The whites are getting hammered this morning

[peakbagger]

There is a slow moving front that formed over the Connecticut river valley slowly making its way across the whites this morning. I have no doubt there may be some impacts to backroads. Hopefully anyone out in the woods is undercover as it looks like a couple hours of firehose type rain. There is lighting imbedded in the front in my area but the big thing is the volume of water coming down for a sustained period.

 

[peakbagger]

One of the roads that washed out is the one I live on and I am not on a backroad. I still have a way out but considering I am on the crest of a hill I expect there are fair share of other roads like Jefferson Notch Road and Sawyer River road should be approached with caution.

Western Maine north of RT2 is still getting soaked. Various small river gauges were over daily record levels.

 

[DayTrip]

I was working in Freeport TUE and coming home through Portland I got treated to a hell of a show with those thunderstorms. They were impressive. Serious lightning bolts and very heavy rain. Slowed down to about 30 mph on Rte 95 for a solid 10 minutes, saw several accidents and people just pulling over to wait it out. Hopefully the roads don't get wrecked too badly. I expect the response to non critical roads like Jefferson Notch might be pretty sluggish in the current environment. Appreciate any updates you get on road status/closures.

 

[Alex_NH]

Storms in Littleton yesterday morning were intense. Tons of lightning and the ammo river is pretty strong right now.

 

[B the Hiker]

I was halfway through the Grafton Loop on the 13th when I got cellphone coverage and was able to pull up the weather forecast for the following day (which is when Peakbagger posted). While I was looking forward to two more days of backpacking, that simply wasn't in the cards.

Brian

 

[JoshandBaron]

I was camped at the confluence of the North Fork and East Branch when this came through. The odd thing was that the East Branch above the confluence didn't come up at all but the North Fork was roaring.

 

[peakbagger]

My guess is the East Branch country acts like big sponge while the north branch tends to be harder ground. I have not been been off trail in the East Branch area but Shoal Pond trail to the west and Ethan Pond trail to the north both are fairly broad softwood stands that are on borderline wetland conditions. No doubt when the area dries out, it soaks up the water far more effectively than they typical glacial till on top of rock that one encounters along the North branch.

I am curious if someone could hop over the East Branch at the Thoreau Falls bridge?. Also curious if the piles of sawed up bridge timbers have been hauled out?.

 

[JoshandBaron]

I am curious if someone could hop over the East Branch at the Thoreau Falls bridge?. Also curious if the piles of sawed up bridge timbers have been hauled out?.

I've spent a lot of time in the area this summer and the crossing of the East Branch has been easy. Immediately after this storm I was fishing at the crossing and could have stayed dry if I wanted. The timbers are all still there and you can smell the creosote from a good ways away as you approach.

 

[peakbagger]

Good to know, my guess is the stacks of creosoted timbers have become historical relics