By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
PLYMOUTH – After a quick storm which brought as much as 5 inches of snow to the state overnight and into Tuesday, the National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for New Hampshire for Wednesday into Thursday as two to four inches of rain are expected in the central and northern part of the state.
Winds could get high on the Seacoast and Wednesday morning’s commute could be impacted by freezing conditions on the roads but it will be all rain as the temperatures rise.
For central to northern areas of the state, this will put a huge dent in the snowpack with snowmelt expected and an elevated concern for minor flooding and ice jams on rivers is possible, said Michael Clair, meteorologist for the NWS in Gray, Maine, which forecasts for New Hampshire.
He said Tuesday morning that the impacts of all that rain will be gradual but widespread beginning Wednesday afternoon.
And for the state’s ski industry, this forecast comes at an inopportune time.
“It’s a shame,” Clair said that the rain will wash away weeks of accumulated snow that is the lifeblood for the state’s tourism industry, especially at Christmastime.
But cold conditions will return and things will clear up on the roads for the weekend, the forecast shows.
The heavy, soaking all day rain Wednesday will be followed by cold and while a lot of areas will lose all the snow now on the ground, he said, the snow depth will hold but compact in the mountains and higher elevations.
Wind is not expected to be an issue inland with the exception of the areas of Lancaster and Whitefield which could see some howling winds and also on mountain tops on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Clair said he believed that the river flooding will be minor but a concern exists for ice jam buildups which can rise quickly and that would be possible in the late afternoon and night on Wednesday night, he said.
At the state-owned Cannon Mountain ski area in Franconia Notch, snowmaking had ceased Tuesday and the five inches of new snow from the overnight storm blanketed groomed terrain with a 37 inch reported base and 35 trails open.
Wednesday’s forecast is for a high of 47 degrees with rain and winds at the summit blowing 30 to 40 miles an hour.
