Central Maine should prepare for another intense storm Sunday night into Monday morning, according to a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Gray.
Mike Cempa said Friday the storm will bring heavy rain with the potential for flooding and strong, damaging wind.
“The exact locations for the storm are still to be determined, and the storm could end up further west into New Hampshire,” Cempa said. “Just be ready for something.”
The potential for flooding in the area is higher because of the rainfall of this week. Rivers went from running at very low levels, Cempa said, to running on the higher side. Augusta got 2.28 inches of rain Wednesday, which broke the record of 2.02 inches set in 1951.
“There is also potential for enough wind to cause power outages,” he said. The wind will be a problem for central Maine, Cempa said, but the strongest wind is likely to be closer to the coast.
The storm will move through the area quickly once it arrives overnight Sunday. The forecast for Tuesday — Halloween — calls for a dry and likely sunny day, Cempa said.
A storm like this isn’t uncommon at this time of year, but the thing that’s different about this one, Cempa said, is that it’s interacting with a tropical depression currently south of Cuba.
Around 6,200 customers in Kennebec County lost power this week between midnight Monday and late Wednesday, according to a Central Maine Power Co. spokeswoman. The peak of the outages was around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, when about 2,960 customers were without power, mostly in Winthrop, Wayne, Monmouth and Readfield. Nearly 1,230 customers lost power in Somerset County during the two-day period.
Gail Rice said CMP crews are preparing for the upcoming storm and will have additional crews on duty in many parts of the company’s service area to respond to outage calls.
Jason Pafundi — 621-5663
Twitter: @jasonpafundiKJ
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