A Friday storm will batter Maine with gusts up to 65 mph and heavy rain.
The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for the Down East coast, a wind advisory for Greater Bangor and inland Maine, and a hazardous weather outlook for the highlands and northern Maine. Those are in place from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday.
The storm is expected to blow sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph in Greater Bangor and 25 to 30 mph Down East.
But gusts will reach even higher, reaching 50 to 55 mph in Greater Bangor, 60 to 65 mph on Mount Desert Island and 55 to 60 mph from Machias to Eastport, according to the weather service station in Caribou.
“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result,” a weather service advisory reads.
Those winds will dramatically lessen toward the crown of Maine, with gusts up to 35 to 40 mph from Houlton to Caribou and 25 to 30 mph around Fort Kent.
Friday’s storm will be accompanied by heavy rain, with up to an inch forecast for a large swath of the state, including from Greater Bangor to Bar Harbor to Eastport.
Again, northern Maine will see lighter rainfall, with about a half inch to eight-tenths of an inch forecast to fall from Houlton to Fort Kent.
The weather service office in Caribou warned that Friday’s rain and snowmelt is expected to freeze overnight, creating slick conditions.