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Winter Loses Its Cool

January 26, 2010 - PORTLAND -- A January thaw that brought driving rain and powerful winds caused widespread power outages and a threat of flooding across the state Monday.

The storm dumped as much as 2 inches of rain in some places and produced wind gusts of 53 mph in Portland, said John Cannon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray. Hurricane-force winds are 74 mph.

"That's pretty impressive for Portland," Cannon said of Monday's wind.

He said buoys three miles off shore recorded waves as high as 17 feet. The storm surge pushed the Portland Harbor water level 2.1 feet above normal, nearly equalling the record of 2.4 feet.

Emergency management officials in Augusta were keeping a close watch on three rivers that had the potential to reach flood stage by the time the storm ended late Monday night.

The Swift River in Oxford County, the Presumpscot River in Westbrook and the Saco River near the New Hampshire border all had the potential to go over their banks, said Rob McAleer, director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency.

"The snow is absorbing a lot of the rain," McAleer said. "If this were late spring and there wasn't as much snow, it could have been a lot worse."

Of greater concern was the effect the rain and melting snow were having on the roads, McAleer said. He urged motorists not to drive through standing water.

There were no reports of serious accidents, but Maine State Police in Gray reported that a number of vehicles "hydroplaned" on wet surfaces and went off the Maine Turnpike in Biddeford.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said electrical wires were down throughout the county.

By 9 p.m. Monday, Central Maine Power Co. was working to restore electricity to more than 19,000 customers across the 11 counties it serves. That was a big jump from the 10,000 outages reported at 6:15 p.m.

David Phifer, CMP's communications center supervisor, said Cumberland County was reporting more than 3,500 outages, Lincoln County had 2,891 and Sagadahoc County had 2,093.

Freeport was one of the hardest-hit communities. Police said more than half of the town lost power around 5:30 p.m. after a transformer blew up on West Street. The power loss affected homes and businesses from downtown Freeport along Route 1 to Yarmouth.

Freeport police operated on backup power until their electricity was restored just before 10 p.m.

Just hours earlier, York County had reported the most outages. But as the storm swept across the state, from west to east, the outages in York County dropped while those in towns to the east increased.

In Portland, firefighters were sent to 62 Munjoy South just before 9 p.m. after receiving reports that two electrical transformers had exploded.

Monday's storm prompted a warning from the Maine Warden Service.

Maj. Gregory Sanborn urged people to check ice conditions before venturing out on waterways because the heavy rain could open up the water, thin the ice or create slush. Inlets and outlets could be dangerous because of runoff from rivers and streams.

"January thaws are not unusual," Sanborn said. "However, most of Maine has not had a consistent stretch of sub-freezing temperatures this winter to provide a thick layer of ice that can withstand this wet, warm spell. What may have been moderately safe ice this past weekend may be extremely treacherous this week."

The temperature in Portland reached 50 degrees Monday, said Cannon, the meteorologist.

He said today is expected to be breezy and partly sunny, with temperatures reaching into the 40s.

Colder air is expected to move into Maine later in the week, with lows reaching the mid-20s by Friday.

By DENNIS HOEY, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, January 26, 2010


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