After a string of unseasonably warm winters, this season has felt more like a traditional New England winter, with regular snowfall, frosty temperatures and ice everywhere.
“This is, you know, that's what our winters are supposed to be like,” said Mary Stampone, New Hampshire's state climatologist.
This winter has been colder than normal, but “normal” is the word being used to describe a 30-year average of conditions. Stampone said the latest 30-year window of data, from 1990 to 2020, is markedly different from earlier in the 20th century.
Since 1990, she notes, our winter temperatures and snowfall have been up and down.
“If you remember back in 2015, we had so much snow, right? But in the past five years, we’ve had much less snow than even that warmer normal would suggest,” Stampone said. “And this year happens to be one of those colder years that really is more representative of the type of winter weather we expect here in New England.”
This winter has seen the coldest December and January since that same two-month stretch recorded in 2009, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, based on its statewide average temperature rankings.
Stampone said this is one of the coldest, snowiest winters in New Hampshire since about 2018.
This classic winter weather has been a blessing for those who love outdoor activities like ice fishing, snowmobiling, skiing, and pond hockey.
It set the stage for a busy New England Pond Hockey Classic earlier this month on Lake Winnipesaukee. And the 97th annual World Championship Sled Dog Derby this past weekend in the Lakes Region was another cool success — warm weather forced organizers to cancel the race in 2024, which was the second year in a row it was called off due to unseasonably warmth and climate change.
“Our winters overall have warmed substantially, and we are seeing more pronounced warming during that cold season this winter season than we are in other seasons. So winters are warming faster than our summers are,” Stampone said.
Several years of warmer winter weather has meant a decrease in the number of bitter cold days, though the region still gets them.
The state right now has significantly more snowpack on the ground, even in the southern part of the state, than in recent years. This will help the water table, where parts of the state experienced extreme drought last year, and drought still continues across most of New Hampshire.
Some experts say conditions this winter could mean trouble come springtime.
Alex Prusevich, a hydrologist at the University of New Hampshire, said big spring floods require three key ingredients. Based on his observations around Durham, the area’s soil moisture levels and heavy snowpack check off two out of three of those criteria.
“If there will be heavy, warm rain next month or late winter that may cause another historical flood in the area,” he said.
Look Ahead
The National Weather Service is tracking a potentially heavy band of snow for Wednesday and into the evening, with plowable snow accumulation notably for southern New Hampshire.
There is a chance for another round of snowfall Friday and Saturday.
