Winter Storm — Western and Central Hillsborough, New Hampshire

2020-03-23 to 2020-03-24 · Western and Central Hillsborough, New Hampshire

Event narrative

Snow moved into the Monadnock region during the afternoon on the 23rd and quickly became moderate to heavy. While forcing was driven primarily by warm air advection, a band of heavy snow developed northwest of the low center and did manage to lift into the area. This extended the duration of snow in addition to producing snowfall rates of one inch per hour at times in the evening. Snow tapered off quickly after midnight. Total snowfall ranged from 6 to 8 inches, with locally higher amounts around 10 inches in the Monadnocks.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure west of the Appalachian Mountains on the 23rd underwent secondary development along a baroclinic zone lingering off the Mid Atlantic coast. That secondary area of low pressure steadily deepened as it moved northeastward into the Gulf of Maine by the 24th. Mid level low centers developed in a location that ensured that warm air struggled to get very far north and prevented most of the mixed precipitation potential. That and a cool and dry antecedent air mass meant that the predominate precipitation type was snow across most of New Hampshire.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 875638. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.