Thunderstorms dump hail, hurl lightning strikes

Published Date Written by David Carkhuff

Dispatchers were busier than normal Friday afternoon. In Scarborough, a caller from Libby Street, off Route 1 near the Oak Hill fire station, reported a tree struck by lightning.
At 65 Brook Road, Falmouth, a residence was hit by a lightning strike, another caller indicated during the height of Friday's quick-moving storm that swept over Portland around the end of the workday.
One-inch hail was reported in the Sebago Lake area from a series of thunderstorms, according to Steve Capriola, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray.
"We had some thunderstorms roll through the Greater Portland area, we've had reports of hail along the coast, they've been as big as nickel size" on the coast, larger inland, he said.
Gusty winds, heavy rain and lightning bracketed a week that started with flooding reports from record-setting heavy rains from a weekend storm last weekend.
"Rainfall is above normal because of the heavy rainfall we had the first couple of days of the month," Capriola noted.
For this weekend, particularly Sunday's Old Port Festival in Portland, expect highs in the 70s and sunshine, the weather service reported.
"We have about a four-day period to dry out before we get some more showers," Capriola said.