Coastal Flood — Coastal Cumberland, Maine

2024-03-10 · Coastal Cumberland, Maine

Event narrative

The astronomical tide in Portland was 11.3 feet MLLW at 11:41 am. Flood stage is 12 feet MLLW. The easterly gales produced a storm surge of two feet in Portland Harbor. The storm tide topped out at 13.32 feet MLLW in the Forest City with the tide remaining above flood stage for a full two hours and 46 minutes (10:08 am - 12:56 pm). The tidal flooding was exasperated by fresh water flooding in estuaries due to runoff from heavy rainfall. The temporary new tide gauge at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) in Portland reached 13.4 feet MLLW.

In terms of inundation along the southwest coast of Maine, route 1 was closed in the Scarborough marshes at high tide, in addition Bayview Ave was damaged near Higgins Beach due to wave action. Further north, in Portland, flooding occurred along the piers near Commercial Street with 1 to 2 feet of inundation being reported. Rain run-off interacted with tidal flooding to cause 1 to 2 feet of inundation in Memorial Park in the Back Bay area.

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 1169891. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.