Thunderstorms, complete with lightning strikes, rolled through southern parts of Maine Sunday night, bringing heavy rain and hail in places near Maine’s border with New Hampshire.

“It’s not common, but it happens,” Chris Kimble, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said of thunderstorms in March.

In addition to the sounds of booming thunder, Kimble said his office received reports of several lightning strikes in York and Cumberland counties.

Kimble said the unusual weather pattern was caused by a warm front that moved through the state, which created instability in the upper atmosphere.

Monday’s forecast in Portland calls for rain turning to snow showers. Accumulation will be very light, Kimble said.