By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Winds may gust up to 50 mph in Maine today, uprooting trees and ripping down power lines. More than 3 inches of rain could fall over a short period, causing rivers and streams to flood their banks.

Weather officials agree on one thing: It’s not a matter of whether nasty conditions will visit the state. It’s a question of how severe it will become.

“It’s not going to be a pleasant time to be outside,” said Steve Capriola, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Gray. “The question is: How bad will it get?”

The mingling of Hurricane Wilma and another storm system is expected to cause havoc in the form of high winds and heavy rain.

By Monday night, weather service officials were already issuing flood and wind watches for southern and western parts of the state. At any time between Monday night and Wednesday, conditions could worsen very quickly.

“If it becomes imminent, we’ll upgrade it to a high wind warning,” Capriola said. “Those kind of wind gusts could cause real problems.”

Hurricane Wilma was heading out into the Atlantic on Monday, but forecasters expect it to remain close to the Eastern Seaboard. There, another storm front rolling north from the mid-Atlantic will mix it up with the passing hurricane, creating nastiness that will continue rolling toward New England.

“It’s going to tap some of that moisture from Wilma,” Capriola said. “And that really enhances the amount of rainfall.”

Emergency management agencies around Maine and the rest of New England were keeping their eyes on the storm as well. With the ground already soaked from weeks of steady rain, weather and emergency experts fear rivers and streams will be quick to flood. More than 12 inches of rainfall has already been recorded this month.

“We’ve been so wet lately, it’s definitely a concern,” Capriola said.

The flood watch issued Monday night was in effect for Tuesday and Wednesday. The high wind watch was in effect at least through Tuesday. From there, weather officials said, it’s a matter of waiting to see how ferocious the weather might become.

Heavy rain and high winds are not common in mid-October, but it is not unprecedented. Between Oct. 20 and 22, 1996, nearly 15 inches of rain fell across the southern part of Maine, setting a record for the month at a total of 16.86 inches.

Capriola said the 1996 weather that soaked Maine was the result of a similar weather phenomenon now approaching the state: Back then, a storm front moving up the East Coast mingled with Hurricane Lily as it moved out over the Atlantic.

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