Tornado Watch Issued For New Hampshire Through Thursday Night: Weather Alert

CONCORD, NH — A tornado watch has been issued for the state of New Hampshire on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

The alert, issued at 1:40 p.m. by the NWS Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, and warned the watch was for all 10 counties from 1:40 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Limited information was available beyond the alert notice.

Forecasters with the NWS had been calling for showers and a possible thunderstorm with 15 mph winds gusting to 30 mph and a 100 percent chance of precipitation. About a quarter to a half inch of rainfall was expected. Highs will be in the upper 70s.

More showers were likely, with another thunderstorm before 7 p.m., and then showers and thunderstorms between 7 and 8 p.m. Temps were expected to drop down to the upper 50s. Wind was expected to be between 5 to 10 mph.

Rainfall will be between 0.1 and 0.25 inches, with higher amounts expected if thunderstorms develop.

On Wednesday morning, the NWS said there was a “slight risk” of severe weather.

Flash flooding is expected in several parts of the state, mostly in the North Country.

While tornadoes are not common in New Hampshire, there have been nine official EF0 to EF1 storms in the state during the past 11 years. Most of the storms occurred in rural or suburban communities between May and July, including Warner in 2015, Webster and Grafton County in 2018, Carroll County in 2020, Sullivan County and Chesterfield in 2022, Cheshire County in 2023, and Dublin and Grafton County in 2024.

A fatal storm struck a large swath of the state in July 2008, through several counties, killing one person in Rockingham County. It was the first tornado since 1946 in which a person died.

New Hampshire Patch will update this post when more information becomes available.

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