Summer thunderstorms, in southern New hampshire (Derry, Portsmouth: house, taxes, living in)

[deerstar]

Does southern New Hampshire get thunderstorms with lightening during the summer months? I will be moving from Calif. and I hope to be able to have some real weather for a change.
Also, when on the subject of humidity, is it unbearable in southern New Hampshire in the summer? Is the coast less humid than the central towns?
Is it more refreshing on a hot day to go to a lake or the ocean? Are the lakes all clean? Thank you very much for your help....sincerely sandra

[StAcKhOuSe]

Originally Posted by deerstar

Does southern New Hampshire get thunderstorms with lightening during the summer months? I will be moving from Calif. and I hope to be able to have some real weather for a change.
Also, when on the subject of humidity, is it unbearable in southern New Hampshire in the summer? Is the coast less humid than the central towns?
Is it more refreshing on a hot day to go to a lake or the ocean? Are the lakes all clean? Thank you very much for your help....sincerely sandra

dude, what? where there is thunder, there is lightning. and the coast is more humid than the interior because of onshore flow. but the water is refreshing all summer. hampton beach is where its at if ya wanna partyyyyyy

[Valerie C]

DeerStar, southern New Hampshire does indeed get thunderstorms (with lightening!) in the summer months, and even sometimes in spring & fall (but most often in summer). Very occasionally, we even have a phenomenon known as Thundersnow, which is a thunder and lightening storm while it is snowing.

I thoroughly enjoy *most* of our thunderstorms here in New England. As one who was absolutely terrified of thunderstorms as a child and young adult (really!) it took going to the midwest where the storms are simply INCREDIBLE in their ferocity and power. I became hooked on going outside to videotape these approaching storms, and coming back to New England, realized how 'tame' our storms are in comparison. I'm sure GraniteStater can agree with me there!

In my opinion, we really only get a couple stretched of unbearable humidity each summer. The coast tends to be less humid, or perhaps it's the seabreeze that makes the heat and humidity more bearable than most lakes inland. In fact, many lakes can develop unhealthy levels of bacteria on the warmest stretches of days, making them unswimmable Nothing worst than looking out at a lake that you can't swim in on a 90 degree day! It doesn't happen all that often, but be aware that it can and does happen. The most reliable refreshing water will be found in the ocean (65 degree water is warm!) or the rivers & waterfalls that traverse along the White Mountains...

Originally Posted by deerstar

Does southern New Hampshire get thunderstorms with lightening during the summer months? I will be moving from Calif. and I hope to be able to have some real weather for a change.
Also, when on the subject of humidity, is it unbearable in southern New Hampshire in the summer? Is the coast less humid than the central towns?
Is it more refreshing on a hot day to go to a lake or the ocean? Are the lakes all clean? Thank you very much for your help....sincerely sandra

[deerstar]

Valerie,
Thank you for your imput.
I emailed you awhile back, and of all people to answer my question, I am in need of some advice from you. I am moving to New England April lst, road trip with truck & car.
I am trying to find a realtor help me land a place or at least advise me in this situation.
I have looked high & low for a place, but there seems to be always some forbidable gliche in finding the place with my particular needs. At this point I am deciding to contact a realtor, give my itinary, stay in contact with on the drive out, and by the time I get to the town, we could head off to see some places and I could pick one and hopefully be accepted and move in. If you know of someone who is nice and reputable I would certainly appreciate the contact. My thoughts are in the Newportbury, Beverly, even border Mass towns, preferably on the coast, seabrook or Portsmouth even....if you would just email me at deerstar1@yahoo.com, I could send my phone # or leave yours and I will call you tomorrow, Sunday. Thanks so much, sincerely, sandra

[pureangle]

Newportbury is Newburyport, Mass.... and Beverly is also Mass.... although I have no idea about living there for the exception that Mass has all kinds of taxes including on your paycheck.... border towns come to New Hampshire because we only have room and meals tax... for groceries and other items... I don't like New England because of the weather... but some people do like it here... I rather live where it is warmer and less costly... your money goes longer in southern states.... anyway, I do wish you luck as it is a big move.... and please don't count on on summers being longer than 3-4 months if that... but the end of September if you want to be out after dark you will be wearing a long winter coat and gloves!!! Dee

[Verseau]

Winter coat and gloves in late September?

Anyway, I agree that there are only a few stretches in the summer when the weather is uncomfortably hot and humid... maybe 2 or 3 weeks in total. But that's part of summer!

Personally, I prefer to cool off in the lakes because the water isn't as frigid as the ocean, and you have a much bigger selection of (quiet) beaches. I'm fortunate to live next to the cleanest lake in the state, so bacteria is never an issue!

[WannaComeHome]

Winter coat and gloves in late September?

heck, we didn't even wear winter coats or gloves at Halloween! Ok, maybe if you have really thin FL/CA blood you might be chilly.

[Snafu]

Where is the cleanest lake in New Hampshire? Just curious if it's the same as the one I've heard is the cleanest lake in New Hampshire!

As for the thunderstorms, it's true they're not quite the same as some of the Midwest states, etc., but we can get some pretty impressive light shows here. The humidity (and heat) for the short spans we get them can be pretty miserable, though... especially since many homes may not have air conditioning...

No matter, you can't beat living in this part of the country!

[Mrtwigg]

I love to sit out on the porch and watch the lightening during a storm.My wife thinks I'm nuts.

[buck naked]

we get some vicious thunderstorms - it is not unusual for lightning to strike homes. When I lived in Derry, my home was hit once and the electrical surge broke every lightbulb in the house, knocked the phone off the wall, blew out the screen on the TV and fried the vCR - (it's interior was melted). The house across the street was also hit during the same storm and it blew a hole through the roof that was 5 feet across.

Last summer, a good friend lost her home to lightning. The fire was instantly huge and out of control.

as far as the cleanest lake - legend has it that Newfound Lake wins the contest. I've been there and can attest that it is very clear. However, I'm not sure if a study was ever done to determine which lake is the cleanest.

Christine Lake in the north of NH is extremely clear, but it's a dead lake because of acid rain.