Most of the state picked up between 1.5" and 3.0" of rain in the event that started late last night and, in some spots, is still ongoing.
A low pressure system developed in the Gulf of Maine yesterday evening and hugged the coastline bringing a lot of moisture onshore. I hate to use the word during the summer but this storm had a very Nor'easter look on satellite imagery when I came in today. A well defined center of circulation, convective elements and heavy bands of precipitation enhanced by an ocean moisture source.
The heaviest rain has lifted out of southern and western Maine already as the storm pushes to the northeast but Downeast continues to get soaked with moderate to heavy bands of rain. This area (Hancock and Washington Counties) is under a Flood Warning due to 3"-4"+ inches of rain and ongoing downpours. This warning is valid until 10:30 PM tonight as some smaller streams continue to crest with the runoff water. Southern Maine, as I mentioned, will continue to see showers and thunderstorms, but not as consistent as they experienced early this morning. Central Maine will fall somewhere in between with consistent rain that is much lighter than the conditions experienced over Downeast. Some peeks of sunshine certainly can't be ruled out over southern Maine and into New Hampshire, but most of the state remains overcast and temperatures stay in the low 70s.
Showers and thunderstorms will persist through around 10 PM tonight before clearing takes place. Clouds will linger until around midnight and then partly cloudy skies will take over with patchy fog developing.
Friday looks pretty good with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low to mid 80s. A cold front will be working its way towards the state but it won't get here until Friday evening, leaving the daytime dry. Clouds WILL increase over western Maine by the afternoon, however, as the front gets close enough to influence our weather.
Showers and thunderstorms will be fairly widespread starting early Friday evening and lasting until midnight. There is SOME severe thunderstorm potential with this front but most of that activity should end up across Vermont and maybe western New Hampshire. As it stands I'm going with your more "garden variety" thunderstorms for Maine but I'll keep an eye on the instability profiles of the atmosphere tomorrow afternoon in case that forecast needs revising.
Good news is that the cold front is out of our face by Saturday morning, launching us into a pleasant weekend.
Mostly sunny skies should dominate on both Saturday (after morning fog) and Sunday, with highs in the upper 70s. Dew points should also be fairly low in the wake of the frontal boundary so humidity won't be an issue.
I like our mid-range pattern as it stands. A Bermuda High sets up bringing us dry and pleasant weather through mid-week.
Bermuda High=Good. Bermuda Shorts=Bad.
I recently made the strong argument to a friend that rocking Bermuda shorts is similar to a really hot girl chopping off most of her hair. Sure you can "pull it off" but you'd look at least 65% better if you didn't even go there.