If your vehicle starts to swerve due to the wind, slow down. High winds can cause snow to blow and drift, reducing visibilities and causing slippery conditions on the roadways. Also, high winds bring increased danger from falling trees. Those falling trees can also cause power outages. These alerts are based on the following criteria.
Coastal flooding can precede or accompany major winter storms.
Strong south to southeast winds can cause water to pile up along the Maine and New Hampshire coastlines causing tide levels to rise above normal. In addition to these abnormally high tides, large waves associated with a storm can cause substantial beach erosion along the coastline. In determining the potential threat from a particular storm, the National Weather Service considers the timing and height of the normal tides, the timing of the storm, and the expected storm surge that will accompany the storm. Note that beach erosion can occur from large storm-generated waves even though the tide levels may not be above flood levels. During late winter and early spring, warm air moving northward from areas to our south, often encounters the cold snow-covered ground in northern New England.