Here you see the mouth of Patten Stream at Patten Bay yesterday. The swollen and turbulent stream is forcefully ejecting the run-off water from the torrential rains of March 16-17. This phenomenon is akin to the vomiting of excesses, and it demonstrates one of the problems causing our long-term severe drought.
Under certain conditions, such as frozen ground and sudden sheet-rain, much of the rainwater runs off and eventually finds a stream or river to take it away. We need slow, soaking rain to make a comeback from our drought.
Our recent gale-force winds and rain reportedly brought various locations in the Down East pounding rainfall that ranged from 1-to-2.5 inches in a relatively short time. That’s energetic March for you. Let’s hope that April is languid with her showers this year. (Images taken in Surry, Maine, on March 17, 2026.)