Flood, Central Penobscot
- When
- April 5, 4:00 AM EST to April 6, 11:00 AM EST
- Where
- Central Penobscot forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 44.417, -69.767
Flooding in Maine, April 5 to 6, 2005
Low pressure tracking slowly north across New England to the Saint Lawrence River Valley brought heavy rains to the region. 50 inches.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
- 3
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 CAR wrote it up.
Low pressure tracking slowly north across New England to the Saint Lawrence River Valley brought heavy rains to the region. Event rainfall totals generally ranged from 1.00 to 2.50 inches. Water levels on rivers and streams were still elevated from a heavy rain event less than a week before which had led to flooding. The combination of already elevated water levels...heavy rains...snow melt and lingering river ice contributed to new flooding with this event.An ice jam developed along the East Branch of the Penobscot River near the town of Grindstone along Route 11. This caused flooding of Route 11 from 5 miles north of Grindstone to 5 miles south of Grindstone...resulting in the closure of this 10 mile stretch of road. Several homes were also evacuated in this area due to the rising waters. Lesser flooding of smaller rivers and streams was also reported across the rest of the county...especially along portions of the Mattawamkeag River.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Caribou, ME wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 4, 2:30 PM EST, 13 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 4, 2:30 PM EST, 13 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME 330 PM EDT MON APR 4 2005 .SYNOPSIS...LOW PRESSURE OVER WESTERN MAINE WILL LIFT SLOWLY NORTH INTO EASTERN QUEBEC PROVINCE LATE TONIGHT. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL GRADUALLY BUILD ACROSS THE REGION TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. A COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST WILL CROSS THE STATE ON WEDNESDAY. THE NEXT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL APPROACH FROM THE WEST ON THURSDAY. && .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY)... SFC AND UPPER LOW CONT TO AFFECT THE FA ATTM AND WILL CONT TO DO SO FOR THE NEXT 24 HRS THO AFFECTS WILL GRADUAL DIMINISH W/ TIME... RADAR PIX CONT TO SHOW FAIRLY WIDESPREAD COVERAGE OF SHOWERS ACROSS THE REGION W/ ACTIVITY OVER THE ERN HALF OF THE CWA PIVOTING NNW WHILE RETURNS OVER FAR SWRN MAINE ROTATING SEWRD AROUND UPPER LOW RIGHT OVER CENTRAL MAINE... THIS SYSTEM PROGGED TO LIFT NWRD NXT 24 HRS W/ LOW LEVEL FLOW ACROSS THE AREA BECOMING NWRLY AND ALLOWING DRIER AND SOMEWHAT MORE STABLE AIR TO GRADUALLY TAKE HOLD. PER WIDESPREAD COVERAGE OF SHOWER ACTIVITY ATTM AND NAM/GFS QPF PROGS WHICH ARE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT...WILL CARRY CAT POPS NW DECREASING TO CHC FAR S ERLY TNGT DECREASING TO GUD CHC N BY AM TO SLGT CHC DOWNEAST BY AM. FOR TUE...WILL KEEP CHC POPS GOING N AND NE INTO THE AFTN THEN DIMINISH ALL POPS BY TUE EVE W/ INCREASING HGH PRES AND LOSS OF ANY DIURNAL HEATING. HGH PRES WILL BRIEFLY LET US DRY OUT FOR WED THO MODEL SUITE ADVERTISES A COLD FRONT TO PUSH ACROSS THE AREA WHICH COULD SPARK A FEW SHOWERS FAR N AND NE WED AFTN AND ERLY EVE. ENUF COOL AIR WILL OVERSPREAD AT LEAST WRN AREAS TNGT SO THAT HGR ELEVS COULD SEE SOME WET SNOW SHOWERS. NOT XPCTNG ANY SIG ACCUMS ATTM. WILL CARRY SW- W AND N INTO TUE AM W/ MAINLY RW XPCTD ON TUE AFTN AS BL TEMPS XPCTD TO BE TOO WARM TO SUPPORT ANY SW- BY THE AFTN. THIS FRONT XPCTD TO STALL JUST S OF THE AREA WED NGT THEN NXT SYSTEM PROGGED TO DEVELOP OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND TRACK EWRD ALONG THIS FRONT. OVERRUNNING ASSOCIATED W/ THIS SYSTEM XPCTD TO OVERSPREAD OUR FA BY THU AFTN. GFS FURTHER N W/ THIS PRECIP AND FASTER THAN THE NAM AND IS PREFERRED ATTM. && .LONG TERM (THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)... AS REFERENCED ABOVE PREFER GFS SOLUTION FOR THURSDAY NIGHT FRIDAY TIME FRAME. LOW PRESSURE TRACKING EAST ACROSS SRN NEW ENGLAND FRIDAY NIGHT WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR SOME PRECIP INTO EARLY FRIDAY. CRITICAL THICKNESS INDICATE A CHANCE FOR SOME SNOW ACROSS THE NORTH THURSDAY NIGHT WITH RAIN/SNOW MIX POSSIBLE DOWNEAST. THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE QUICKLY EAST EARLY FRIDAY WITH ANY LINGERING PRECIPITATION DOWNEAST ENDING BY AFTERNOON. LARGE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM TO BUILD DOWN ACROSS THE AREA LATER FRIDAY THROUGH SAT. THIS SHOULD RESULT IN DRY WEATHER WITH NEAR SEASONAL TEMPS. