Coastal York storm history

High Surf with short period breaking waves of 4 to 5 feet and attendant strong undertow aided in a drowning death at Long Sands Beach in York.

The astronomical tide in Portland was 11.2 feet (MLLW) 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 tid…

An intense and rapidly deepening area of low pressure over the Great Lakes region (975 mb) combined with modestly high astronomical tides to produce the third highest storm tide ever in Portland (records 1912-present). In the Portsmouth region at the relatively new Seavey Island …

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…

On March 2nd the highest astronomical tide of the month occurred in Portland at 11.2 feet. An additional storm surge of 1.9 feet allowed the storm tide to top out at 13.1 feet, which was the eleventh highest tide ever recorded in the Forest City. The Portland Harbor tide gage was…

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. Light snow lingered until the afternoon before tapering off. …

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 …

York County averaged 1.88 inches of precipitation in December, approximately 2.5 inches below normal. The July'December stretch was the 4th driest on record. Dry well reports were heavily concentrated in the rural inland towns. The USDM on December 30th had 75% of the county in S…

York County averaged 2.38 inches of precipitation in November, approximately 2 inches below normal. The rainfall deficits carried over from summer grew near 7 inches, making it the 5th driest stretch between July through November on record. The USDM on November 25th had 85% of th…

York County averaged 2.76 inches of precipitation in September, approximately an inch below normal. The rainfall deficits carried over from summer grew near 4 inches, making it the 8th driest stretch between July through September on record. The USDM on September 30th had 100% of…

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 …

Snow overspread the Maine Seacoast in the late afternoon and early evening of the 19th. A band of steady moderate snow developed and remained over the area into the early morning of the 20th. Snowfall totals ranged from 4 to 7 inches. Key Impacts: Heavy snow.

An early season heat wave impacted Maine from June 17th through the 20th with the peak of the heat occurring June 19th-20th when excessive heat was observed through southern and central parts of the state away from the immediate coast. Heat index values reached above 105F across …

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 3 and 6 inches. Around 1200 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 …

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 Kennebunk 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 condi…

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 late in the evening on the 6th. Heavy snow began early in the morning on the 7th as a mesoscale band forced by strong warm air advection lifted into southwest Maine but settled just inland from the coast through the afternoon. Snowfall rates in excess…

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 peak gusts were fairly typical of a high wind event …

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. Kittery reported a low of 29 degrees. The temperatures were some of the coldest this late in spring in over the past…

Snow overspread southwestern Maine early on the morning of the 4th. Snowfall quickly became moderate to heavy at times through the early afternoon hours, though some mixing and wet snow occurred near Kittery. Snow quickly came to an end during the afternoon as low pressure moved …

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. Parts of the southwestern coast 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 liqui…

Snow overspread southwest Maine 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. O…

Southwest Maine 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 around 60 mph. Numerous trees and wires were reported do…

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, York County was 2% in severe drought, 70% was in moderate drought, and the rest of the county was in abnormally dry conditions. By the end of the month only 4% was in moderate drought, and 17% abnormally dry. The improved designations were the resu…

On the August 2nd drought monitor, York County was 66% in severe drought and 34% in moderate drought. By the end of the month, 2% of the county was in severe drought, 70% in moderate drought, and 27% abnormally dry. The improved designations were the result of scattered heavy rai…

Snow overspread the southwest Maine early in the morning on the 25th. A hybrid type snow band pushed through the area then gradually transitioned into a laterally quasi-stationary band which slid back through the area around midday. Moderate to heavy snowfall resulted from the hy…

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 strongest wind gusts were in the 60 to 65 mph range, especially close to the coast.

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 coastal York County very early in the morning on the 7th. Snow was moderate to heavy through daybreak, after which the snow remained generally light through mid afternoon. The heaviest snow remained just offshore, but snow totals ranged from 5 to 8 inches.

Snow overspread southwestern Maine in the afternoon on the 18th. Snow became moderate in the evening but otherwise remained light for the duration of the storm. After midnight on the 19th snow began to mix with sleet and freezing rain, mainly south of Wells. Precipitation tapered…

The astronomical tide in Portland of 10ft MLLW combined with a storm surge of 1.9ft to bring the storm tide water level up to 11.9ft, which was just below flood stage at the Portland tide gage. The significant near shear waves of up to 25ft combined with the high tide to cause wa…

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, falling up to 1 inch per hour at times. Snow c…

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. Significant …

Snow began before sunrise on the 17th. Snow quickly became heavy as an intense band of snow moved into the area. While the band became stationary north of the area, as it moved through snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour were observed. A weakening trough aloft quickly brough…

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). Although winds were offshore, large, long period swell entered the Gulf…

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 York County due wind gusts up to 45 mph. Numerous snapped and uprooted trees along with broken branches caused downed power lines through the county. York County was one of the harder hit areas for power outages with 25,111 custom…

Rain changed to snow across coastal York County in the morning hours of May 9th with a light coating falling in some towns by midday. Berwick and Biddeford recorded a trace.