Cold Snap Forecast for New Hampshire: The Next Arctic Blast
In Manchester the coldest week is usually Jan 21 to 27, with a normal low of 16°F, and the coldest night of the last 10 winters was −12°F on Feb 4, 2023.
Reading the National Weather Service forecast for Manchester.
The coldest week in New Hampshire, station by station
The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at New Hampshire reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
ManchesterManchester Airport, USW00014710
Jan 21 to 27
16°F
−12°FFeb 4, 2023
Oct 24
−20°FFeb 13, 1967records since 1948
ConcordConcord Municipal Airport, USW00014745
Jan 23 to 29
12°F
−19°FJan 2, 2018
Oct 9
−37°FFeb 16, 1943records since 1939
BerlinBerlin Municipal Airport, USW00094700
Jan 27 to Feb 2
1°F
−30°FJan 27, 2022
Sep 24
−39°FJan 16, 2009records since 1996
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Manchester against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 3 New Hampshire reference stations.
At Manchester it is usually Jan 21 to 27, with a normal low of 16°F. At the other reference stations: Concord Jan 23 to 29 (12°F) and Berlin Jan 27 to Feb 2 (1°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Manchester reaches 32°F around Nov 19 and 20°F around Dec 29. The first actual freeze came around Oct 24 in the median of the last 10 winters, weeks ahead of the normal, because one clear calm night can run far below the average.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Manchester was −12°F on Feb 4, 2023, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was −5°F. Elsewhere: Concord −19°F on Jan 2, 2018 and Berlin −30°F on Jan 27, 2022. The record at the Manchester station is −20°F, on Feb 13, 1967, in daily records since 1948.
At Manchester a typical recent winter brings 123 nights at 32°F or colder, 47 at 20°F or colder and 3 at zero or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Manchester Airport (USW00014710), Concord Municipal Airport (USW00014745) and Berlin Municipal Airport (USW00094700). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
