Flash Flooding and Flooding in Maine, April 22 to 26, 2000

A weakening area of low pressure was located over the state of Michigan at 7 pm on the 21st as a secondary low developed over northern Virginia. Precipitation began falling in southwestern Maine during the late afternoon and evening of the 21st. The Virginia low began to strengthen as it moved very slowly northeastward to a position just southeast of New York City by 7 am on the 22nd. By this time, up to 2.5 inches of rain had already fallen in portions of coastal Maine. The low continued to develop and move slowly northeast, and was located over Cape Cod by 7 am on the 23rd. Rain continued to fall in Maine with additional amounts of 1 to 2 inches since the previous day. By the morning of the 24th, the low was located near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and an additional 3/4 of an inch of rain had fallen in southwest Maine with an additional 1 to 2 inches of rain in the headwaters of the Kennebec River. The heavy rainfall caused road and culvert washouts in portions of western Maine and caused the Kennebec River to flood. The Kennebec River was in flood from 1:00 am on the 24th until 3:00 pm on the 26th. The Kennebec reached a maximum flow at Skowhegan of 45,000 cfs at 11:30 pm on the 24th (35,000 flood flow) and crested in Augusta at 15.0 feet (13 foot flood stage) at 7:45 am on the 25th.