Ice, Sleet, And Snow Make New Hampshire Driving Treacherous

CONCORD, NH — A winter weather advisory update was issued on Tuesday as a storm that was expected to deliver up to 6 inches of snow to parts of Concord and the capital region pushed even further north — leaving mixed precipitation in its wake in the central and southern parts of New Hampshire.

Around 5:30 a.m., the National Weather Service issued an updated warning of "travel impacts" as most Patch communities will be hit with freezing rain, sleet, and ice, but not as much snow as expected.

"Isolated power outages possible due to the weighted branches," the report stated. "Travel will be very difficult. The hazardous conditions will impact the morning and possibly the evening commutes."

However, "treacherous driving conditions" were likely in most of the central and southern parts of the state.

"Freezing rain will be common in this area with some power outages possible," forecasters said on Facebook. "Further north more sleet and snow (are) expected with a few inches accumulating. It all ends around midday, although slick driving conditions may continue."

New Hampshire State Police have dropped speeds to 45 mph on Interstate 89, I-93 between Tilton and Lincoln, and Route 101 between Epping and Hampton.

Troopers also warned commuters about the difficult driving — requesting that drivers reduce speeds, use headlines, and leave space between vehicles, and drive without distractions.

"And always buckle up," they said on Facebook.

After the storm, all snow and ice should be removed from the roof of a vehicle, too.

Several accidents have been reported around the state.

Just before noon, about 8,000 utility customers were without power in the state.

Eversource, the state's largest utility company, reported about 7,000 customers without power — including more than 4,100 in Rochester, 865 in Barrington, about 500 in Weare, and smaller outages in Stafford, Farmington, Hopkinton, Barnstead, Sutton, Northwood, Henniker, Canterbury, Deerfield and other communities.

The New Hampshire Electric Coop reported about 800 customers without power including 354 in Northwood, 306 in Deerfield, and smaller outages in Epsom and Nottingham.

Unitil reported about 100 customers without power including small outages in Chichester, Concord, Salisbury, and Webster.

Liberty Utilities reported no outages.

Wires are reported down all over the state and a transformer exploded in Epsom, according to capital region fire dispatch.

Snow accumulations in central New Hampshire have been downgraded to around 2 inches in Concord and less than an inch in Amherst, Bedford, Londonderry, Milford, Merrimack, Nashua, Salem, and Windham. Only rain is expected in Exeter, Hampton, North Hampton, and Portsmouth.

Another storm, however, is on the horizon.

"Another low-pressure system tracks southeast of Cape Cod on Friday," forecasters warned. "It is likely to bring several inches of snowfall to New Hampshire and Maine Thursday night into Friday."

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. Local weather reports for New Hampshire are posted on Sundays and Thursdays. Alerts are published when needed.

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel.