Spring storm will batter Maine with winds up to 55 mph

A severe spring storm will hit Maine with gusts up to 55 mph and heavy rain Sunday into early Monday.

A hazardous weather outlook has been issued for large swaths of eastern, northern and central Maine, while a flood watch is in effect for southern and parts of central and western Maine. The whole coast has been placed under a wind advisory, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm, which is expected to start Sunday night, will dump heavy rain across much of the state.

Greater Bangor is forecast to see 1.5 to 2 inches of rain, while Bar Harbor to Eastport are expected to see up to 2 to 3 inches, according to the weather service station in Caribou.

The heaviest rain is expected to fall over more southerly regions, with 3 to 4 inches forecast for Portland, 4 to 6 inches in Auburn and 2 to 3 inches for Belfast and Rockland, the weather service office in Gray reports.

Northern Maine will be largely spared the worst of the rain, with just 1 to 1.5 inches forecast for Jackman and no more than an inch from Houlton all the way to the St. John Valley.

That heavy rain increases the risk for flooding in cities and across low-lying areas.

The rain will be accompanied by high winds, with gusts up to 45 to 50 mph forecast for Bangor and 50 to 55 mph along the Down East coast from Bar Harbor to Eastport, according to the Caribou weather station.

Winds are expected to remain strong to the north as well, with gusts ranging from 35 to 45 mph across most of Aroostook County. Winds could hit 70 mph on Katahdin.

Together the high wind and heavy rain make scattered power outages likely, especially along the coast. In response, Central Maine Power has stationed crews across the state in advance of the storm to more quickly respond to any outages.

“Our team is monitoring this storm as it moves into our area, and we will be keeping a close eye on the potential for strong, coastal winds that could reach into inland Maine overnight on Sunday,” CMP spokesperson Jon Breed said Saturday. “To prepare, we are pre-staging additional line and vegetation management crews across our service territory on Sunday. If outages do occur, we will respond as quickly and as safely as possible.”