storm

Forecasters say a winter storm will push through the region beginning late Thursday, bringing up to three inches of rain and wind gusts of up to 55 mph.

New Hampshire electric utilties are dealing with more than 20,000 power outages as the winter storm winds down today.

N.H. Electric Cooperative reported 11,636 customers affected and Eversource reported about 7,600, at about noon. Liberty Utilities had roughly 2,000, mostly in the Upper Valley.

SUNDAY update: Utility crews have restored power to most of those customers who lost electricity Friday night. Linemen continue to work on some trouble spots Sunday.

Eversource, as of midday, reports 885 customers without power.  N.H. Electric Coop has about 170, while Liberty Utilities reports 45. Until had a handful of outages it was restoring Sunday morning.

For Eversource customers, here's a link to report an outage, or call 800-662-7764.

High wind gusts and icing on wires across the state contributed to more than 12,000 electric customers losing power by late Monday afternoon.

New Hampshire Electric Cooperative reported 6,040 outages as of 5:30 p.m.

Eversource reported 5,351 customers without power.

Gov. Chris Sununu inspected historic flooding Saturday on the New Hampshire seacoast, as Atlantic waves whipped up from a nor'easter's high winds breached and eroded sea walls for a second day.

MONDAY Night update: The forecast calls for high wind gusts and drifting snow Monday evening, with a cold front sweeping over New Hampshire for the coming days.

The National Weather Service has a hazardous weather outlook for the region. A combination of strong winds and cold will mean a chance of dangerous wind chill values through the end of the week, the Weather Service says.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has requested a major disaster declaration and federal emergency assistance for five counties following an October storm that caused widespread damage and power outages.

The combination of heavy rainfall and damaging winds caused severe damages to hundreds of miles of local and state roadways and dozens of bridges and culverts in New Hampshire Oct. 29-Oct. 30. The high winds damaged many trees and power lines, disrupting electricity to approximately 270,000 customers.

Officials from the state and Federal Emergency Management Agency were touring the state today checking the extent of damage from last week’s storm.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen was with one of those teams in Bartlett.

In addition to the high winds and heavy rain of last week's storm, several other factors contributed to the fourth largest power outage in state history -- with a price tag in the millions, and counting. That's according to Perry Plummer, director of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

  Damage estimates from last week’s severe storm continue to rise and appear likely to qualify for a presidential major disaster declaration.

Perry Plummer, director of the New Hampshire Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said Monday on The Exchange that the state’s damage tally is currently at $13.5 million.

The late October storm that roared into New Hampshire with hurricane-force winds Sunday and Monday caused the fourth-largest power outage in state history. The top five outages all occurred in the past decade, according to the New Hampshire Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

A video of a house floating down the Baker River in Warren put an exclamation point on the severity of the storm Monday.

Thomas K. Babbit took the video. Wendy Babbit, his wife, said the Baker River is still overflowing in places. She described communities in that area of the state cut off due to swelling rivers and closed or washed-out roads.

"It's just sad," she says. "There's a heck of a lot of damage up here."

When severe weather knocks out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses, utility crews work around the clock to restore service. But somebody is always going to be the last one to get plugged back in...and it could be you.

This story was originally published in November, 2014.

If you’re already waiting around for the power to come back on, it’s too late to do prep like charging batteries or buying a generator. But there are some things you can do right now to protect your home and family…and maybe even reclaim some creature comforts.

A strong storm has taken down trees and power lines in southern New Hampshire and a lightning strike is believed to be the cause of a house fire in Peterborough.

WMUR-TV reports police had to block off a neighborhood in Salem after trees fell on roofs, lawns and cars. Branches and power lines were in the streets Thursday.

No injuries were reported.

The fire in Peterborough started in a basement Thursday afternoon and was put out quickly. No one was hurt.

With warming weather comes stormy weather - but why is that? If it's been a while since elementary school science class, catch up on the phenomena of summer thunderstorms and hail with this primer.