RUMFORD – Heavy rain this week – with more about to fall – has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flood watch for Wednesday in western, central and southern Maine.
The Androscoggin River, which flows from New Hampshire through Rumford and much of central Maine, had risen significantly Tuesday. Another deluge was expected Wednesday as a major storm system moved northeast from the Great Lakes.
James Brown, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said the Androscoggin rose suddenly after areas in its watershed in northern New Hampshire and western Maine received up to four inches Monday night into Tuesday morning.
“It’s been a long time since the Androscoggin got up that high,” Brown said.
Another dumping of one to two inches was expected through Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s a very strong system with a great deal of upward vertical velocity and it has a fantastic inflow of moisture,” Brown said. “Rainfall will be heavy by later Wednesday morning.”
Because of Tuesday’s high water levels in many streams and rivers, he expected the service to issue flood warnings Wednesday.
According to the Oxford County Emergency Management Agency in Paris, a flood watch is issued when flood conditions are a real possibility for an area. A flood warning means conditions are occurring or are imminent for an area and precautionary action should be taken at once.
The weather service cautioned in its flood watch that Wednesday’s rain “will cause small rivers and streams to rise quickly,” adding that larger rivers will likely continue to rise well into Wednesday night.
“This (additional rain) could possibly cause rivers and streams in the area to flood,” the service said. “If you live near a river or stream, monitor water levels closely for the possibility of flooding,” it advised. “Be prepared to head to higher ground if flood waters threaten. Motorists should never drive vehicles through flooded roadways.”
Rainfall from Monday night’s storm generated 2 inches in northern New Hampshire, 3 inches in Pinkham Notch, N.H., and 4.29 inches atop Mount Washington during a 24-hour period.
Most places in western Maine received between 1 and 2 inches of rain from the same storm, the National Weather Service estimated.
“All this rain caused a few of our rivers to overflow, but most of them dropped below flood stage by mid-morning,” the weather service added in its Tuesday regional weather summary.
Among rivers spilling their banks Tuesday were the Saco and Pemigewasset. The Saco River near Conway, N.H., crested at 9.6 feet at 5 a.m., then receded below its 9-foot flood stage by 10 a.m.
The Pemigewasset at Woodstock, N.H., exceeded flood stage of 9 feet at 9 p.m., Monday, and crested at 10.1 feet by 5 a.m. Tuesday before starting to recede.
Tuesday evening, the silt-laden Androscoggin roared in its channel between Route 2 and River Street in Rumford.
Flood stage for the Androscoggin in Auburn is 13 feet. The river was under flood watch in the Twin Cities for all day Wednesday, with the possibility of the watch being elevated to a warning, according to the weather service.
tkarkos@sunjournal.com
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