Weather Watch with Rick Gordon
Friday’s Weather
Today’s storm will be a heavy rain and high wind event with frigid arctic air moving in this evening with snow squalls and a flash freeze causing dangerous driving conditions. Extremely cold wind chills and temperatures are expected for the Christmas weekend.
STORM WATCH
1) High Winds today through late tonight expect powerful winds out of the south-southeast with gusts of 45-55 mph. The strong damaging winds can blow around loose objects and cause widespread power outages just before Christmas Eve day.
2) The snowmelt component could add between 0.5-1.25” of additional runoff. The rapid nature of the snowmelt and heavy rain (1-2″) on the frozen ground could lead to the rapid onset of flash flooding and small stream flooding this morning through tomorrow morning.
3) Travelers beware of a FLASH FREEZE as the temperature will drop 15 degrees in 3 hours as the arctic front moves through late this afternoon going from 42 at 4 PM today to 27 at 7 PM tonight with a snow squall. The last of the rain will have ended not long before and it will be a race against the clock to see whether winds can dry out the roads or if they remain wet and freeze up. The snow from the snow squall on top of the ice will make travel very difficult this evening.
4) The potential for coastal flooding with nearshore waves will just begin to develop this morning, potentially reaching 10 to 15 feet by the mid-morning high tide. Beach erosion and splash-over are likely.
Daily Forecast for Dec. 23-Dec. 27, 2022
Weather Patterns We’re Watching
Our last week of December looks to be dry and milder by next Thursday into New Year’s Eve Day. The outlook for New Year’s Eve is mild with some clouds and showers around midnight temperatures in the lower 40s with a southeast wind at 5-10 mph.
Click for New Hampshire Ski & Boarding Report
White Mountains Weather
The forecast for summits above 4,000 feet in Northern New Hampshire:
Today –. Snow to rain. Precipitation may be heavy at times. Highs in the lower 40s. Southeast winds around 60 mph decrease to around 45 mph in the afternoon. At elevations above 5000 feet, southeast winds are 60 to 70 mph. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent. Wind chill values as low as 4 above.
The forecast for elevations between 2,500 and 4,000 feet in Northern New Hampshire:
Today – Snow in the morning followed by Rain. Precipitation may be heavy at times in the morning. Highs in the mid-40s. East winds around 60 mph with gusts up to 90 mph becoming southeast and decreasing to around 45 mph with gusts up to 65 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent. Wind chill values as low as 6 above.