A flood watch has been issued for late Sunday through Tuesday in much of southern Maine due to heavy rain forecast to hit the already-saturated ground.

The National Weather Service office in Gray is warning there could be flooding in York, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Franklin, Oxford and Somerset counties, as well as parts of New Hampshire.

The storm will intensify Sunday night, National Weather Service meteorologist Sarah Thunberg said. The heaviest precipitation will hit parts of York County, which could receive 3.5 inches of rain from the two-day storm. Cumberland County up to the Bethel area could receive 3 inches.

“That’s quite a bit of water, which is why we put out a flood watch,” Thunberg said. With several days of rain that fell last week, “the ground is pretty spongy,” she said.

Current water levels are near normal in rivers, streams and other bodies of water in much of Maine. But the excessive rain and soggy ground will lead to higher-than-normal runoff in low-lying and flood-prone areas.

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