakes. Precipitation formed along and ahead of the advancing warm front, which arrived in part of northern New England during the evening of the 9th. High pressure anchored to the north of Maine dammed low level cold air up against the mountains and allowed precipitation to start as snow for most locations in western Maine, except for those east of the coastal front. The coastal front was able to quickly mix westward as heavier precipitation moved into the area, and snow changed to rain into the foothills through midnight and the early morning hours. Rain closer to the coast and snow across the higher terrain was heavy at times through the overnight hours. Snowfall of 6 to 12 inches occurred in the higher terrain, with locally higher amounts in the high peaks. Rainfall was a widespread 2 to 4 inches where precipitation remained mostly rain. A strong low level jet accompanying the deep low pressure over the eastern Great Lakes arrived during the early morning hours on the 10th, with strong to damaging wind gusts along the coast. These warm winds along with rainfall helped to melt much of the fresh snow pack that had fallen on the 7th. The strongest east southeast winds also arrived just ahead of high tide, as they were approaching their monthly spring tides. Moderate to major coastal flooding and large, battering waves occurred all along the western Maine shoreline leading to widespread damage. By the morning of the 10th, snow, rain, and wind had all moved east of the area.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1159464. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.