Flood — Kennebec, Maine

2024-04-13 to 2024-04-14 · near Hallowell, Kennebec, Maine

Event narrative

Heavy rain and snowmelt caused the Kennebec River to swell and flood parts of downtown Hallowell. The USGS river gage exceeded the 11 foot flood stage a little after 5 am on the 13th and remained above flood stage through late morning on the 14th, cresting at 13.7 feet in moderate flood stage. Water was up to the basements of business off of Front Street. Pre-emptive sandbagging prevented property damage.

Wider weather episode

A cold front brought widespread soaking rainfall to the area. This rainfall combined with significant snowpack loss and saturated grounds to produce minor to moderate river flooding, with isolated flash flooding across the mountains. Repeated rounds of rain compressed, warmed, and ripened the area snowpack in advance of the heavier rain on Friday the 12th. The combination of rain, strong winds, and high dew points in excess of 50F over the ripe snow led to rapid melt with up to 4' water loss. Complete melt-out occurred below 2,000 ft. The ground was bare south of the foothills; however soils were saturated and offered little storage for runoff. Rainfall ranged from 1 to 2 inches for most of the region, with amounts of 2 to 3 inches in the mountains.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (44.2805, -69.7924)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1177301. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.