Happy New Year!  Nothing like starting out the year with some severe weather!.  Pretty much the entire country has seen some crazy weather since the start of the year, and nothing here in New Hampshire compares to some of the devastation that happened in the Florida panhandle and other places because of tornados.

The weather that affected the southeast wormed its way up to our little corner on the seacoast over the past week.

As you read this post, keep in mind I am not a meteorologist.  I have, though, played a meteorologist, as Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel, so I feel qualified to report on some of our recent weather and conditions.

This past week we received about a foot of snow, and then two days later had a nor’easter blow in with warm temperatures, about 1-2 inches of rain, and high winds.  The storm struck and then moved on out to sea, leaving behind huge waves in its’ wake.   The snow is beautiful, if you are prepared.

Add those events together with the exceptionally large waves caused from the departing storm, and, well, flooding happens!  Here are a few aerial photos, courtesy of New England Weather Guy, showing some of the flooding that occurred locally here in Hampton this past week.

In a walk around town at around hide tide the day after the storm, there was plenty of flooding going on.   It is simply humbling to see the power of weather and the ocean.  In one area along Ocean Blvd the tide was so strong against the seawall that it lifted a manhole cover off a storm drain – and those covers are heavy.

Rocks and debris were scattered all along the road.  A snowplow was being used to clear the road of rocks and debris.  While these pictures do not do justice, the power of the ocean to move things around is simply unbelievable.

And the flooding.  Clearly there will be some insurance claims and repairs to many homes in town.  Most of the flooding resulted from the unusually hide tide and strong waves pushing the ocean into town to places that do not ordinarily see water.

While we feel for the homeowners, the seas were amazing.  Here are some photos of the powerful Atlantic as taken from Ocean Blvd along North Beach (photos taken on an iPhone 15 Pro, with very light editing using Adobe’s Lightroom).  Enjoy!