After a brief affair with spring, New Hampshire is back with winter.
Snow is predicted for the weekend and temperatures should remain below freezing for the next several days.
But spring didn’t go without leaving an impression.
She caused record high temperatures on Mount Washington, she ruined the Special Olympics in Waterville Valley, and she kicked a dent in many businesses’ revenues.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Kerry Grens has more.
Earlier this winter the plows were ready.
They were oiled, gassed, tuned, and set to meet the eighty inches of snow that fell on New Hampshire last winter.
But instead it rained.
Red Brochu, the owner of Brochu’s Nursery and Landscaping in Concord, says his fleet has spent the winter salting roads for freezing rain rather than plowing snow.
Brochu: Over the years I’ve probably have hit maybe five winters like this five or six winters in 55 years of what I call very little snow.
That’s because January was one of the warmest in New Hampshire history.
And it’s taken a toll on businesses.
Snow removal revenues are down about fifty percent for Brochu, and he’s not alone.
Laconia Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Theresa Lamson estimates tens of thousands of dollars have been lost this winter
without the usual stream of ice fishers and skaters heading to the area.
Lamson: That means people aren’t gassing up their snowmobiles, people aren’t stopping for newspapers, people aren’t stopping to have a quick breakfast before they go out and watch the guys ice fish or watch the sled dogs go.
Lamson’s referring to two events that take place in the Lakes Region each year: the World Championship Sled Dog Derby and the Great Rotary Fishing Derby.
The dogs have been steered elsewhere and the fish are on hold.
Around the state skimpy snowmobiling and cross country skiing conditions have melted ten to fifteen percent off hotel and restaurant business.
That’s according to an informal tally by the Lodging and Restaurant Association.
But Association President Michelline Dufort says this isn’t the first weak winter businesses have had to deal with.
And they’ve adapted creatively over the years.
Dufort: There’s plenty of options. There’s plenty of carnivals, there’s plenty of different festivals that have everything from fireworks to parades, to kids’ activities, horse-drawn carriage rides—maybe not sleigh rides this year!—but there’ so much going on.
Loggers are not so fortunate with alternatives.
Jasen Stock from the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association says some harvesters have parked their equipment because the ground is too mushy.
And sawmills, paper mills, and wood energy plants are beginning to run low on their supplies.
Stock: This is the time of year now when you’re supposed to be building inventories in anticipation of mud season. Well, we’ve had mud season all winter long and that’s been the problem.
Two thousand five already had a scarcity of cord wood and wood pellets for home heating.
Stock says it’s likely this winter could weaken next year’s supply too.
But with an average temperature around 30 degrees this January—eight degrees above average—fueling needs were not as severe as expected.
Still, Andy Galliher, the General Manager of Freedom Cycle in Concord, which sells snowmobiles, says there wasn’t much of a bright side to spring in January.
Galliher: If you’re a winter enthusiast there’s really no good sides to not having snow and I think that everyone here we’re all winter enthusiasts and we all want to be able to take advantage of the snow and not having it, it’s rather depressing.
And Januaries like this year’s might become more common.
According to the state climatologist, New Hampshire has been warming for the past thirty years and the trend is expected to continue.
For NHPR News this is Kerry Grens.
