New Hampshire, 2005

High Wind in New Hampshire, September 29, 2005

September 29, 2005 · NWS BOX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A powerful cold front with a sharp temperature gradient moved across southwest New Hampshire during the late morning hours of 29 September 2005. This cold front produced high winds that caused power outages, and knocked down trees, limbs, power poles, and wires across the region.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$40,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS BOX wrote it up.

A powerful cold front with a sharp temperature gradient moved across southwest New Hampshire during the late morning hours of 29 September 2005. This cold front produced high winds that caused power outages, and knocked down trees, limbs, power poles, and wires across the region. In particular, several trees were reported down in Keene. In Merrimack, a tree landed on a house at 12 Garnet Lane, breaking through the roof of the house. Several trees also came down on Wilson Hill Road, Loop Road, and Camp Sergeant Road in Merrimack. No known injuries directly resulted from this high wind event.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 29, 12:20 PM EST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 29, 12:20 PM EST, 40 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 29, 12:21 PM EST, 39 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 29, 10:27 AM EST, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1127 AM EDT THU SEP 29 2005

CTZ002-MAZ002-003-008>011-NHZ011-291630-
CHESHIRE NH-EASTERN FRANKLIN MA-EASTERN HAMPDEN MA-
EASTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-HARTFORD CT-WESTERN FRANKLIN MA-
WESTERN HAMPDEN MA-WESTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-
1127 AM EDT THU SEP 29 2005

...HIGH WINDS MOVING INTO THE SLOPES OF THE BERKSHIRES AND
WESTERN HARTFORD COUNTY...

AT 1125 AM...A LINE OF SHOWERS WAS MOVING THROUGH BERKSHIRE AND
LITCHFIELD COUNTIES.  IT WAS ACCOMPANIED BY SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30
TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 TO 60 MPH.  TREES AND POWER LINES HAVE
BEEN REPORTED DOWNED IN PITTSFIELD AND LENOX IN BERKSHIRE COUNTY
MASSACHUSETTS AND IN TORRINGTON AND LITCHFIELD IN LITCHFIELD COUNTY
CONNECTICUT.

A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN CONNECTICUT AND
WESTERN AND CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON.  THIS
INITIAL LINE WILL MOVE ACROSS FRANKLIN...HAMPSHIRE...HAMPDEN...AND
HARTFORD COUNTIES BETWEEN 1130 AM AND 1230 PM AND ACROSS CHESHIRE
COUNTY NEW HAMPSHIRE BETWEEN NOON AND 1 PM.

A SECOND LINE OF HEAVY SHOWERS MAY MOVE THROUGH AN HOUR OR TWO
AFTER THIS BAND MOVES THROUGH.

SCATTERED BRIEF POWER OUTAGES MAY OCCUR. STAY AWAY FROM TREES AND
POWER LINES.

FIELD
Special weather statement, Sep 29, 10:27 AM EST, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1127 AM EDT THU SEP 29 2005

CTZ002-MAZ002-003-008>011-NHZ011-291630-
CHESHIRE NH-EASTERN FRANKLIN MA-EASTERN HAMPDEN MA-
EASTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-HARTFORD CT-WESTERN FRANKLIN MA-
WESTERN HAMPDEN MA-WESTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-
1127 AM EDT THU SEP 29 2005

...HIGH WINDS MOVING INTO THE SLOPES OF THE BERKSHIRES AND
WESTERN HARTFORD COUNTY...

AT 1125 AM...A LINE OF SHOWERS WAS MOVING THROUGH BERKSHIRE AND
LITCHFIELD COUNTIES.  IT WAS ACCOMPANIED BY SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30
TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 TO 60 MPH.  TREES AND POWER LINES HAVE
BEEN REPORTED DOWNED IN PITTSFIELD AND LENOX IN BERKSHIRE COUNTY
MASSACHUSETTS AND IN TORRINGTON AND LITCHFIELD IN LITCHFIELD COUNTY
CONNECTICUT.

A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN CONNECTICUT... WESTERN
AND CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS...AND SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE THROUGH THIS
AFTERNOON.  THIS INITIAL LINE WILL MOVE ACROSS
FRANKLIN...HAMPSHIRE...HAMPDEN...AND HARTFORD COUNTIES BETWEEN 1130
AM AND 1230 PM AND ACROSS CHESHIRE COUNTY NEW HAMPSHIRE BETWEEN NOON
AND 1 PM.

A SECOND LINE OF HEAVY SHOWERS MAY MOVE THROUGH AN HOUR OR TWO
AFTER THIS BAND MOVES THROUGH.

SCATTERED BRIEF POWER OUTAGES MAY OCCUR. STAY AWAY FROM TREES AND
POWER LINES.

FIELD
Special weather statement, Sep 29, 11:27 AM EST, 1 hour 33 minutes before
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Local storm report, Sep 29, 11:50 AM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Sep 29, 12:48 PM EST, 12 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Cheshire

When
September 29, 1:00 PM EST
Where
Cheshire forecast zone
Measured
58 kt (67 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.919, -72.251 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Hillsborough

When
September 29, 2:00 PM EST
Where
Hillsborough forecast zone
Measured
58 kt (67 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$30,000
Reported by
BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates
42.915, -71.716 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Hampshire in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in New Hampshire, September 2005

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5475661, 5475660.