AUGUSTA — The central Maine region has recorded nearly 5 inches of rainfall so far this month, making it the rainiest June in at least four years with more precipitation predicted this week.

Though the 4.7 inches of recorded rainfall in Augusta this month is not record-breaking, it’s “definitely significant and very noticeable,” Sarah Thunberg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said Tuesday.

For the last three years, most of Maine has experienced drought conditions through much of June.

The last time Augusta logged 5 inches of rainfall in June was in 2019, according to the weather service.

The National Weather Service forecasted chances of showers Wednesday and Thursday nights in Augusta, with more rain expected Saturday night and Sunday.

Persistent rainy weather in June has had a number of impacts, from reportedly leading to a late start for the state’s strawberry-picking season, to also hampering the spread of rash-inducing hairs from browntail moth caterpillars.

The capital area would need to see more than double the amount of rainfall already logged this month to break the city’s record high of 10.32 inches, set in June 1998.

Estimates in Waterville show the northern Kennebec County city is closer to breaking its rainfall record for June. Waterville has seen 4.94 inches this month, compared to the high of 5.46 inches logged in 1984, according to preliminary data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Thunberg said in Maine, the National Weather Service only validates data from Augusta and Portland as part of its formal records, though there are numerous other collection points across the state, including in Waterville. 

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