The National Weather Service in Gray on Friday issued a flood watch for 8 p.m. Friday until Saturday afternoon for parts of Maine and New Hampshire, including central Maine.

The service said the Kennebec River at Augusta and Skowhegan may get to near flood stage late Sunday or early Monday.

Heavy rain is expected Friday night into Saturday morning, with between 1 and 3 inches of rain possible.

A low-pressure system will move north tonight and spread rain — which may be heavy at times — over the region. The heaviest rain is expected to fall along the coastal plain; lesser amounts are expected away from the coast.

The weather service said urban-type flooding is possible in coastal towns Friday night, as the rainfall rate might be high enough to overburden storm drains.

The watch includes Androscoggin, central Somerset, coastal Cumberland, coastal Waldo, coastal York, interior Cumberland, interior Waldo, interior York, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, southern Franklin and southern Somerset counties.

Earlier this week, the National Weather Service said rain that was falling Monday and continued Tuesday could lead to minor flooding of the Kennebec River in Somerset County. There was a chance the river could have flooded on Wednesday morning in Kennebec County because of the amount of rainfall and leftover snow in the northern part of the state.

Bob Marine, a meteorologist with the weather service, said Monday that the water levels are already high, so additional rainfall would “aggravate the situation.”

Jason Pafundi — 621-5663

jpafundi@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @jasonpafundiKJ

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