We have had the good fortune of a warmer winter. It has been wet (very wet), but mostly rain and not snow in the southern part of New Hampshire. That has changed as it must. Winter always comes calling, and it often asks for a heavy price.
Successive snow storms, numerous power outages, the hum of generators, and the beep of utility and plow trucks as they back up. The meteorologists speak of winter travel conditions, meaning snowy or icy roads, but there are others. Downed trees, branches, and vehicles stuck trying to climb icy hills or other obstructions.
I passed a dozen places today where trees had been removed from the road and at least four where trees rested across the road leaning on power lines supporting them above the street.
It was a 12-minute trip.
A few hundred feet up the road from my home, a tree brought down the power lines early Monday morning by snapping the top off the utility pole to which they were still attached. It was an impressive sight, and it took work crews a while to get that addressed.
It is a busy road, so it got some priority.
We lost power for about 18 hours (+/-) and had no internet for at least 8 of that. The internet was down again this morning, but the power is still up.
It’s not the worst we’ve seen or the worst from this storm. But it comes with the territory. Lots of snow, mostly wet and heavy. White pines are everywhere and in abundance. That weighted snow has a way of bringing them (or parts of them) down, and they don’t always miss the infrastructure.
Or the phallic-shaped genderless snow figures.
That shot was taken around the corner from my home on a neighboring street. I was walking the dog and spent a good deal of time “watching my overhead,” as we used to say at UPS.
Beautiful but sobering. A loud crack sends you scurrying, but on slick pavement, that’s not so easy to do. The same applies to driving. If you are on tree-lined streets, you pay attention to the road and everything dropping or hanging over the road.
New Hampshire has hundreds of thousands (still) without power.
There will be people without power for days or even weeks, but it’s not extreme weather. We get this every year, and every few years, we get smacked around repeatedly in succession.
We’ve got another storm heading in Wednesday to Thursday.
Downstate, the flatlanders are getting some snow but mostly rain. That will be sloppy, but it will get the snow off the trees, providing some relief.
At least until the next hard freeze or snowstorm. They seem to be lining up as we creep toward February. Also not unusual.
I can’t tell you how glad I am that we got our generator wired into the house a few years back. It is worth the expense if you’ve not considered it – assuming you’ve got a generator. If not, buy one this summer when they are cheaper unless you can’t do without it now – but best of luck finding one.
Let us know how you fared, or are faring, in the comments.
