Lucas Masciarelli of Hooksett, a line worker for Eversource, works to bring back power along Baboosic Lake Road in Amherst Tuesday afternoon. Utility crews were out making repairs and trimming sagging tree branches to restore power to thousands of customers across the state.
Eversource employees Lucas Masciarelli and Keith Levesque working on splicing in new primary wire on Baboosic Lake Road in Amherst, one of many projects underway to restore power to homes along that road on Tuesday.
Crews were busy trimming sagging trees and branches on Tuesday to help with power restoration efforts and minimize the potential for additional outages when the next storm rolls in this afternoon.
Lucas Masciarelli of Hooksett, a line worker for Eversource, works to bring back power along Baboosic Lake Road in Amherst Tuesday afternoon. Utility crews were out making repairs and trimming sagging tree branches to restore power to thousands of customers across the state.
Eversource employees Lucas Masciarelli and Keith Levesque working on splicing in new primary wire on Baboosic Lake Road in Amherst, one of many projects underway to restore power to homes along that road on Tuesday.
Crews were busy trimming sagging trees and branches on Tuesday to help with power restoration efforts and minimize the potential for additional outages when the next storm rolls in this afternoon.
Crews raced Tuesday to restore power to tens of thousands of customers amid warnings from utilities of more outages when the third winter storm in a week arrives Wednesday.
That storm could drop more than a half-foot of snow across a wide swath of the state Wednesday night into Thursday, create dangerous travel conditions and produce 35 mph wind gusts.
“With snow already on branches in many locations, the strong winds and additional weight of snow on tree limbs may down power lines and could cause sporadic power outages,” said the National Weather Service.
Manchester could see snow and mixed precipitation overnight Wednesday change to rain Thursday with temperatures in the 40s.
This follows Monday’s storm, which dropped a foot of snow or more in many places, including Concord, Rochester and Sunapee, and caused widespread outages.
Since Sunday, Eversource restored power to more than 185,000 customers across the state through mid-afternoon Monday.
The company had more than 900 crews drawn from other states and Canada out restoring electricity.
“We expect to substantially complete restoration of all current outages by 10 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday), with most restored sooner, and any current outages will be prioritized over any potential additional outages that may occur,” Eversource spokesman William Hinkle said.
“We’re also actively preparing for the storm forecasted to arrive tomorrow (Wednesday), as additional heavy, wet snow, icing and gusty conditions on top of the trees that are already weighed down from the snowfall of successive recent storms has the potential to cause more outages,” Hinkle said.
The statewide count of homes and businesses without power dropped below 30,000, mostly Eversource customers, as of mid-afternoon.
An upside for some
Some people left without power stayed with friends. Others checked into hotels.
The outages meant more room bookings at the Country Inn & Suites in Bedford.
People come in saying “we’re without power,” said front desk agent Dan Burns. “Mostly couples,” he said.
Burns also has handled bookings for utility repair crews.
“Oh yes, I just booked 20 more rooms alone for Eversource tonight,” Burns said. “I imagine there will be more on Wednesday.”
Superior courts in Rockingham and Strafford counties closed because of power outages, along with several other courts in those counties.
Kevin Bell, vice president of marketing at Loon Mountain Resort, said the Lincoln resort had picked up at least 15 inches of snow in a week.
“These storms have been a great bonus for us,” Bell said.
“This season has been strong,” Bell said. “In fact, last Saturday and Sunday, we sold out of day tickets. People in New England want to be outside during the winter, and we’re proud to offer the most open terrain in New Hampshire.”
More on the way
Other utilities joined Eversource’s warning of upcoming power woes.
Seth Wheeler, spokesman for the New Hampshire Electric Co-op, said he expects more outages Wednesday night into Thursday, “given the forecast is similar to these recent heavy, wet snow events that have caused significant damage to our electrical system. I hope I’m wrong!”
At Unitil, spokeswoman Carol Valianti said: “Depending on how the storm unfolds, we could see additional outages throughout Unitil’s service territory and even in areas where repairs were already made following Monday’s storm.”
Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are possible Wednesday evening. Poor visibility and slippery conditions on untreated surfaces are possible.
“This storm looks probably warmer than the last two storms,” said Mike Cempa, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.
“Southern New Hampshire, we are predicting to go over to rain, but not until after several inches of snow fall.” Cempa said.
The precipitation could remain snow in the mountains, Cempa said.
