Winter Storm — Strafford, New Hampshire

2023-01-22 to 2023-01-23 · Strafford, New Hampshire

Event narrative

Snow began during the evening of the 22nd. Snowfall became moderate to heavy at times during the morning of the 23rd. A mesoscale band of snow set up from southern parts of the Upper Valley east northeast through the Lakes Region. Snowfall had a high snow to liquid ratio, and fell at an inch per hour at times. Light snow continued through most of the day on the 23rd. The wet nature of the snow allowed for weighing down of tree branches which led to approximately 7000 power outages in the county. Snowfall totals ranged from 10 to 16 inches.

Wider weather episode

The second in a series of winter storms over the course of a week developed on the 22nd over the Gulf Coast. Low pressure moved northeastward along the Eastern Seaboard, passing very near the elbow of Cape Cod by sunrise on the 23rd. The proximity of the storm track allowed some mixed precipitation to move in over parts of southern New Hampshire. Farther northwest a pivoting band of moderate to heavy snow brought double digit snowfall to much of the rest of the state. As the storm moved into the Canadian Maritimes snow quickly came to an end during the evening of the 23rd.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1069615. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.