Power outages are possible again from storm arriving Wednesday

April 1 warning about upcoming Nor-Easter

April 1 warning about upcoming Nor-Easter National Weather Service—Courtesy

By DAVID BROOKS

Monitor staff

Published: 04-01-2024 12:27 PM

Modified: 04-02-2024 12:43 PM


You probably don’t want to hear this but there’s a chance we’ll be seeing power outages again Wednesday and you should get ready.

A major winter storm moving east is expected to intersect with a nor’easter moving up the coast, bringing hail, snow, ice and high winds to northern New England starting Wednesday afternoon and extending into Thursday, possibly even Friday. 

“The combination of heavy snow rates and gusty winds will likely result in hazardous travel due to low visibility and snow-covered roads,” the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said Monday morning. “The heavy and wet nature of the snow could produce impacts to infrastructure.”

“Impacts to infrastructure” usually means, as we all were reminded last week, trees falling on power lines and cutting off electricity.

As of early Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service was predicting two to three inches of snow for the Concord area, though the amount varies greatly throughout the state, with areas just south of Berlin potentially seeing between 18 and 24 inches.

A dangerous winter storm in April isn’t unusual despite the song that says this is the month of flowers and showers.

Just three years ago, you may recall, a nor’easter on April 15 produced a foot of snow in parts of New Hampshire, producing whiteout conditions that blanketed the state. Then there was the 2007 storm from April 14 to 17, which produced so much damage that the state received $30 million in federal compensation, a record at the time.

Concord airport, site of the National Weather Service’s official weather station for the state since the 1880s, has recorded snowfall as late as May 13 with significant accumulation as late as May 10. Almost every single day in April has seen measurable snowfall at least once during that period.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

The area’s power utilities only just finished cleaning up from the March 23-24 snowstorm that left more than 100,000 people without power in New Hampshire and Maine.