AN OLD COMMENTARY ON WEATHER

If you don’t like the weather in New Hampshire...
I was asked recently if it has been an unusual winter in New Hampshire so far.  My answer? I don’t know. I hadn’t given it any thought, so I decided to do a little research.

     

  I first discovered that it is surprisingly difficult during my online search to find any information that is “middle of the road.”
That is to say, the only websites that I could find in my many varying
searches were either blogs with people’s personal opinions about the weather or
precise scientific data regarding specific dates and times.  

     If I was going to answer the question on whether the weather (pardon the pun) is unusual recently, my gut reaction would be no. We talk about weather in NH the way Angelinos discuss traffic, and for good reason. They are both always changing, always extreme and never what we wanted it to be. I remember being in a snowstorm in April of 1996 that occurred in Laconia while the outside temperature was about 50 degrees. In comparison, according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website, NH was experiencing an “Extreme drought” in April of 1999. To those of us at or near the epicenter of the “Snotober” storm, the memory of trying to find any place to charge cellphones, take shower and find a way to keep warm at night will forever be etched in our collective memories. According to the Public Service of New Hampshire website, the storm dropped more than 30 inches of snow on some parts of the state and left 237,000 PSNH customers without power. One would think it was the greatest storm to ever hit the state. 

     Extreme weather in NH is not a new occurrence. According to
a paper published by the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension (Forestry) written by Karen Bennett, “Severe, unpredictable weather is as much a part of New England as…baked beans…and maple syrup.”
According to her paper, the Ice Storm of 1998 damaged an estimated
800,000 acres of NH trees. She goes on to say “Weather events become mythic, passing into legend because they are memorable…” Ms. Bennett mentions the
Blizzard of ’78 and ‘69(hadn’t heard of that one), the hurricane of 1938, and
an ice storm that occurred in 1929. She quotes The Concord Monitor “…One of the most severe storms to hit New England for several years…did untold damage for several days.” That is in reference to the 1929 storm, but
could have been written at countless times in NH weather history.

     After a little digging and reading countless newspaper articles, scholarly journals and climate data, I have come to realize that my gut was right. The
weather in NH hasn’t been unusual lately.
Weather in NH is unusual, and apparently always has been. Having snow in October is hardly worth
noting, though the severity of the storm was.
It’s just another bit of unpredictable weather in our part of the
country.
According to the official Voice of New
Hampshire “There’s only two season’s in New Hampshire. Winter and the Fourth of July.”—Fritz Wetherbee