PORTLAND, Maine — Do you remember the Grinch that stole all our snow last year right before Christmas? He’s back and up to no good.
A major rain and windstorm will begin Sunday night, with no hope of snow falling or surviving once the storm is gone long before Christmas Day.
Look for wind gusts of more than 50 mph, with the highest expected at the coast and more than 2 inches of soaking rain nearly all day Monday.
I do not expect as much flooding as last year’s Grinch storm or as many power outages. However, this will be significant with wind being the primary threat.
Anytime we get 50mph+ wind out of the south with weak root systems due to the recent rains, and there will be issues.
Watch for branches coming down Monday during peak wind in the late morning through evening hours.
High wind watches are up, and I expect most of those to be upgraded to warnings on Sunday.
Flood watches are up for the interior and the southeast facing slopes of the hills and mountains will see the most rain as the upslope flow of air will ring out maximum moisture.
The radar will look like this during the height of the storm at noon Monday, with a statewide soaker on our hands.
Here’s my hand drawn map of what rain amounts will happen when the storm is over Monday night.
But getting back to the wind gusts that will peak midday on Monday where up to 65 mph wind along the midcoast and Down East coastline is expected.
In summary, I expect this storm to leave a mark on Maine, although it won’t make it into the record books as we’ve seen worse.
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