Where are the NH Snow Belts? (Manchester, Concord: budget, house hunting, travel)

[notdancingqueen]

I know people have said that New London/immediate surrounding areas are one (which DH *loves* - we are under contract on a house in Wilmot and he is doing the Happy Snow Dance...) . On another thread I saw Keene mentioned as another. Just curious where the others are?

[Tarastomsgirl]

Keene is for sure in the snowbelt. Its called the Monadnock Region.

[WannaComeHome]

There's no clear line of demarcation, but look at a map of NH and think of the weather going across it on angles. Most of NH is in the snow belt, but the south central and easter region usually gets a bit less.

I figure it: around New Ipswich/Greenville is pushing the western edge of the 'easier' zone, and Bedord- Manchester is pushing the northern edge.

If I were to color most of the state blue (for cold) but a narrow band slightly lighter blue around this area, and then the majority of the south-central/east area pale blue.... you'd have an idea. You can't really separate by county, but pretty much all of Cheshire Cty is (that includes Keene!), and maybe the top half of Hillsborough Cty, and all but the lower bit of Merrimack Cty...

Does this help any?

[rmcewan]

Well, I'm Seacoast area - Madbury - and my yard had snow from the beginning of December through March - so color me purple Wanna! It mostly melted in early March, and then we got another foot or so which hung around another 2 weeks.

Being used to the white stuff, NH doesn't seem to slow down much save for school closings during storms. Few here complained about the snow despite the 2nd snowiest winter on record, with a notable exception in Keene.

I should point out that little Madbury managed to clear my street after (not DURING) every single one of the many storms this winter. Your town may vary (many places ran out of budget for snow clearing only half way through winter).

[aponeil]

We had a ton of snow in Fremont and it too did not melt until well after Easter. They also ran out of road clearing budget here so that we are now living with a whole lot of loose sand in the roads cuz there's not budget to come by with the road sweeper. (this makes for interesting springtime bike riding)
There may be snowbelts, but NH itself is a SNOWY place! I think the only people who had noticeably less snow from this area were right on the coast - Hamptons, etc (see very eastern/coastal Rockingham Cty).

[nicolem]

Here in Laconia we did break the record-snowiest winter EVER! Close to 140 inches. Will it be like that every winter? Of course not. Since we moved to NH in 1999-we have had a variety of winters. A few heavy hitters for snow,one or two fairly tame winters. I remember one year where we did not get any "decent" snow till almost February. I remember one year having snow two weeks before Memorial day We also had a winter where in January, we NEVER got into double digits. I recall many mornings going to work and it was -20 degrees and the high for that day was 2 or 3 degrees! No winter is ever the same up here and roads are cleared relatively quickly.

Nicolem

[WannaComeHome]

rmcewan:

Well, I'm Seacoast area - Madbury - and my yard had snow from the beginning of December through March - so color me purple Wanna! It mostly melted in early March, and then we got another foot or so which hung around another 2 weeks.

Oh I don't mean seacoast never gets snow - just a bit less than say Keene or Concord! And maybe not quite as cold (cold, of course being relative ). and this year it's sounding like the belts were almost backwards with south central/east getting more than points north? but usually south central/east gets a little less than the rest of the state, and maybe a few degrees difference in temps - at least what I've observed watching the weather maps.

nicole:

I remember one year where we did not get any "decent" snow till almost February.

I know the previous few years were pretty low on snow in Hollis! Last year I know there wasn't snow until around March. Hubby went up looking at land just after Christmas and took lots of pics for me to see - and the ground was all bare, hadn't snowed except maybe some early flurries. But when I went up with him in March.. snow had come and you couldn't even walk into the lot! But it wasn't until then. And then there was this year!

[notdancingqueen]

The reason I asked is because when I visited New London and surrounding areas while house hunting, several locals in the Sunapee area said it's in a snow belt. Clearly NH is a snowy state in general - it's pretty far north. :-) But since I was told it was *particularly* snowy in that area I was curious where any other NH snow belts are.

Thanks to all for responding - Jackie

[jthibodeau]

Hi Jacki,
I've lived here all my life and, even though some may disagree with me, I not aware of any particular "snow belts". There is no question that higher elevations, such as Sunapee, will receive additional snow due to colder air temperatures.

Your also correct when you say the further north you travel, the more snow you'll encounter. The weather patterns vary so widely that it's pretty much a crap shoot as to snow depth during any particular year.

One year, during the mid 90's, my location received no snow until late February while surrounding towns had over a foot and a half of snow on the ground starting from December. The storms seemed to slide around us with never a direct hit. The saying about New England weather seems to hold true. "If your not happy with the weather, just wait a minute."

[GregW]

Anywhere north of the Massachusetts border. Southern NH is subject to snowstorms originating in the Midwest and tracking to the northeast and the North Country gets snow from the storms originating in Canada and upstate NY. The coast is subject to the Nor’easters.