New Hampshire, 2026Blizzard and Winter Storm in New Hampshire, February 23, 2026
February 23, 2026 · NWS GYX · 7 events in 5 counties and zones
Low pressure began to develop over the Southeast on the morning of the 22nd. By the evening it had moved to a position off the Carolinas and was deepening rapidly.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 7
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.
Low pressure began to develop over the Southeast on the morning of the 22nd. By the evening it had moved to a position off the Carolinas and was deepening rapidly. Between 7 pm on the 22nd and 7 am on the 23rd, central pressure in the storm dropped from 991 mb to 966 mb. The intense low pressure combined with high pressure around 1045 mb building into Quebec to produce a strong pressure gradient across the region. The result was strong wind gusts through much of the day on the 23rd. While the heaviest snowfall remained largely over southern New England, the edge of the heavy snow did move into southern New Hampshire. The combination of the two produced blizzard conditions and near-zero visibility at times. While winds continued to gust into the evening, snowfall tapered off in the late afternoon hours on the 23rd. Key Messages: blizzard conditions, heavy snow, strong wind gusts, dangerous travel, traffic accidents.
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 Gray, ME wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 22, 2:26 PM EST, 9 hours 34 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 22, 2:26 PM EST, 9 hours 34 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>Winter Storm, Eastern Hillsborough
- When
- February 23, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Eastern Hillsborough forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 42.915, -71.716 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy snow managed to lift into parts of southern New Hampshire. The heaviest snowfall was on the morning of the 23rd into the early afternoon before tapering off. Though it was not frequent, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport did observed blizzard conditions intermittently into the early afternoon. Snowfall totals ranged from 5 to 9 inches.
Winter Storm, Western and Central Hillsborough
- When
- February 23, 12:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western and Central Hillsborough forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 42.915, -71.716 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy snow managed to lift into parts of southern New Hampshire. The heaviest snowfall was on the morning of the 23rd into the early afternoon before tapering off. Though it was not frequent, neighboring Manchester-Boston Regional Airport did observed blizzard conditions intermittently into the early afternoon. Snowfall totals ranged from 5 to 9 inches.
Blizzard, Interior Rockingham
- When
- February 23, 1:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Interior Rockingham forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
- Coordinates
- 42.985, -71.089 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Accumulating snow began early in the morning on the 23rd, but winds had already gusty during the evening of the 22nd. As a result visibility was quickly reduced to 1/2 mile or less shortly after the snow started falling. During the mid morning into the early afternoon the neighboring Portsmouth International Airport at Pease observed blizzard conditions for nearly 5 straight hours and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport intermittently hit blizzard conditions as well. Snowfall totals ranged from 5 to 9 inches.
Winter Storm, Interior Rockingham
- When
- February 23, 1:00 AM EST to 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Interior Rockingham forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 42.985, -71.089 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
In addition to the blizzard conditions, heavy snow managed to lift into parts of southern New Hampshire. The heaviest snowfall was on the morning of the 23rd into the early afternoon before tapering off. Snowfall totals ranged from 5 to 9 inches.
Blizzard, Coastal Rockingham
- When
- February 23, 2:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Coastal Rockingham forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS
- Coordinates
- 42.985, -71.089 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Accumulating snow began early in the morning on the 23rd, but winds were already gusty during the evening of the 22nd. As a result visibility was quickly reduced to 1/2 mile or less shortly after the snow started falling. During the mid morning into the early afternoon the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease observed blizzard conditions for nearly 5 straight hours. A peak wind gust of 47 mph was observed at both 1148 am and 1255 pm. Snowfall totals ranged from 6 to 9 inches.
Blizzard, Strafford
- When
- February 23, 4:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Strafford forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
- Coordinates
- 43.297, -71.029 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Accumulating snow began early in the morning on the 23rd, but winds were already gusty during the evening of the 22nd. As a result visibility was quickly reduced to 1/2 mile or less shortly after the snow started falling. During the mid morning into the early afternoon the Skyhaven Airport observed blizzard conditions for nearly 5 straight hours. A peak wind gust of 51 mph was observed at 1228 pm. Snowfall totals ranged from 4 to 8 inches.
Winter Storm, Strafford
- When
- February 23, 4:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Strafford forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 43.297, -71.029 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
In addition to the blizzard conditions, heavy snow managed to lift into parts of southern New Hampshire. The heaviest snowfall was on the morning of the 23rd into the early afternoon before tapering off. Snowfall totals ranged from 4 to 8 inches.
- Winter Storm
- A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
- Blizzard
- Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Winter Storm and High Wind in Wyoming, February 23 to 26, 202671 kt wind · 15 events
- High Wind in Wyoming, February 23 to 26, 202671 kt wind · 13 events
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Maine, February 23, 202610 events
- High Wind in New York, February 23, 202673 kt wind · 9 events
- Coastal Flood in New Jersey, February 23, 20265 events
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Maine, February 23, 20264 events
- Coastal Flood in Delaware, February 23, 20262 events
- High Wind in Connecticut, February 23, 202659 kt wind · 2 events
- Winter Storm and High Wind in Montana, February 23 to 25, 202654 kt wind · 2 events
- High Surf in Hawaii, February 23 to 24, 20261 event
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1308440, 1308442, 1308432, 1308438, 1308430, 1308434, 1308436.