PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Amid the second dry summer in a row, the Aroostook River is flowing low, with wide rocky banks and shallow water.
The low flow on the Aroostook River has exposed the rocky banks and glass, tires, metals and other items that have found their way into the river. (Anthony Brino | BDN)
The Aroostook River, the 112-mile-long tributary of the Saint John River, has seen low water levels much of this summer.
On Wednesday, Aug. 23, after a nighttime rain of about half-an-inch, the river in Presque Isle had moving water, but was noticeably low, exposing wide banks, driftwood, temporary islands and various man-made items accumulated over many years.
Around noon Wednesday, a river gauge maintained by federal scientists in Washburn showed the river flowing at a gage height of 1.09 feet. The river flow would be gaged at 12 feet if it was full to its banks and 14 feet if it was in flood stage, according to the National Weather Service’s Northeast River Forecasting Center.
The agency does not have historic records for low flows of the Aroostook.
So far this August, Aroostook County has received an average of 1.5 inches of rain, which is on track to meet the historic average for the month’s precipitation, according to the National Weather Service in Caribou.
Over the last 90 days, though, Aroostook County’s precipitation has been 1-to-2 inches less than the historic average. Across Maine over the last three months, only Somerset County saw above-average rainfall.
As of Aug. 15, most of Aroostook County was classified as being “abnormally dry” by the U.S. Drought Monitor. The southern end of The County joined Down East, Midcoast and parts of southern Maine in a state of “moderate drought.”
The National Weather Service in Caribou does not see a significant change for more rain in the forecast through this weekend, with mostly and partly sunny skies predicted Friday to Sunday.
