Flash Flood, Aroostook
- When
- May 15, 10:00 PM EST to May 16, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Aroostook County, Countywide
- Coordinates
- 46.659, -68.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Maine, May 15 to 16, 1997
An intensifying low pressure center moving northward from the Gulf of Maine caused small rivers and streams to flood their banks as heavy rains moved through the area. Between 2 and 3 inches of rain was reported in parts of the County.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS GYX wrote it up.
An intensifying low pressure center moving northward from the Gulf of Maine caused small rivers and streams to flood their banks as heavy rains moved through the area. Between 2 and 3 inches of rain was reported in parts of the County. Water flooded the roadway in low spots along Rt. 11, especially in the northern part of the County as culverts overflowed, damaging the shoulders of the roadways.
The radar
The Caribou radar (KCBW), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:02 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Hail in Texas, May 15, 1997
- Flash Flood in Utah, May 15, 1997
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, May 15, 1997
- Flooding in Utah, May 15 to 29, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, May 15, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Florida, May 15, 1997
- Hail in Texas, May 15, 1997
- High Wind in Alaska, May 15 to 16, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 15, 1997
- Hail in North Carolina, May 15, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Louisiana, May 15, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Virginia, May 15, 1997
More
Every storm in Maine in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Maine, May 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5624855.