New Hampshire Snowstorm Upgraded Again: 12-16 Inches Expected

GRAY, ME — A midweek storm, expected to start around 7 p.m. appears to be tracking north and is a bit slower than first expected.

The National Weather Service issued an updated hazardous weather outlook and winter storm warning on Wednesday pushing back the beginning of the storm to 10 p.m. running through 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Heavy snow is expected with accumulations of 8 to 12 inches from the southern part of the Lakes Region south to the Massachusetts border and the Seacoast. Wind gusts could reach 35 mph, according to forecasters.

At around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, forecasters at the NWS updated the storm totals to between 12 and 16 inches in most of central and southern New Hampshire.

While smaller snow totals are expected in the northern part of the state, the alert covers the entire state of New Hampshire.

"An Arctic airmass will remain in place ahead of a developing area of low pressure, which will bring significant snowfall to parts of the region," according to the alert. "(The) developing low pressure will quickly track northeastward before moving offshore of the Delmarva and passing near Cape Cod by early Thursday morning."

Originally, the storm was expected to bring about 3 inches to central New Hampshire and up to 8 inches in the southern part of the state. During the last 12 hours, that prediction changed, with forecasters suggesting the storm would track north more than expected earlier this week.

Forecasters also canceled a wind chill advisory but commuting could be difficult due to sleet accumulation and wind gusts.

"Travel could be very difficult in snow and blowing snow," forecasters said. "The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency."

Eversource, the state's largest utility, "is keeping a close eye on the track of the storm" and preparing. The company said it will have line and tree crews pre-positioned around New Hampshire to respond to any damage or outages caused by this storm.

"We’ve been closely monitoring this storm and its path since the weekend and are adjusting our plan as needed, with more than 500 line, tree and service workers across the state ready to respond," Joe Purington, the company's president, said. "The amount of snow expected may make travel conditions challenging for our crews, so we're staging extra staff and equipment in our work centers to ensure that we're ready to repair any damage we may see from this storm. We also remind customers that restorations may take longer as we ensure the safety of our employees and customers while working under the challenging conditions related to the pandemic."

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, four-day weather reports for New Hampshire are posted on Sundays and Wednesday or Thursdays. Alerts are posted when needed.

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