Coastal Cumberland storm history

The astronomical tide in Portland was 11.2 feet at 1205 pm. Flood stage is 12 feet (MLLW). The gale to storm force onshore winds produced a storm surge of 3.37 feet in Portland Harbor. The resulting storm tide topped out at 14.57 feet (MLLW) in the Forest City with the tide remai…

The morning of December 23rd had perfect alignment of a very high astronomical tide, peak storm surge of 2+ feet and large battering nearshore waves of 15 to 20 feet all coinciding at high tide. The astronomical tide in Portland was 11.3 feet MLLW at 10:16 am, already close to th…

High astronomical tides combined with strong northeast winds and large battering waves to produce severe coastal flooding across most of the Maine coast. It was the seventh highest tide ever recorded in Portland Harbor in modern day history (13.28 feet). The Fort Point tide gage …

Snow overspread the area on the evening of the 23rd as a warm front approached northern New England. In the late evening stronger lift arrived and snow became moderate to heavy at times through the morning of the 24th. This was especially true in eastern parts of Cumberland Count…

Snow overspread the southern Maine coast on the morning of the 2nd. Warmer air near the coast delayed the onset of accumulating snow, but steady light to moderate snow picked up in the afternoon and continued into the evening. Snow tapered off after midnight on the 3rd. Snowfall …

Cumberland County averaged 1.95 inches of precipitation in December, approximately 2.4 inches below normal, the 2nd driest such period on record. MEMA reported that Cumberland remained a top-three county for dry well submissions. The USDM on December 30th had 55% of the county in…

Cumberland County averaged 2.38 inches of precipitation in November, approximately 2 inches below normal. The rainfall deficits carried over from summer grew over inches, making it the 3rd driest stretch between July through November on record. By mid-to-late November, 100% of th…

Cumberland County averaged 3 inches of precipitation in September, approximately an inch below normal. The rainfall deficits carried over from summer grew near 5 inches, making it the 6th driest stretch between July through September on record. The USDM on September 30th had 91% …

Shortly after 0800, York Harbor Master requested York Beach Fire/Rescue along with York Ambulance to the area of Central Ave. for a sailboat in distress. The boat had one occupant on board and was quickly becoming capsized by the high surf as the boat crashed into the rocky shore…

Light snow overspread the area in the evening on the 15th. This continued into the morning of the 16th when an area of strong warm air advection resulted in a laterally translating band of moderate to heavy snow. This swept through the region by the afternoon of the 16th. Periods…

Snow overspread the area in the late evening on the 8th. Strong warm air advection resulted in a broad area of snow, but embedded within that area of precipitation a relatively narrow band of occasionally heavy snow developed. A very deep snow growth zone also led to a prolonged …

Precipitation began during the evening of the 3rd in a warm environment, hostile to snowfall. Light rain or rain/snow mix eventually changed to snow as dynamic cooling from melting aloft occurred in heavy precipitation. Snowfall became heavy at times overnight into the morning of…

Snowfall rates in excess of 1 inch per hour in the morning led to snowfall totals ranging between 5 and 8 inches. Around 100 PM snow changed to freezing rain and began to rapidly accumulate near sunset. With around 0.75 inches glaze, power outages increased quickly after 800 PM a…

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…

Snow squalls arrived in southwest Maine during the late afternoon on the 14th. The South Portland webcam on the Maine Turnpike observed visibility of one quarter mile with quick, light accumulations on the highway. The squalls lasted about 20 minutes at any given location before …

East of a deep low pressure in the eastern Great Lakes a strong low level jet developed. Deep, fresh snow cover across the interior prevented the strong winds from penetrating too far inland, but along the coast damaging wind gusts began around midnight on the 9th. The strongest …

Light to moderate snow began early in the morning on the 7th. Heavy snow began in the morning on the 7th as a mesoscale band forced by strong warm air advection lifted into Casco Bay and settled overhead into the afternoon. Snowfall rates in excess of 1 to 2 inches per hours were…

Strong southeast wind gusts began the morning of the 18th. While wind gusts remained strong throughout the day, the damaging gusts occurred in several waves during the morning, again at midday, and once more in the evening. The Portland Jetport recorded three different gusts of a…

A hard freeze impacted the region shortly after midnight on May 18th with widespread sub-freezing temperatures. Temperatures ranged from freezing to the upper-20s. Portland Jetport reported a low of 30 degrees. The temperatures were some of the coldest recorded this late in sprin…

Snow overspread Casco Bay early on the morning of the 4th. Snowfall quickly became moderate to heavy through the early afternoon hours. Snow quickly came to an end during the afternoon as low pressure moved into the northwest Atlantic and flow become more northwesterly, downslopi…

Light snow began after midnight on the 28th. Snow became moderate at times around sunrise and again during midday. Otherwise snow remained light and struggled to accumulate at times during the day. Light snow tapered off in the late evening, coming to an end from northwest to sou…

By the late afternoon on the 3rd wind chills were reaching -30 degrees. Ambient air temperatures continued to fall into the double digits below zero with winds gusting in excess of 35 mph. The coldest wind chill values approached -45 degrees early on the 4th before winds graduall…

Snow began during the evening of the 22nd. Snowfall became moderate at times during the morning of the 23rd. Casco Bay remained just on the southern end of a mesoscale band of snow that was nearly stationary through the day. Snowfall had a high snow to liquid ratio, and fell at a…

Snow overspread the Casco Bay area during the evening on the 19th. After midnight snow became moderate to heavy at times. While snowfall rates tapered off by sunrise on the 20th, snow lingered for much of the day as an inverted trough remained draped across southern New Hampshire…

Casco Bay experienced two periods of strong to damaging winds on the 23rd. One during the morning hours generally had wind gusts in the 40 to 55 mph range. A second during the afternoon and evening featured wind gusts of 60 to 65 mph, including a 64 mph gust at the Portland Inter…

Gusty southeast winds through the day on October 14th along with heavy rain caused numerous snapped branches and a few downed standing dead trees. Power outages in Southwest Maine peaked at 69,500 outages during the afternoon hours when the peak wind gusts were occurring.

On August 30th drought monitor, Cumberland County was 33% in severe drought, 26% moderate drought, and 41% abnormally dry. By the end of the month, 14% of the county was in moderate drought and 36% abnormally dry. The improved designations were the result of scattered heavy rainf…

On the August 2nd drought monitor, Cumberland County was 56% in severe drought and 44% moderate drought. By the end of the month, 33% of the county was in severe drought, 26% in moderate drought, and 41% abnormally dry. The improved designations were the result of scattered heavy…

Light snow began on the morning of the 29th, with the intensity of snowfall picking up after daybreak. An intense band of snow developed around mid morning over southern New England and remained mostly over the Gulf of Maine until midday. The band backed into coastal and Midcoast…

Strong east winds began to ramp up after daybreak on the 17th. Wind gusts sharply increased around 8 AM and continued until about 10 AM before gradually tapering off through the afternoon. The Portland Jetport gusted to 54 mph at 912 AM. The strongest wind gusts were in the 60 to…

The astronomical tide in Portland of 9.6 feet combined with a storm surge of 3.1 feet at high tide to produce a 12.7 foot (MLLW) storm tide during the late morning hours. Flood stage in Portland is 12.0 feet (MLLW). The tide remained above flood stage for a full three hours and 2…

Snow overspread southwestern Maine by mid afternoon on the 18th. Snow became moderate in the evening but otherwise remained light for the duration of the storm. Snow tapered off in the morning on the 19th. Storm total snowfall ranged from 4 to 7 inches.

Snow moved into the area on the evening of the 31st and continued through the morning hours on the 2nd. The bulk of the accumulation came with moderate to heavy snow in the mesoscale snow band as it moved north through western Maine. Snow continued into the evening in waves as ad…

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 occ…

Snow began before sunrise on the 17th. Snow quickly became heavy as an intense band of snow moved into the area. As the band became nearly stationary snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour were observed for several hours. A weakening trough aloft quickly brought an end to snow …

The strong winds came in two waves across coastal western Maine. The first period featured strong southeast winds gusting at times between 50 and 60 mph. A brief lull occurred as steady rain moved north of the area. However winds shifted to a more southerly direction and increase…

Drought mostly maintained through the month of November with no significant changes in the drought status across coastal Maine. Below normal rainfall returned for the first half of the month with only light periodic rainfall events. The bulk of the monthly rainfall occurred durin…

Drought maintained through the beginning of October with no significant rainfall across the region. Things changed on October 13th when a significant rainstorm brought widespread rainfall across the region. Another significant rainstorm occurred on October 16-17th with more benef…

The astronomical tide in Portland of 10.8 feet combined with a storm surge of 1.3 feet at high tide to reach a 12.1 foot storm tide during the mid afternoon hours. Flood stage in Portland is 12.0 feet (MLLW). The tide remained above flood stage for 30 minutes at the Portland tide…

Drought continued to expand and intensified through the month of September with the state of Maine recording the driest September on record. D2 severe drought expanded to cover all of Western Maine by the end of the month. In addition, an area of D3 extreme drought developed acro…

Tropical Storm Isaias brought moderate impacts to Cumberland County due to estimated wind gusts up to 45 mph, with a reported wind gust of 44 mph at Portland. Numerous snapped and uprooted trees along with broken branches caused downed power lines through the county. Cumberland C…

Rain changed to snow across coastal Cumberland County in the early morning hours on May 9th and accumulated up to a half inch in spots. Cumberland Center had 0.2 inch, and the Portland Jetport had a trace.

Snow moved into southwestern Maine during the early evening on the 23rd and quickly became moderate. At times rain mixed with the snow at the immediate coast. While forcing was driven primarily by warm air advection, a band of heavy snow developed northwest of the low center and …

Snow began in the early morning hours of the 16th. The most persistent and heaviest bands of snow remained mainly north of Portland. Snow was moderate to heavy at times during the day, with an inch or more falling in an hour at times. Snow tapered off in the afternoon before comi…

Precipitation moved in late on December 29th as snow at onset. Early on the morning of the 30th continued warm air advection aloft allowed a nearly stationary band of moderate to heavy snow to develop overhead and remain in place into the afternoon. Secondary low pressure develop…

On the evening of December 1st the heavy snow band failed to reach Cumberland County. Relatively little accumulation occurred through December 2nd, with occasional snow showers or mixed precipitation. The majority of the accumulation came on the 3rd as surface low pressure retrog…

A King Tide combined with a weak coastal low which brought a foot of storm surge and near shore waves of 6 to 8 feet during the noon high tide. Storm tide water levels peaked at 12.45 feet at the Portland tide gauge. Flood stage is 12 ft. Minor flooding occurred on local wharf si…