MANCHESTER, NH – January is not messing around when it comes to winter weather. A wet, heavy snowstorm earlier this week has left people around the state without power, although according to utility companies crews are slowly making progress. That’s the good news. Less welcome news is that another storm system is brewing, resulting in a Winter Storm Warning for Wednesday afternoon into Thursday.
According to the National Weather Service the storm watch remains in effect from Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. through Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. and will start off with snow turning into freezing rain overnight and into Thursday.
- WHAT…Heavy snow and mixed precipitation possible. Total snow accumulations greater than 6 inches and ice accumulations up to one-tenth of an inch possible. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph.
- WHERE…Portions of southwest Maine. Portions of central and southern New Hampshire.
- WHEN…From Wednesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon.
- IMPACTS…Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous. With snow already on branches in many locations, the strong winds and additional weight of snow on tree limbs may down power lines and could cause sporadic power outages. Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are possible Wednesday evening. Periods of moderate and heavy snow will combine with low visibility to create dangerous driving conditions. Ice may accumulate and cause slippery conditions on untreated surfaces. The hazardous conditions could impact the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes.
- PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.
Updates from area service providers with crews addressing widespread electricity outages across New Hampshire as of 12:15 p.m. on Jan. 24, 2023.
Report power outages to your utility provider every 24 hours until it is restored:
Eversource 1-800-662-7764
Liberty Utilities 1-855-349-9455
NH Electric Co-Op 1-800-343-6432
Unitil 1-888-301-7700
The State Emergency Operations Center recommendations:
- Stay informed by signing up for NH Alerts and monitoring National Weather Service radio or broadcast weather reports.
- Drivers should use extra caution, go slow and be alert for crews clearing debris.
- Use flashlights, rather than candles, for emergency lighting.
- Do not use a gas range or oven as an alternate source of heat.
- Never run a generator inside a building or in an enclosed space and keep them 10 feet away from buildings with the exhaust pointed away.
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed when you lose power. An unopened refrigerator will keep cold for 4 hours and a full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours. For food safety tips visit USDA.gov.
Learn more about power outage safety at ReadyNH.gov.
Eversource: 43,995 as of 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 24
Eversource Outage Map shows 43,995 customers (about 8 percent of all customers) still without power as of Jan. 24 at 12:30 p.m.
Eversource has more than 700 line, tree, and service crews—including support from as far as Canada and neighboring states—working to repair significant damage. So far 156,000 customers have been restored. Estimated time of recovery for remaining customers should be announced later Tuesday. Click here to check status of repairs using your phone number or text STAT to 23129 to get power alerts and restoration times sent to your phone.
As of midday Tuesday there were still thousands without power in New Hampshire, including 2,007 in Amherst, 2,879 in Barrington, 1,812 in Bedford, 4,390 in Dover; 57 in Manchester; 829 in Merrimack; 2,541 in Rindge.
Unitil: 3,840 total customers as of 12:15 p.m. on Jan. 24, 2023
Of those, 920 were in New Hampshire and 2,920 were in Massachusetts.
A total of 29,257 customers have been affected in all of the company’s service territories since the start of the storm. At its peak Monday night, Unitil had 10,454 customers with no power.
Damage assessment is ongoing to provide an accurate estimated time of restoration for affected customers. As those assessments are completed, estimated times of restoration (ETRs) are being added to the Unitil Outage Map. Unitil expects to have a better sense later today of the repair work that will be needed in the remaining impacted areas and when the majority of customers are expected to have their power restored.
“This storm system didn’t wrap up until last night, but our crews weren’t able to begin damage assessment until daylight to determine an accurate estimated time of restoration for our customers who were still without power today. Our crews have encountered multiple fallen trees, downed wires, and broken utility poles,” said Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara. “We’re hopeful that as temperatures warm above freezing, combined with today’s sunshine, we’ll see more of the snow that’s been weighing down limbs for days begin to fall off and relieve the pressure.”
Unitil opened its System Emergency Operations Center at 6 a.m. on Tuesday to coordinate its response and has brought in additional crews from Canada to assist with the restoration efforts.
The latest forecast shows the potential for another round of heavy, wet snow possibly hitting the region Wednesday night, which could impact any ongoing restoration efforts.
“Depending on how this next storm unfolds, we could see additional outages, and possibly in areas where repairs were already made following Monday’s storm,” O’Meara said. “Any new hazardous conditions during the next storm, such as difficult travel or gusty winds, could also hamper restoration efforts. Safety is a top priority for our crews, as well as our customers. It’s important to remember that bucket trucks are unable to extend arms for safety reasons in high wind above 35 mph, which can further slow response times.”
Heavy wet snow has the potential to damage trees and to take wires to the ground. We urge all to always assume all cables and wires have fallen or dangling are energized and stay away. Be sure to avoid wet ground or puddles near a downed line, as water conducts electricity. In addition, keep away from all flooded and debris laden areas because they may be hiding downed lines. Stay in a safe place and avoid driving in damaged areas so you don’t interfere with rescue and restoration efforts.
Unitil will be communicating throughout the event through Public Service Announcements (PSAs), our website, our customer call center and through the media. We also encourage customers to follow along with our storm updates via Facebook, our Twitter feed (@Unitil) and we will be providing real-time outage information online at unitil.com/map.
Liberty Utilities reported no outages as of Tuesday.
