Weather

200+ Crashes As NH's Year-End Thundersnow Storm Ends In A Whimper

Snow and freezing rain continue through Tuesday with varying snow totals in New Hampshire as first responders prepare for holiday revelers.

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New Hampshire's 2019 year-end storm is tapering off Tuesday.
New Hampshire's 2019 year-end storm is tapering off Tuesday. (New Hampshire State Police, National Weather Service)

CONCORD, NH — There were some big flashes and booms Monday as lightning and thunder struck around the capital region and first responders dealt with hundreds of mostly minor crashes and minor power outages. But other than that, the year-end storm that brought icy rain and slippery roads to New Hampshire from Sunday to Tuesday, is ending with more of a whimper than a bang. The winter storm warnings and advisories issued by forecasters with the National Weather Service are still in place through 1 p.m. with most of the storm is expected to be completed by late afternoon or early evening – ending, primarily, with rain mixed with snow in southern and central New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire State Emergency Operations Center returned to "steady state" from its partial activation at 8:30 a.m. Steady state, according to officials, is "routine operations," with no staff at the center.

At the height of the storm, New Hampshire State Police reported more than 200 crashes, according to press reports online.

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During the course of the storm, despite the heavy snow and freezing rain pellets – which are still noticeable on many trees around the state – only a few thousand homes were without power, mostly due to vehicles driving into utility poles like the truck crash in Francestown which knocked out power to nearly 800 Monday.

Liberty Utilities restored power to about 300 in Derry and Salem Tuesday after repairing a blown fuse.

Find out what's happening in Concordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

In Concord, the storm is expected to have run its course sometime between noon and 4 p.m.; in Nashua, it's 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. On the Seacoast, the snow will change to rain during the afternoon.

Around 4:50 p.m. Monday, a number of communities in central New Hampshire saw lightning and heard thunder as the rare weather phenomenon called "thundersnow" struck the area. Thundersnow is the process when the cold air on the ground meets with warm, moist air between the storm clouds and land, and mostly occurs during sleet storms.

Hundreds of Concord NH Patch readers saw the flash and heard the booms, according to callout on that site's Facebook feed.

One Patch reader from Belmont caught some audio of the thunder on his phone.

The thunder tends to be louder than storms during the summer because of the acoustic suppression between the snow on the ground and the clouds above, according to forecasters. The lightning can seem brighter, as well, due to the flash reflecting off the snow.

While the storm has not finished in some parts of New Hampshire, snow totals were posted by National Weather Service storm spotters.

Concord Airport reported 4.7-inches of snow at 7 a.m. with similar totals in surrounding communities. Northfield is reporting 8.5-inches.

Portsmouth Airport reported 8.4-inches at 8 a.m. while spotters in Derry, Northwood, Epping, and Auburn reported between 3.8- and 5.3-inches of snow. Barrington and Dover are reporting 7.5- to 8-inches.

Manchester Airport reported 3.1-inches at 7 a.m. while Nashua reported 3.5-inches and New Ipswich is reporting 4.8-inches.

Most of the large snow accumulations were in the Lakes Region as the storm's track pushed north from where it was originally expected to hit. Wolfeboro and Madison are reporting 11-inches while East Sandwich reported 12.8-inches. Laconia received 10-inches of snow, according to spotters.

The National Weather Service has also issued a coastal flood alert for Hampton, North Hampton, Portsmouth, and other communities. When high tide rolls in by mid-afternoon, expect waves as high as 10 to 15 feet with some minor beach erosion and splash-over expected.

Hampton has also canceled its New Year's Eve fireworks, according to police.

State officials are now shifting gears and promoting safety on the state's highways and roads for New Year's Eve, blanketing Twitter with public service announcements about drunken and careless driving.

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.

Got a news tip? Send it to me at tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/tonyschinella.

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