Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Biddeford, ME

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kennebunkport, ME, 8 miles south of Biddeford at 20 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 77°F and low of 58°F; January is the coolest, at 33°F and 13°F. October is the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and January and February the driest at 3.7 inches; the year adds up to 52.0 inches over 88 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 50% of the year's precipitation (26.2 of 52.0 inches). September has brought the most of the 36 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (15); a normal September there has highs of 69°F and 3.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 4 days a year, almost all from July. Lows fall below freezing on about 160 nights a year. Snowfall averages 48.9 inches a year, most of it in January and February. That 52.0 inches is more than at 43 of the 47 Maine stations used on this site (91%). Saco, 3 miles north, has its own station (Portland International Jetport, ME): 48.3 inches a year, 3.7 less than here, and a July average high of 80°F against 77°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Portland, ME, 16 miles northeast, averaged 63°F in August and 36°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Portland tide gauge, 16 miles from Biddeford, has risen 0.78 ± 0.03 inches per decade from 1912 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 7.8 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 37 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 70 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Biddeford: 59 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 flash floods, 5 floods and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $3.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on July 21, 2010. October has had the most flash floods, 2 of 5. Of the 154 Maine cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 82 have had fewer than Biddeford.

Flood insurance policyholders in Biddeford's ZIP code 04005 have filed 212 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $3.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from The "Halloween" Storm in 1991: 48 claims (23% of all) and $209,000, then April 2007 Nor'easter in 2007 with 26. The year with the most claims was 2024, with 55. 38% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 61 Maine cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 55 have fewer than Biddeford.