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDING ACROSS LATE IN THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK SHOULD SPELL CONTINUED DRY WEATHER WITH A MODERATING TEMPERATURE TREND. && .AVIATION... GENERALLY MVFR CIGS/VSBYS INTO EARLY TONIGHT & THEN LOOKING FOR CONDITIONS TO GO VFR ACROSS KBGR BY 04Z. NORTHERN SITES WILL KEEP MVFR INTO THE MORNING HRS W/PLENTY OF LLVL RH AROUND & LLVL FLOW TO BE FROM THE SSE. LOOKING FOR VFR ACROSS THE NORTH W/IN 12-15Z TIMEFRAME ON TUE AS FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVES ACROSS THE CWFA & SOME DRIER AIR BEGINS TO WORK IN. && .MARINE... WILL CONT TO CARRY SCA FOR SEAS (MAINLY SWELL DRIVEN) THRU TUE AFTN. OTHERWISE NO MAJOR MARINE ISSUES XPCTD NXT FEW DAYS... && .CAR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...NONE. MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ANZ050 UNTIL 7 PM TUESDAY. && SHORT TERM/MARINE...KHW LONG TERM/MARINE...DUDA AVIATION...HEWITT
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 4, 7:27 PM EST, 8 hours 33 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME 827 PM EDT MON APR 4 2005 MEZ001>006-010-011-015>017-029>032-050950- CENTRAL PENOBSCOT ME-CENTRAL PISCATAQUIS ME-CENTRAL WASHINGTON ME- COASTAL HANCOCK ME-COASTAL WASHINGTON ME-INTERIOR HANCOCK ME- NORTHEAST AROOSTOOK ME-NORTHERN PENOBSCOT ME-NORTHERN PISCATAQUIS ME- NORTHERN SOMERSET ME-NORTHERN WASHINGTON ME-NORTHWEST AROOSTOOK ME- SOUTHEAST AROOSTOOK ME-SOUTHERN PENOBSCOT ME-SOUTHERN PISCATAQUIS ME- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ALLAGASH...BANGOR...BAR HARBOR... BAXTER ST PARK...BLUE HILL...BROWNVILLE JUNCTION...BUCKSPORT... CALAIS...CARIBOU...CHERRYFIELD...CLAYTON LAKE...DAAQUAM...DANFORTH... DEBOULLIE MOUNTAIN...DEXTER...DOVER-FOXCROFT...EAGLE LAKE... EASTPORT...ELLSWORTH...FORT FAIRFIELD...FORT KENT...GREENVILLE... GUILFORD...HOULTON...HOWLAND...LIMESTONE...LINCOLN...LUBEC... MACHIAS...MADAWASKA...MILLINOCKET...MOUNT KATAHDIN...NEWPORT... OLD TOWN...PATTEN...PORTAGE...PRESQUE ISLE...RIPOGENUS... SAINT PAMPHILE...VAN BUREN AND VANCEBORO 827 PM EDT MON APR 4 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. .DAY ONE... A FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PISCATAQUIS COUNTY. PLEASE SEE THE FLOOD STATEMENT PRODUCT ( PWMFLSCAR ) FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATING TO THE FLOOD THREAT ACROSS PISCATAQUIS COUNTY AND THE REST OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE WHERE RIVER AND STREAM LEVELS REMAIN ELEVATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THE FLOOD WARNING FOR PISCATAQUIS COUNTY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON TUESDAY. RIVERS...STREAMS AND BROOKS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN AT ELEVATED LEVELS THROUGH MIDWEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO REPORT RAINFALL AMOUNTS ALONG WITH ANY FLOODING OBSERVED ALONG RIVERS AND STREAMS ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. NORCROSS
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flood, Northern Penobscot
- When
- April 5, 4:00 AM EST to April 6, 11:00 AM EST
- Where
- Northern Penobscot forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 43.950, -70.367
Flood, Southern Penobscot
- When
- April 5, 4:00 AM EST to April 6, 11:00 AM EST
- Where
- Southern Penobscot forecast zone
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 44.083, -69.517
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, April 5, 2005
- Tornado in Louisiana, April 5, 2005
- Flash Flood and Flood in Texas, April 5, 2005
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Kansas, April 5, 2005
- Tornado in Louisiana, April 5, 2005
- Blizzard in Colorado, April 5, 2005
- Lightning Strike in Arkansas, April 5, 2005
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, April 5, 2005
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, April 5, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, April 5, 2005
- Tornado in Louisiana, April 5, 2005
- High Wind in Oklahoma, April 5, 2005
More
Every storm in Maine in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Maine, April 2005
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: 5448405, 5448406, 5448407.