Power Outage in Keene, NH

Precipitation began as light snow in the Monadnock Region during the late evening on the 13th. Overnight snow became moderate to heavy at times. Snow accumulation was highly dependent on elevation, with the lowest totals near the Connecticut River and around Keene. Snowfall totals ranged from 9 inches in the valleys to more than 30 inches in the Monadnocks. Power outages were widespread where snowfall totals exceeded 10 inches, along with numerous downed trees and closed roads.

On the August 2nd drought monitor, Cheshire County was 6% in severe drought and 94% moderate drought. By the end of the month, 54% of the county was in severe drought and 39% in moderate drought. The deterioration was the result of spotty shower activity with most of the county receiving between 1 and 2 inches of rainfall.||Several towns instituted voluntary water restrictions. Hydro operators balanced needs of lake levels, hydroelectric power generation needs, and the discharges to maintain stream flow needs downstream. Most of the reported water quantity issues were from southern and coastal areas. Farmers without irrigation experienced stressed vegetation from a lack of rain and above normal temperatures in July. First-cut hay crop was near normal, but subsequent hay growth was slowed. Most streamflow stations in central and southern rivers with 30+ years of record were between the 10th-25th percentiles compared to normal.

Severe thunderstorm outflow wind gusts downed a tree onto a powerline in a driveway in Nelson, NH.

Outflow wind gusts associated with a strong line of showers and isolated thunderstorms brought down a tree onto powerlines on Washington St. in Keene.

Early spring snowstorm began shortly before midnight on the 15th as rain transitioned over to snow across the higher elevations. Snow levels continued to lower through the night with snow spreading across the entire county by day break on the 16th. Moderate to locally heavy snow continued all morning before beginning to taper off during the early afternoon hours on the 16th. The heavy wet snow led to isolated power outages in the county that were quickly restored. Storm total snow ranged from 7 to 13 inches, with the heaviest amounts across the higher elevation locations above 1500 ft.

A severe thunderstorm brought damaging winds with downed trees and powerlines being reported in south of Fitzwilliam.

A severe thunderstorm brought damaging winds with downed trees and powerlines being reported in Richmond.

A severe thunderstorm brought damaging winds with downed trees and powerlines being reported on West Hill Rd.

A severe thunderstorm brought damaging winds with numerous reports of downed trees and powerlines being reported in Swanzey.

Tropical Storm Isaias brought moderate impacts to Cheshire County with scattered reports of trees and branches down leading to scattered power outages. Some damage occurred within an outer feeder band during the early and middle afternoon across the western half of the county. Isolated wind damage occurred during the evening hours when Isaias made its closest approach. Overall power outages for the county remained low with less than 15% of the county without power. No flooding was reported.

A severe thunderstorm downed a tree on power lines on Flat Roof Mill Road in Swanzey.

A severe thunderstorm downed trees and power lines in Stoddard.

A tree was downed onto power lines by thunderstorm winds.

Eleven to thirty-one inches of snow fell across Cheshire County. Heavy wet snow fell on foliated trees, breaking branches and downing trees and wires, resulting in widespread power outages.

A slow moving low pressure system moved across southern New England late Thursday night through Friday before entering into the Gulf of Maine by Saturday. Rain and snow started first across southern New Hampshire Thursday evening and quickly changed over to all snow across higher elevations above 1000ft. The snow became heavy at times by Friday morning with snowfall accumulations quickly adding up, especially across the Monadnock Region above 800ft. Heavy snow began to wind down by late morning across Southwest New Hampshire, but a second band of moderate snow pivoted further north across the White Mountains before tapering off Friday night. Key Impacts: transportation delays, heavy wet snow leading to power outages.

A rare and historic October Nor'easter brought very heavy snow to portions of southern New England on Saturday October 29. Low pressure tracked northeast from the North Carolina coast Saturday morning, rapidly strengthening as it passed well south of Nantucket Saturday evening. As the storm intensified, colder air from aloft was drawn into New England resulting in heavy snow in the interior. ||Snowfall accumulations of one to two feet were common in the Monadnocks, Berkshires, Connecticut Valley, and higher elevations in central Massachusetts. Up to 31 inches of snow was reported at Jaffrey, New Hampshire and Plainfield, Massachusetts. Minor accumulations were even reported down to the south coast as the rain changed to a period of snow late Saturday night before ending. The accumulation of the heavy wet snow on trees and power lines resulted in widespread tree damage and power outages across many communities in central and western Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire, and northeastern Connecticut. This resulted in school closures and numerous towns cancelled or rescheduled Halloween and trick-or-treating activities. At the peak, 300,000 customers in New Hampshire were without power. ||The precipitation started as mainly snow early Saturday afternoon across the interior of southern New England, although a brief period of rain at the onset was common across the lower elevations. Several hours of heavy snow occurred from mid afternoon through late evening on Saturday October 29. Snowfall rates reached 3 inches per hour for several hours in the Berkshires and Monadnocks as a nearly stationary band of heavy snow set up across this region. The snow tapered off just after midnight Saturday night in western New England with the last of the precipitation exiting eastern New England Sunday morning. This storm also brought damaging winds to Cape Cod and the islands with wind gusts up to 70 mph occurring early Sunday morning October 30 as well as minor to moderate coastal flooding to east coastal Massachusetts during the high tide early Sunday morning.

