The likelihood of freezing rain in New Hampshire through Tuesday is raising concern about power outages, especially in the state’s southeast region.
New England won’t face the catastrophe that is hitting Texas and neighboring states, where a southern-plunging polar vortex produced temperatures colder than atop Mount Washington on Monday and cut power to millions of people. But a mix of precipitation could produce up to a half-inch of ice on trees and power lines in New Hampshire by Tuesday morning, especially in the Monadnock Region.
The state’s electric utilities are all cautioning customers to be prepared for outages.
Further north, snow is in the forecast, with as much as a foot possible near the Canadian border.
The Concord region appears to be near the dividing line and may see some freezing rain as well as a few inches of snow, depending on how the storm tracks.
The incoming weather led the state of New Hampshire to close its COVID-19 vaccination sites and testing clinics Tuesday. State officials were reaching out by phone Monday to reschedule everyone for appointments later in the week.
This storm is an indirect effect of the huge polar blast that came down through the center of North American on Monday, bringing single-digit temperatures clear to the Mexico border. Combined with strong winds, this produced lethal wind-chill figures that crippled a power sector with equipment not used to such conditions.
The cold froze some natural gas wells and some wind turbines, which cut off as much as one-quarter of the total electricity supply in Texas, forcing rolling blackouts. Many highways were closed as drivers unused to icy conditions caused accidents throughout the Gulf Coast and into Oklahoma and Tennessee, and airports throughout the Southeast were shut.
President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Texas on Sunday and ordered federal assistance to aid state and local response efforts.
Meanwhile, in the Pacific Northwest, tens of thousands of people were without power after a storm hit the region with ice and snow and made travel treacherous.