New Hampshire had its warmest winter on record, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The average temperature for meteorological winter – December through February – was 28 degrees. That’s almost 9 degrees warmer than an average winter between 1896 and 2000.
Melting ice and slushy snow interfered with longstanding winter traditions and created tough conditions for skiers. Warm temperatures brought rain that fell on top of snow, causing major flooding in the North Country.
At the National Weather Service’s climate site in Concord, the temperature never dropped below zero degrees. There’s only been two other winters when that agency didn’t record any sub-zero temperatures at the site since recordkeeping began in 1868.
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The lowest temperature on the coldest night of the year has increased between 6 and 14 degrees across the state in the last 50 years, according to the state’s latest climate assessment.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Centers for Environmental Information
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New Hampshire’s average temperature during meteorological winter (December-February) from 1895 to 2024.
This winter was marked by a strong El Niño, a recurring climate phenomenon characterized by warm temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that can bring better chances for warmer temperatures in the northern United States.
But as humans continue to burn fossil fuels and heat up the atmosphere, winters in New Hampshire are also getting warmer over time.
State climatologist Mary Stampone said this winter is part of that pattern.
“When you look back at the long-term records, the average winter temperatures are steadily increasing,” she said. “Mild winters like this are on the high end because of the added influence of El Niño. But this is still much higher than what El Niño winters did in the 70s and the 80s.”
But, Stampone said, there’s still time to mitigate climate change enough to keep winters like this one as some of the warmest, instead of the new normal.
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“This doesn’t have to be every winter,” she said. “It can be our ‘warm’ winter, if we mitigate.”
Winter is the fastest-warming season in New Hampshire and most other places in the United States. This winter was the warmest on record for the United States as a whole, and seven other states also had their warmest winters, according to NOAA.
Minimum winter temperatures in New Hampshire are expected to warm more than seven degrees by the middle of the century in a scenario with a higher concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.
But if people cut climate-warming emissions, winters are expected to warm less. In a lower-emissions scenario, minimum temperatures could warm about five and a half degrees, according to the 2021 state climate assessment.
WILTON, N.H. (WHDH) – A woman died in a Wilton, New Hampshire, house fire Wednesday morning, according to the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office.
At 9:08 a.m., Wilton firefighters responded to Burns Hill Road after a caller said their home was filling up with smoke. When they arrived, a single-family home was on fire and they found out two people were still inside on the second floor.
A man and a woman were both taken out of the house by firefighters and taken to Elliott Hospital. The woman was pronounced dead and the man is in serious condition.
Officials have not released the name of the victim at this time.
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At this time, investigators are looking into the cause of the fire and are trying to determine if a power outage in the area played a factor. The fire is not currently considered suspicious.
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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Diane Durgin, 67, is accused of shooting at a Black man who inadvertently drove to her property after a prearranged truck part sale, prosecutors said.
A New Hampshire woman is accused of violating the state’s Civil Rights Act four times after she allegedly shot at a man because he was Black, prosecutors said.
Diane Durgin, 67, of Weare, N.H. could face up to a $5,000 fine for each violation she is found to have committed, the office of New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a press release Tuesday.
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Durgin is also charged with criminal threatening against a person with a deadly weapon and attempted first degree assault with a deadly weapon, Michael Garrity, a media representative for the New Hampshire Attorney General, said in an emailed statement to Boston.com.
Durgin had a final pre-trial conference last week, Garrity said.
In a civil complaint filed Tuesday, Durgin is accused of threatening physical force against the victim, the AG said. Prosecutors asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction barring Durgin from repeating her alleged behavior and from contacting the victim and his family.
During the morning hours of Oct. 20, 2024, the victim claims, he “mistakenly” drove to Durgin’s home after a prearranged purchase of a truck part with a seller online, prosecutors wrote as part of their request for an injunction.
When the man — whom prosecutors identified in court documents as X.G. — arrived, Durgin allegedly stepped out of her home and approached his car with a gun “holstered by her waist,” prosecutors wrote.
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Upon noticing that X.G. was Black, Durgin allegedly “removed her gun and pointed it at X.G.,” prosecutors said in the injunction request.
While X.G. explained that he was lost, Durgin called the victim a “Black mother[expletive],” and threatened to “kill him,” prosecutors allege.
As the victim attempted to drive away, Durgin allegedly took her gun and fired two shots at the fleeing man’s car, missing both times, the AG’s office said.
While on the phone with a dispatcher, Durgin allegedly said she shot the man’s car because the victim is Black, the AG said.
“The guy is Black. And he, he…he says he’s meeting someone here and I think he’s coming here to steal,” Durgin allegedly said.
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Police located X.G. and brought him to the Weare Police Department, stopping along the way at the correct seller’s home to complete the truck part purchase, prosecutors wrote in court documents.
To prove a violation of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act, the AG must show that Durgin “interfered or attempted to interfere with the rights of the victim to engage in lawful activities by threatening to engage in or actually engage in physical force or violence, when such actual or threatening conduct was motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability,” prosecutors said.
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