Coastal Flood — Coastal Cumberland, Maine

2021-01-16 · Coastal Cumberland, Maine

Event narrative

The astronomical tide in Portland of 10.2 feet MLLW combined with a 2.0 foot storm surge to produce a 12.2 foot MLLW storm tide during the early afternoon hours. Flood stage is 12.0 feet at the Portland gage. The tide remained above flood stage for a full 90 minutes. Flooding occurred up to six inches deep on Somerset St. with water close to a foot deep at Marginal Way in Portland with the lowest spots on the roadway covered by two to three feet of water. The parking lots of local restaurants were flooded in Pine Point and along the upper portion of the marsh in Scarborough. In addition, waves crashed onto lawns at Peebles Cove in Cape Elizabeth.

Wider weather episode

An area of low pressure intensified as it entered interior New England on January sixteenth with a 991mb surface low being observed. This produced storm force easterly wind gusts over the outer waters of the Gulf of Maine and 16 foot nearshore waves with a period of 8 seconds. These large waves and storm surge coincided at the time of high tide leading to coastal flooding.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 940514. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.