While some had hoped for a white Christmas, mother nature is instead gifting Maine with powerful winds and heavy rain.

The powerful winds continue now through the mid-day with peak gusts between 50-60mph. The winds will settle significantly as we head into the afternoon.

These gusty winds have already caused power outages. CMP’s outage listing is reporting less than 5,000 customers without power, with the bulk of the outages in Cumberland County.

Rain will continue through much of the day and into the first part of the night. Which causes concern for flooding.

New flood warnings are in effect for Oxford, Carroll, and Coos counties through noon time. Additional river flood warnings in effect for Kennebec River at Skowhegan, Swift River at Roxbury, and Saco River at Conway.