Melting From Maine’s Heatwave? Here’s Where to Stay Safe and Cool

Maine Heatwave

With cooler temperatures and a stupid amount of rain constantly hitting Northern New England, a lot of Mainers felt like Summer 2023 not only was a total bust, but never actually came, instead feeling like an extended spring and an early fall.

This week, though, it seems like Mother Nature pulled a 180 and is making up for her massive botch last year, as the next few days are forecast to be dangerous, record-breaking, scorching temperatures, with most of the state either coming close to or actually hitting triple digits by Thursday.

Maine Cooling Centers

While the first thought with brutally hot temperatures is to pull up some real estate by a pool, lake, beach, or just camp out right in front of an air conditioner for a few days, that's not always an easy option, or an existing option in the first place.

(Also, as a completely sort of related sidenote, heads up that officials are saying that even though the heatwave will more than likely having all of us soaking through our clothes, according to WMTW, there's still a hypothermia risk at the beach if you hop in the water.)

Thankfully, between press releases rolling into our inboxes and listings on Maine.gov, there are a good number of cooling centers to help you avoid the dangerously high temperatures over the next few days.

As of this writing, Maine.gov has the following locations listed as active cooling centers:

Bridgton Community Center, Old Orchard Beach Rec Center, The Salvation Army in Old Orchard Beach, Berwick Fire Department, Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft, Stow Town Hall, Otisfield Community Hall, Chelsea Town Office, Waterville City Hall Annex, Augusta Civic Center, SoPo City Hall, SoPo Public Library, Troubh Ice ArenActive in Portland, Portland Downtown Library, Lisbon Police Department, Fort Fairfield Community Center, and SeniorPlus Education Center in Lewiston.

The cooling center page on the Maine.gov website lists the specific days and times these cooling centers will be active, and we'll work on keeping this listing as up to date as possible as more become available throughout Vacationland.

Stay safe in this heat!