❄ Utility crews worked all night to restore power in New Hampshire and Maine

❄ Schools canceled or delayed their openings for Tuesday

❄ Dover and Durham are especially hard hit by outages

❄ More heavy snow is on the way for Wednesday afternoon into the evening


The snow is done falling for now, and the cleanup of hundreds of fallen trees is underway following Monday's snow, with another on the way.

Crews worked all night to get the lights back on across the Seacoast region as the storm pulled away from the New England coast. The most heavy, wet snow was in Limerick in York County with 16.3 inches, according to  the National Weather Service. 13.3 inches fell in Epsom and 11.8 inches in Rochester.

As of 9:30 a.m., 60,581 utility customers in New Hampshire and 32,119 Central Maine Power customers were without power:

  • Eversource has 55,326 customers without power statewide, including over 6,000 customers in Dover and over 3,000 in Barrington, Brentwood, Durham, Epping,  Hampstead, Nottingham, Rochester, Rollinsford, and Somersworth. Each have over 1,000 customers without power.
  • Central Maine Power has 32,119 customers without power in York County, mostly in Biddeford, Eliot, Old Orchard Beach, North Berwick and York. Berwick , Kennebunkport, South Berwick, and Wells are especially hard hit with over 3,000 customers out in each town.
  • New Hampshire Electric Co-op has over 3,837 customers statewide without power, including Lee, Northwood, Nottingham and Sandown on the Seacoast.
  • Unitil had 1,418 customers without power statewide including customers in Danville, Exeter, Kingston, and Newton
Eversource crews work in Epping
Eversource crews work in Epping (Eversource)
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Out of Town Help

Eversource President of Electric Operations in New Hampshire Doug Foley said it brought in crews from its Connecticut and Massachusetts operations, and will keep working until all customers are restored.

“On top of the snow buildup and weakened trees from other recent storms, the winter storm hitting New England is bringing trees and limbs down onto the electric system and causing significant damage in nearly every region of the state,” Foley said in a statement.

Unitil said crews from Canada are being brought in to assist with restoration efforts from Sunday and Monday's storm, plus whatever the storm expected on Wednesday brings.

The heavy snow in the afternoon before the storm wrapped up was problematic for New Hampshire Electric Cooperative crews, who suffered setbacks to their efforts. Twenty contract line crews are being brought in.

"More than 50 incidents have caused damage to poles and wires across our system, 38 of which are located in our Raymond District area," the utility wrote.

Snow in Derry
Snow in Derry (Townsquare Media)
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No School Again

Central Maine Power said York County was the hardest hit county in its service area, with many roads blocked by fallen trees.

"We currently have 171 line and vegetation crews working in York County to make downed lines safe, and we are coordinating with local municipalities to clear blocked roads and fallen trees," the company said in a statement. "We are actively repositioning approximately 140 crews from other parts of the state to support this work."

A number of school districts are closed again on Tuesday as fallen trees and poles still block roads preventing buses from getting through.

Route 4 and Madbury Road in Durham with traffic lights not working
Route 4 and Madbury Road in Durham with traffic lights not working (Durham Police)
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Dover and Durham hard hit

Several roads remained closed in Dover including:

• Dover Neck Road, at #116
• Durham Road, between Alumni Drive and Daley Drive (Follow detour signs)
• French Cross Road
• Gage Street
• Henry Law Avenue, between Browning Avenue and Back Road
• Mount Vernon, between Hough and Milk streets
• Nute Road
• Watson Road, at Seacoast Charter School
• Westwood Circle, at #10

The police station in Durham has no power and the generator is failing, according to Administrator Todd Selig. The downtown area has power, but much of the town does not, and there is no estimate for restoration.

There are reports of transformer explosions where trees fell onto power lines, according to Selig.

The following roads were closed as of 6:30 a.m. Tuesday:

  • Hampshire Ave between Scotland and Lundy
  • Cutts Road near #17
  • Woodridge Road near #19
  • Woodridge Road near #14
  • Edgewood Road between Strafford Ave and Davis Ave
  • 15 Pinecrest Lane and 16 Denbow Road (Both roads closed)
  • Tall Pines Road
  • Dame Road between #114 and #258
  • Adams point (low hanging trees at the entrance)
  • Bay Road closed at Adams Point Road
  • Lee Hook Road down to one lane near #323
  • Davis Ave down to one lane near Fairchild
  • Bagdad Road down to one lane near #22
  • Mill Road down to one lane near Packers Falls
  • Sumac Lane down to one lane near Canney Road
  • Route 4/Madbury Road traffic lights not functioning.

 

Snow in Hampton Beach
Snow in Hampton Beach (Hampton Beach VIllage District)
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Snow totals from Sunday and Monday's snow from the National Weather Service:

Rockingham County

Epsom 13.3 in
Deerfield 9.5 in
Sandown 5.0 in
Portsmouth Airport 4.2 in

Strafford County

Rochester 11.8 in
Northwood 10.0 in
Dover 7.0 in
Durham 2.0 in

York County

Limerick 16.3 in
Acton 16.0 in
Hollis 14.6 in
East Baldwin 14.3 in
Shapleigh 14.0 in
Berwick 12.0 in
Limington 9.5 in
Old Orchard Beach 8.6 in
Berwick 5.5 in

Expected snow totals from Wednesday and Thursday's snow
Expected snow totals from Wednesday and Thursday's snow (NWS Gray)
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The Next Storm

A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for Wednesday afternoon until Thursday afternoon for another storm that will bring more heavy snow and ice to the Seacoast region, as well as more power outages.

Heavy snow will start falling Wednesday afternoon and evening at a rate of 1-2 inches an hour, creating poor driving conditions. It will also build on power lines and combined with gusty winds up to 35 mph, could bring down more limbs onto power lines.

Snow will change to mixed precipitation Wednesday night from south to north, and could be all rain along the immediate coast by Thursday morning and a mix inland.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH

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