Winter storm brings more snow than expected, avalanche warning in effect
Mar. 24—The largest storm of the season struck the Granite State two days into the start of spring and with it came 2 feet of snow in some regions, downed trees and power outages.
By Sunday afternoon, more than 60,000 residents statewide were still without power, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a news release. To help towns struggling with cleaning up and restoring power, the State Emergency Operations Center was activated to assist.
Eversource's website indicated that towns in the Concord area were most affected by the heavy snow, downed wires and fallen trees. More than 99% of Barnstead was without power, while Hopkinton and Henniker were 90% without power. Unitil reported that only 5% of its customers were without power, the bulk of them being in Southern New Hampshire.
Residents can expect complete restoration by 11:30 p.m. on Monday, with most customers restored sooner, Eversource said in a news release.
The National Weather Service reported Sunday morning that towns in Coos County saw more than 29.5 inches of snowfall while towns in Merrimack County saw closer to 20 inches. The total snowfall accumulations reported were higher than anticipated, forecasts having predicted between 2 and 3 inches of snow in Merrimack and Hillsborough County, up to 12 inches of snow in Grafton County and up to 18 inches of snow up north in Coos County.
An avalanche warning was in effect in Coos County and backcountry skiers are urged to keep an eye on the conditions and to avoid any avalanche terrain, the National Weather Service said.
Though smaller ski areas like Gunstock Mountain and Ragged Mountain welcomed the packed powder conditions, attempting to ski portions of Mount Washington could be deadly. That includes Tuckerman Ravine, Huntington Ravine, Gulf of Slides, Great Gulf and Ammonoosuc Ravine, which are all said to have the potential for dangerous avalanches.
The National Weather Service predicted that if an avalanche is triggered, it likely would be large enough to bury multiple people, do significant damage to trees and buildings and will run far down in paths or to areas that are normally considered safe.
Statewide, interstates, highways and local secondary roads alike reported single- and multi-vehicle crashes, rollovers and entrapments that led to road closures. Downed wires, fallen trees and house fires contributed to road closures in Dover, Dunbarton, Epping and Hillsboro. Many roads remained closed as of Sunday afternoon.
The storm caused more than 180 blocked roads across the state and at least 45 broken poles. Hundreds of crews are actively working with communities across New Hampshire to restore power and address public safety concerns and will continue to do so around the clock as necessary, Eversource said in a news release.
"This early spring ice storm hammered our state with substantial radial icing from our borders with Vermont to Maine accompanied by nearly two feet of heavy, wet snow in northern and western areas, bringing down trees and limbs that blocked numerous roads and caused significant damage to the electric system," said Eversource New Hampshire President of Electric Operations Doug Foley. "The icing was significantly greater than forecasted and was the primary cause of the tree damage that we saw."
Towns where heavy snowfall turned to freezing rain throughout the day and into the night on Saturday woke up to patches of ice up to 2 inches thick.
