MANCHESTER, NH — Check the NH DOT electronic message boards, which are currently programmed with a Winter Storm Watch alert for the Lakes Region and northern parts of the State. If you’re traveling north of Concord for skiiing, recreation or business, go with caution.
The good news is that here in Manchester, the weather outlook is not so hazardous, according to the National Weather Service. Still, we all know that weather prognostication is equal parts science and voodoo.
Here in the city, expect a low-pressure system to bring mixed precipitation late Friday night into Saturday.
The trouble spots will be north and east of Manchester, where freezing rain is forecast to begin in central New Hampshire late Friday afternoon in time for the evening commute. The North Country could receive 6 or more inches of wet snow. The freezing rain will spread south to the Massachusetts border by early evening with rain along the coast. By Saturday morning the freezing rain will have changed over to rain south of the Lebanon-Plymouth-Conway area while keeping to a wintry mix in the northern White Mountains and Coos County. The rain clears out of southern areas by late Saturday afternoon and mixed precip from northern areas by midnight Saturday night.
Icing caused by the freezing rain could be up to a quarter-inch thick on untreated surfaces in central New Hampshire by Saturday morning. This will make for slippery driveways and walkways, and could bring limbs down onto power lines. Please be alert for changing conditions and reduced visibility.
Here’s your futurecast from the Weather Underground:
