The “bomb cyclone” that roared across the Northeast on Thursday dumped more than a foot of snow across much of the state, and it lashed the Seacoast with fierce winds and flooding. Concord, just outside the blizzard warning zone, was hit with less intense conditions, but like the rest of the state now faces the challenges of a deep freeze that will settle into the area through the weekend.
Thursday’s treacherous weather, which started early morning and lasted into the evening, closed schools and most businesses in the area. Most of Concord’s Main Street was deserted throughout the day, save for the city’s plow trucks trying to keep ahead of the relentless snow and wind. Many store fronts were dark, and the drifts of snow over the parking spots – usually the site of several Subarus jockeying for a spot – were undisturbed.
But in pockets of the city, New Englanders could be seen doing what they do best – making a go of it.
Tyler Labrie, for example, wasn’t going to let a projected 7 to 11 inches of snowfall stop him from going on his almost-daily run; he’s got a 50-kilometer race out in Moab, Utah, to train for. So when his work, the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, closed at noon, he hit the streets in a blue running jacket, tights and a flat-brimmed hat.
“Winter running is a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s really peaceful, you know? There’s no cars, it’s kind of post-apocalyptic. I think it’s safer running right now than at night, when there’s no cars.”
Thursday wasn’t a particularly long run for Labrie – only about six miles, starting out on South Street, skirting through the downtown and looping back. He said he saw one other runner, plugging along Main Street.
For the Barley House, plugging along has been their snowstorm motto: Despite having no heat in half of their building for the last two weeks, they were still pouring drafts Thursday afternoon.
“We’ll make do and try to stay open for tonight,” Paul Ford, Barley House manager said. “We’re hoping some of the crazies walking up and down Main Street will come join us.”
Despite the intense weather, Ford said most of his crew was planning on coming in Thursday.
“Everybody was just a trooper today,” he said.
But some scoffed at the idea that the “bomb cyclone” was anything more than a typical storm. The term “bomb cyclone” comes from the process of bombogensis, when the barometric pressure drops steeply in a short period.
Storm intensity is measured by central pressure – the lower the pressure, the stronger. A storm is considered a “bomb” when the pressure drops rapidly – at least 24 millibars in 24 hours.
This storm was expected to intensify at twice that rate, said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center.
Jeff Corbett, with son Will Corbett in tow at White Park, laughed when asked if the storm lived up to the hype.
“I think there’s always some degree of sensationalism, isn’t there?” he said.
White Park’s skating rink was closed Thursday, with no one but Concord’s General Services making wide, lazy arcs across the ice. But Corbett and a few other families were partaking in another winter pasttime: Sledding on anything kicking around in the garage, including tubes, boogie boards and the occasional saucer.
Corbett, frustrated with his plastic sleds always breaking, went out and bought a $70 Flexible Flyer, Rosebud’s descendant, to test out. He watched his son make a slow descent, hampered by the fluffy powder the wind kept throwing about. Later, Will Corbett gave it another go on a plastic sled – and took a few facefuls of snow.
“I’m ready to go home now,” Will announced, his face obscured by a mask.
So far, the snow forecast for the Northeast hasn’t been what people are worried about, with the worst of the storm projected to stay out to sea. It’s the high winds – gusts exceeding 60 mph – people should be wary of.
Those hoping to cash in on their own winter merriment this weekend should take heed: Temperatures are expected to jump on their own sled and barrel down into the negatives, with a high of 7 degrees and a low of -9 expected for Friday and high of 0 degrees and a low of -19 for Saturday in Concord, according to the National Weather Service.
There will be some reprieve on Sunday, with an expected high of 10 degrees and a low of 2 degrees.
(Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)