NASHUA, N.H. — Snow insurance would come in handy to New Hampshire towns this winter, but many town officials have not heard of it.

“It seems like it would have been a good investment on July 1, doesn’t it?” said John Andrews, executive director of the New Hampshire Municipal Association, after the first snow of 1996. “But I’ve never heard any of our communities mention it.

“It only comes up on days like this. People say, `Geez, I wish we bought that.’ ”

Snow insurance is available through the World Wide Weather insurance firm based in Great Neck, N.Y. The company also offers rain insurance and policies protecting property from every imaginable form of wind and precipitation.

Roger Fletcher of the Slawsby Insurance Agency in Nashua arranges snow insurance policies with World Wide Weather through a broker. He said his business has received a few inquiries about the policies, but no takers.

Municipalities have until Jan. 15 to sign up for 1996 snow insurance. Policies are valid from January to January of the following year.

“We’ve approached both the city of Nashua and the Nashua airport with the idea, but so far we have had no interest,” Fletcher said. “Snow insurance is a crap shoot. Either you make out really big or you lose out.”

Costs for snow insurance greatly vary, depending on a town’s snowfall records, how many inches are chosen for a deductible, and how much pavement needs to be cleared. Towns holding the insurance are reimbursed for the cleanup costs for up to 40 inches of snow beyond the deductible.

World Wide Weather is used to gambling on Mother Nature. In the past, the company has backed up promises from a jewelry store offering free merchandise if Christmas Eve snowfall exceeded predictions.

“I don’t think that would work for the state,” said Ed Kyle, assistant director of the New Hampshire Highway Department. “It’s gambling. The state does gamble, though. Maybe the state Legislature would want this.”

Kyle said about half of the state’s $50 million road maintenance budget is earmarked for winter needs. He offered no estimate for how much money already has been spent on plowing, sand and salt.