Blizzard Warning Issued For New Hampshire: Snowstorm Update

GRAY, ME — Forecasters, including the more cautious ones at the National Weather Service, have updated their snow total accumulation predictions for this weekend’s storm and are now saying they expect it to be a powerful one.

New NWS maps published on Friday elevated snow accumulation totals from the 3- to 12-inch range for central and southern New Hampshire yesterday to 12 to 18 inches today — about what AccuWeather.com forecasters have been calling for all week.

A winter storm warning for New Hampshire was issued on Friday running from 7 a.m. on Saturday to 6 a.m. on Sunday.

“Heavy snow expected,” the alert stated. “Winds gusting as high as 35 mph. Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Near blizzard conditions are expected.”

Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches an hour were possible, forecasters said.

On Facebook, the NWS said a blizzard warning had also been issued for the Seacoast with the heaviest snowfall expected to occur in the afternoon and evening on Saturday.

Concord and the capital region are expected to receive between 7 and 13 inches of snow while Nashua and Hillsborough County communities will see somewhere between 9 and 15 inches. Hampton, Portsmouth, and the Seacoast communities are expected to receive between 12 and 20 inches of snow. There is a slight chance that snow accumulations in Concord, Nashua, and the Seacoast could be as high as 19 to 26 inches in places, according to forecasters.

AccuWeather.com on Friday stuck with its initial 12- to 18-inch prediction for most of the state but also warned that as much as 36 inches of snow could fall on the Seacoast.

Forecasters said snow could be “extremely intense” at times, between 2 and 4 inches per hour, as well as “the potential for thunder and lightning,” too. Wind gusts could reach 30 to 50 mph inland and 50 to 70 mph on the coast which may lead to power outages.

Two of the state’s largest utility companies issued alerts to customers warning of the outages and what they are doing to prepare for the storm.

Eversource, the state’s largest utility company, said it had “strategically prepositioning equipment and line and tree crews across the state” who were ready to respond quickly and safely to any outages.

“We’ve had a close eye on this storm since the beginning of the week and continue to carefully track its path using several weather services and storm models,” Doug Foley, the president of New Hampshire operations said. “This storm continues to be tough to track, and we aren’t leaving anything to chance. We have hundreds of line, tree, and service workers who will be geared up and ready to respond to this storm and any damage it may cause to the electric system. We also remind customers that restorations may take longer as we ensure the safety of our employees who will be responding in challenging road conditions.”

Unitil, too, said it had been preparing for the storm for days, securing third-party crews, especially with heavy snow and wind predictions.

“Should we experience blizzard conditions, travel will be difficult on the road and bucket trucks are unable to extend their arms safely due to the elevated wind gusts,” Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara warned. “While these conditions may delay restoration efforts, we are prepared for this storm and our crews will be ready to go, should outages occur.”

The latest weather conditions can be found on the front page of every Patch.com site in the United States including the 12 New Hampshire Patch news and community websites (Amherst, Bedford, Concord, Exeter, Hampton, Londonderry, Merrimack, Milford, Nashua, North Hampton, Portsmouth, Salem, and Windham). Local weather reports for New Hampshire are posted on Sundays and Thursdays. Alerts are published when needed.

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