Winter Storm — Northern Franklin, Maine

2024-03-10 · Northern Franklin, Maine

Event narrative

Precipitation began as a light mix, especially across the lower elevations and valleys of Northern Franklin County. As heavier precipitation moved into the region, the precipitation type transitioned to snow, which became heavy at times in the higher terrain. In the lowest elevations (below 1000ft), warmer temperatures kept snow from accumulating significantly. By the time snow tapered off with a light mix, snowfall totals ranged from 6 inches in the valley to as much as 6 to 10 inches in the higher terrain.

Wider weather episode

A multifaceted storm brought strong winds and heavy rain to the coast, and heavy snow to the mountains on March 10th. A period of heavy rain between daybreak and noon caused excessive runoff and flash flooding in parts of Cumberland County where rainfall totals exceeded 3 inches. Elsewhere, the rain and snowmelt combination resulted in minor river flooding and nuisance overland standing water. Gale force easterly winds accompanied the low with the strongest winds occurring before high tide. The resultant storm tide reached 13.32 feet. This represented the eighth highest storm tide on record in Portland Harbor (1912 to present) and the third top ten storm tides for the year. High astronomical tides combined with strong onshore flow and storm surge to bring mostly minor coastal flooding to the Maine coast along with some localized areas of moderate flooding.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1169882. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.