Winter Storm — Western and Central Hillsborough, New Hampshire

2020-12-05 to 2020-12-06 · Western and Central Hillsborough, New Hampshire

Event narrative

Snow moved into the area late morning on the 5th. Snow became moderate to occasionally heavy through the late evening just west of the strongest banded precipitation. Warmer temperatures in the Merrimack River Valley resulted in significantly less snow in central Hillsborough County than the higher elevations of the west. Snow totals ranged from around 3 inches in the lower elevations to as much as 12 inches in the Monadnocks.

Wider weather episode

An upper low ejecting out of the Rockies ultimately phased with a northern stream shortwave trough leading to cyclogenesis off the East Coast on the 5th. Low pressure formed over the southern Appalachians and moved northeast towards Nantucket by the evening of the 5th. The storm tracked into the Gulf of Maine and eventually began weakening in the Bay of Fundy early on the 6th. While the radar presentation looked like a classic northern New England snow storm, the antecedent air mass was marginal for snow and precipitation type became elevation and/or precipitation rate dependent. Most notably the snow that did fall was wet and sticky. The wet snow bonded to trees which led to downed tree limbs and widespread power outages.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 926910. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.