Lakes Region expecting Nor’easter Wednesday night

LACONIA — The Lakes Region will be blanketed with snow over the latter half of the week as a major storm makes its way up from Cape Cod.

“We’ve got a major Nor’easter headed into our area,” National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Clair said Tuesday. “The Lakes Region is mostly a major snow event.”

Sleet will start on Wednesday, but quickly transition into heavy snowfall, he said. Projections estimate an accumulation of 12-18 inches of snow, with the largest accumulations expected to be recorded toward the Ossipee Mountains, which could see 18-20 inches.

Lake Winnipesaukee and the surrounding area is projected to be on the lower end of the range, and lighter snowfall is expected toward Plymouth.

“It’s just kind of the right conditions all coming together,” Clair said.

High atmospheric pressure combined with a major coastal storm near Cape Cod and a slow-moving weather system with a high degree of moisture will ensure heavy snowfall in and around the city.

Trees in the area are also no longer dormant and are filled with sap, making their branches heavy and easily breakable which could cause power outages as limbs fall onto power lines.

“We are concerned about power outages, especially around the lower elevations,” Clair said. “It will likely be a wet, sticky snow.”

A storm that hit the Lakes Regions two weeks ago accumulated nearly two feet of snow in some areas. But Clair said heavy snowfall is not unusual in March and April, although the coming storm is slightly larger than would generally be expected this late in the spring.

“It’s something we’ve seen before but this is pretty high-end this time of year,” he said.

The April record for snowfall occurred the 12-13, in 1933, when Concord, the nearest city where the National Weather Service has long-term documentation, received an accumulation of 18 inches. The area saw 10.7 inches in April 2003, the second-highest amount recorded.

April typically records less snowfall than March. The Concord area historically averages only 2.5 inches in that month.

“Most years we don’t get a bigger snowstorm" in April, Clair said. “Typically January is the snowiest month.”

Climate change could play a role in increasingly serious snowstorms in the spring, Clair said, but there is no obvious trend to that effect.

Throughout an average year, the most snowfall is recorded in January, followed by February, then December, March, November and finally April.

It’s snowed in May in the past — most recently, the Lakes Region received 0.5 inches of snowfall in 2020. But the region saw an accumulation of 5 inches on May 10-11, 1945.

The most recent storm was generally in-line with expectations for spring snowfall in the Lakes Region, he noted.

“But a two-foot snowstorm is big at any time of the year,” Clair said. “The big takeaway for these spring storms is that they cause a lot more power outages than in the winter.”

Surface temperatures are higher in spring than in winter, which causes snow to melt more quickly and stick to surfaces, contributing to power outages and other problems.

“The colder it is, the drier the snow,” Clair said. “If we’re at all above freezing, the snowflake is starting to melt so that’s when we start getting the wet and sticky snow.”

Laconia Public Works Director Wes Anderson said his crews will be ready to go as soon as there is 1 inch of snow sticking on the ground. Police officers, who drive around the city at all hours, generally call Anderson to inform him when 0.5 inches of accumulation occurs.

The city snowplows need 1 inch of snow on the ground in order to be effective.

“We just typically make sure all of our plow trucks are ready to go,” Anderson said, explaining that in the days before major snowfall is projected his staff do maintenance checks on their trucks.

But the snowfall in this case is expected to begin during the day, not overnight.

“My best guess is that we might hit the 1-inch mark [Wednesday] during the day,” Anderson said.

He said he’s expecting somewhere around 0.5 inches of snow by 7 p.m. Wednesday, and around 4 inches by 2 a.m. Thursday.

His staff will likely begin plowing around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Generally, not including smaller equipment used to plow the sidewalks, his department has 13 plow truck drivers ready to go.

“I have enough [employees] to man my plow trucks,” he said.

But drivers in the Lakes Regions should stay off of the roads if at all possible, he said. Those who cannot avoid driving should take extra precautions when navigating the storm.

“They really shouldn’t be driving around in the worst part of the storm,” he said. “If they don’t need to be on the road, stay off the road until they can see the black.”

Drivers should travel below the posted speed limit and take care to brake much earlier than normal, because stopping distance is greatly reduced under winter storm conditions, he said.

Energy provider Eversource has encouraged customers to take necessary precautions ahead of the storm.

“Customers are encouraged to also prepare for the storm by assembling or restocking a storm kit with essentials like flashlights, batteries, water, non-perishable foods, any needed medications, pet food and other necessities,” Doug Foley, Eversource New Hampshire president of electric operations said in a statement.

He also reminded people to charge their electronic devices like cellphones, create or update emergency plans and prepare to check on neighbors and those who may live alone like the elderly.

“Eversource reminds customers to always stay clear of downed wires — including keeping pets away — and to report them immediately to 911,” Foley added.

Customers can report outages at Eversource.com or by calling 800-662-7764.

The storm is projected to taper off early on Friday morning.