A few weeks into what feels like 40 days and 40 nights, the rain Thursday kept coming down and coming down, and showers are expected to continue off and on through Memorial Day, testing the patience of locals and tourists alike.

Tim Duda, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Caribou, said the worst would end Thursday night, but he warned not to expect the dreary weather to cooperate for the holiday weekend.

“It’s not going to be a total washout,” he said. “The worst will end [Thursday night], but it’ll remain like this for a while.”

Like a giant tire mired on a muddy camp road, a persistent nor’easter just kept spinning over the Gulf of Maine Thursday, moving at a maddeningly slow pace as it dropped a deluge on the state.

“There’s been a lot of heavy rain today,” Duda said. “There’s a flood warning in effect for Washington County until 10 p.m. tonight [Thursday].”

The highest official rain total for the day was in Lamoine in Hancock County, which by 4:30 p.m. had reported 3.02 inches, according to Vic Nouhan of the NWS in Caribou. Whiting in Washington County had received 2.75 inches and East Machias 2.29. Bangor had received 2.0 inches, breaking the record for the date of 1.10 set in 1930.

Flood warnings were issued for Piscataquis, Penobscot and Hancock counties, predicting stream and brook overflows and some washed-out roads.

In Bangor, several areas of the city were reported as having minor flooding, including outer Stillwater Avenue and Broadway.

Late Thursday afternoon, numerous vehicles had difficulty getting onto Interstate 395 at the Main Street ramp. Storm water poured down the ramp near Cattelle Street and flooded onto Main Street, reaching a depth of about 2 feet at the base of the ramp.

Sarah Hopkins, 41, of Winterport, driving a red Pontiac Grand Am, stalled out her vehicle early Thursday evening trying to get onto the ramp. Two men in pickups left their vehicles and helped her push the car above the flooding.

“I’m feeling a little bit embarrassed,” Hopkins admitted, standing in front of her car.

“The culvert isn’t funneling properly,” said Officer Dan Herrick of the Bangor Police Department, who temporarily blocked off the road. “This is not uncommon for late winter, early spring.”

Barricades were hard to come by Thursday night as water washed across many roads in Penobscot County. In Orono, water created a 10-foot-wide hole on Union Street, said Bill Grant, a dispatcher with the Penobscot Regional Communications Center. High water levels closed or threatened to close the Old Town and Corinth roads in Hudson, the Kirkland and Poplar roads in Old Town, Route 143 in Etna and the Fuller Road in Carmel.

In Ellsworth, city workers closed Beechland Drive on Thursday afternoon because of flooding. Firefighters said they expected the road would be closed through the night.

On Mount Desert Island, high waters forced the closing of parts of the Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park and Route 233. Water covered the Park Loop Road near Thunder Hole, park rangers said. Route 233, the Eagle Lake Road, was closed near the high school. Bar Harbor police expected that waters would abate.

Western Washington County had some washed-out roads after the unrelenting rains pounded the area. Sections of roads in Whitneyville, Cherryfield, Roque Bluffs and Machias were underwater.

Water was bubbling from some manhole covers on streets in Machias. The town’s antique storm drain system had problems handling the volume of rain.

No flood warnings were in effect for Waldo and Knox counties, but flood watches were issued until 6 a.m. Friday.

The problems may continue into the weekend, and Memorial Day isn’t terribly promising, with more clouds and showers predicted for Monday.

Statistics for rainfall in several locations in the state were fairly normal for May, but for the overall amount since March 1, totals have been significantly above average.

“The average spring rainfall for Bangor is 9.5 inches, and since March we’ve received 13.02 inches,” said Rich Norton of the NWS in Caribou. “Caribou’s average is 7.83 inches, and the total this year is 13.53. Millinocket’s average is 9.62, and so far they’ve gotten 16.27 inches.”

Overall, Thursday’s rain did not cause significant damage across the state – it’s just that everything, from streets to spirits, was dampened.

Postal workers in the Bangor area tested the old mantra of “Neither snow nor rain … ,” wading through the streets on their indefatigable mission to deliver the mail.

“We take extra precautions to keep everything dry,” said David Griggs, a Bangor postal carrier. “We wear ponchos to keep the mail as dry as we can.”

“We just go as fast as we can,” said Tracy Cyr, another Bangor mail carrier. “We’ve got these safari-looking hats. It’s a mess out there.”