Hurricane Irene formed east of the Caribbean island of Dominica, part of the Lesser Antilles region, on the afternoon of August 20. Irene moved through the Caribbean and up the east coast of the United States making landfall twice. She first made landfall as a Category 1 Hurricane near Cape Lookout, North Carolina around 7:30am on August 27, then moved offshore again during the evening. She then made a 2nd landfall, again as a Category 1 Hurricane at 540am on August 28 near Little Egg Inlet in New Jersey. She moved over New York City and then into southeastern New York State and Connecticut as a Tropical Storm a few hours later. By the end of the evening of the 28th, Irene was crossing the U.S./Canada border having produced significant amounts of rain, storm surge, inland and coastal flooding, and wind damage across southern New England and much of the east coast of the United States. ||In Southern New England, the minimum surface pressure recorded was 976.9mb taken at Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield, Massachusetts. The storm surge experienced along the coast was generally in the two to four foot range with a high of 4.78 feet at Fox Point in Providence, Rhode Island. The highest sustained windspeed was 54 knots (62 mph) at the Physical Oceanographic Real Time System station at Conimicut Light in Narragansett Bay, RI. The highest sustained wind speed on land was 38 knots (44 mph) recorded on the Automated Surface Observing Systems at both Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, MA (KHYA) and Logan International Airport in Boston, MA (KBOS). Rainfall amounts ranged from nearly zero (0.03 at Nantucket Memorial Airport - ACK) to nearly 10 inches (9.92 in Conway, MA). ||Despite the relatively low wind speeds, sustained winds over a 6 to 12 hour long duration resulted in widespread tree damage and resulted in power outages to roughly half a million customers throughout the state. Some of these customers did not get their power back until the Friday following the storm (some five days later). Durring the passage of Tropical Storm Irene, the winds resulted in $25,000 in property damages. ||The Connecticut River at Walpole reached its highest level since the 1938 hurricane.||The collective effects of Tropical Storm Irene on August 28, resulted in 1 fatality, 0 injuries, and $127.3M in property damage in the following counties: Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester (all in MA), Hartford, Tolland, and Windham (all in CT), Cheshire and Hillsborough (all in NH), and Bristol, Providence, Kent, Washington, and Newport (all in RI).

A powerful low pressure system tracked through eastern New York spreading heavy rain and strong winds across Southern New England. Heavy rain coinciding with spring snowmelt contributed to river flooding, especially along the Connecticut River. In addition, rainfall totals of two to three inches resulted in areal flooding across much of the region.

Low pressure moved up the Atlantic coast and spread snow across southern New England. Heavy snow fell across much of southern New Hampshire, downing trees and power lines. At Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, more than a dozen flights were cancelled.

An intensifying area of low pressure passing south of New England and into the Gulf of Maine produced a wintry mix of precipitation that changed to snow, and gusty northeast winds across southwest New Hampshire during the morning of 15 January 2006. Generally, between 3 and 8 inches of snow fell. This heavy, wet snow, combined with gusty northeast winds, brought down tree limbs and power lines across the region. The hardest hit by this winter storm was Cheshire county, where wind gusts up to 47 mph were reported in Spofford at 8:30 AM. No known injuries directly related from this storm.

Damaging winds affected the higher elevations of Cheshire County, as strengthening low pressure tracked across northern new England and a strong cold front moved through the region. There were several reports of downed trees and power lines. No injuries were reported.

Slow moving severe thunderstorms brought damaging winds, hail, and flash flooding to Cheshire County. Westmoreland was the hardest hit area, where most of the town's roads were blocked off because of flooding, downed trees, and power lines. A spotter measured 4.50 inches of rain in under three hoursalong with dime sized hail. One portion of Route 12 was washed out, part of Route 63 was closed due to flooding, and Mill Brook rose out of its banks and flooded a the first floor of a nearby house. Some people were evacuated from their homes. Dime sized hail was also reported in Walpole.Route 12 was closed for several days following the torrential rainfall. Damage from the storm was estimated at 3 million dollars, mainly due to the flash flooding.

A combination of snow, sleet, and freezing rain brought down trees, branches, and power lines, resulting in numerous power outages throughout Cheshire County. Many areas received around 3 inches of snow, before a prolonged period of sleet and freezing rain added around one half inch of icing. Dozens of accidents were reported as a result of slippery roads.