ST. DAVID, Maine — A “squall line” that moved across northern Maine on Thursday afternoon brought with it rain and isolated cells of winds strong enough to turn over a farm stand, topple three trees at a local cemetery and cause the collapse of a large metal storage shed in this village just east of downtown Madawaska.
At least one headstone was damaged. For the most part, however, the large spruce trees fell in between gravesites.
The farm stand and storage building are owned by Robert and Denise Hebert, who operate Au Jardin with their daughter and two sons. The metal-sided building was built in the early 1970s, according to Robert Hebert.
“We had motor bikes, tires and mostly farm equipment in there,” he said Friday. He had yet to look closely at what may have been damaged in the collapse.
No one was injured as “my wife and I were across the street at our greenhouse [when it happened],” he said.
“We were praying we wouldn’t lose the greenhouse,” Denise Hebert added.
Madawaska police also reported that Thursday’s weather knocked down a tree on Gagnon Road, damaging a power line and causing traffic to be temporarily rerouted. Reports to the National Weather Service in Caribou also referred to trees down in Hamlin, Fort Kent and Presque Isle.
NWS forecaster Maureen Hastings in Caribou said official wind gauges in Frenchville recorded gusts ranging between 40 and 50 miles per hour on Thursday.
“We are not exactly sure what caused the damage in St. David,” she said via telephone Friday morning. “But it was most likely a microburst.”
A microburst is a “convective downdraft” with an affected area less than 2½ miles wide and “peak winds lasting less than five minutes,” according to information at the NWS website. They also can create wind shears that can “affect aircraft performance and cause property damage.”
The nearest large NWS weather radar is located in Houlton, according to Hastings. For locations as far north as the St. John Valley, that radar can only see down to an elevation of approximately 10,000 feet, she said, making it difficult to read accurate wind speeds at ground level.
The NWS forecast called for scattered showers and thunderstorms Friday afternoon in the St. John Valley, with the possibility of small hail and gusty winds. High temperatures were expected to reach 79 degrees in the area. The forecast indicated showers and thunderstorms were likely Friday night, into the first part of Saturday. Weekend temperatures are expected to reach the low to mid 70s.