March Was World 2nd Warmest, Possibly Signaling New Hot Push, U.S., As Expected Shattered March Heat Records

March, 2026 was tied for the second warmest on
record on Earth. With an El Nino coming,
the month's temperatures could be a signal
that unprecedented hot times could
be on their way.

 The global temperatures in March were back to their old tricks, going back to second hottest on record after several months of "cooler" months that were only in third place in the hottest months list.

Even hotter, more dangerous times might be ahead in the coming months or year or two. 

Actually this March barely squeaked into second place. It was virtually tied with March, 2024. The National Centers for Environmental Information continues: 

"All March global temperature departures ranking in the top 10 during the period 1850-2026 have occurred since 2015. This month marked the 50th consecutive March with a global temperature departure above the 20th century average."

The March, 2026 global temperatures might represent an ominous reversal in ever-so-slightly cooler trends we saw over the past year or so.  La Nina, which tends to cool the global climate, put a stop to a month after month stretch of almost continuous record global heat in 2023 and 2024.

Starting last June, most months were the third warmest on record. That's scary enough, since La Nina could barely put the most unnoticeable dent in the effects of climate change. The effects of La Nina might have peaked this past winter. December, January and February were all the world's fifth warmest, respectively. 

La Nina has faded and it loos like El Nino - which generally warms the global atmosphere - might be developing. It could be a strong one, and that could send the world's temperatures skyrocketing to new, dangerous heights by next year. 

The higher the global temperatures, the higher the risk of killer heat waves, worst droughts, increasingly torrential floods and more intense, less predictable storms. 

THE DETAILS

As always in this age of climate change, cold spots were hard to find in March.  However, there was a notable very cold area in Alaska and the Yukon Territory of Canada. That area was much colder relative to average than we usually see in these monthly reports. 

The only other slightly chilly areas I could find on the NCEI maps were small areas in northwest Africa, Antarctica, the extreme southeastern Pacific ocean and northwestern Siberia.  And what is now almost a perennial area of coolness hovered over an area of the North Atlantic a little south of Greenland. 

Also, although March as a whole in Australia wasn't cold, a sharp frigid snap at the end of the month shattered decades-old March temperature records in many cities, NCEI reports. Two Australian cities reported all-time record lows. 

The most wild hot spot relative to average was the contiguous United States. I'll have more on that below. Other really notable hot spots relative to average were in the entire Arctic (north of that Alaskan cold spot), northern and eastern Europe, large areas of Asia and spots across Africa and Antarctica.

Year to date, the first three months of 2026 is so far the fourth warmest year on record. It's almost certain this year will be among the top 10 warmest on record and likely among the top five. 

As is usually the case for March, Arctic sea ice extent reached its maximum extent of the year on the 15th. It wasn't that extensive. The ice covered 5.52 million square miles, statistically tied with last year for the smallest maximum in the 48 years satellite have been keeping track, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. 

UNITED STATES

The contiguous United States was exceptionally 
warm in March, breaking records from 
coast to coast. We'll see if it's a harbinger
 of a torrid summer. 

As we have been reporting, March, 2026 was ridiculously, insanely hot in the Lower 48. Now we have the final receipts.  

NCEI tells us: 

"The average temperature over the contiguous US (CONUS), in March was 50.85 degree F, 9.35 degrees F above average, ranking as the warmest March in the 132-year record. This marks the first time any month's average temperature has exceeded 9 degrees F above its 20th-century baseline. It also includes the warmest 12-month period on record for the CONUS (April, 2025-March 2026)"

Even more remarkably, the nations average high temperature during March was 64.4 degrees, an incredible 11.4 degrees above the 20th century average. That super warm March average daily maximum was actually 0.9 degrees warmer than the average April high. 

 Ten states had their warmest March on record. They were all large states in the southwestern United States, so those made up about a quarter on the United States. Included those ten, 35 states had one of their top 10 warmest Marches on record. 

Put another way, more than 500 counties, covering more than one quarter of the Lower 48 and affecting about 79 million people, recorded their warmest March on record, NCEI tell us. 

The "coldest" state was Maine, but even they were well above normal.  Maine had their 33rd warmest March out of the past 132 years. Vermont was one of a handful of other very warm but not super warm states. The Green Mountain State had its 19th warmest March. 

Mostly because of the continuing record high temperatures in the Southwest and Rockies all year so far, January-March is also the hottest on record. 

There was one particular cold spot in the United States: Alaska. The state had its fourth coldest March out the past 102 years. The last time Alaska had a March that cold was in 1972.

The heat, relative to average, diminished a little in the United States in April, so I'm guessing we'll get a break in the month after month reports of record warmth. 

The United States also had its eight driest March on record. In general, the states that were the warmest in March were also the driest. California had its driest March on record. Eight other states in the Southwest and Southeast had one of their top ten driest Marches.

The only really wet areas was around the eastern Great Lakes. Michigan had its third wettest March. Here in Vermont, March precipitation was right around average.  

It'll be an interesting to see whether March was a prelude to an extraordinarily hot summer, or just another month that really went off the rails. 

Forest Fire Burning East Of Middlebury, Vermont Amid Dry Conditions. Rain Finally Comes Tonight, Tomorrow

In this image from Adirondack Drone via Facebook, smoke
 can be seen coming from the forest near Ripton. 

The dry weather and high fire danger yesterday in Vermont yielded at least one large wildfire. At least large by Vermont standards.  

A fire broke out in the around Ripton and East Middlebury. At last report it has burned through 56 acres, mostly in state and national forests. The fire forced the closure during the day and evening along North Branch Road near Route 125.

Firefighting efforts stopped as darkness fell, even though the fire wasn't officially contained. It was dangerous to battle the fire in the dark, especially since it wasn't threatening any homes and winds had become lighter. The firefighters are back on the job this morning. 

It's no surprise that the fire spread so readily. Winds gusted to 30 mph and it hasn't rained in over a week. 

The dry conditions have really accumulated through a lack of rain recently. Through yesterday, we've gone eight consecutive days with no precipitation. That's the longest such streak since 10 days on October 8-17 last year. 

This past weekend was rain-free, the first such weekend since October 25-26.  Last Saturday and Sunday's weather ended a tie for the third  longest stretch of consecutive weekends with at least at trace of precipitation. As measured in Burlington, anyway. It was 26 weekends, by the way. 

You might remember that early last summer, before the big drought started, we ended a record long 32 consecutive weekends with at least a trace of rain. That record streak ended on July 27, 2025.

The dry, high fire danger weather will continue one more day. The details: 

TODAY

The day has started rather cloudy in Vermont over all but the far northeast corner of the state. There have even been some sprinkles in far northwestern Vermont. 

But the sky will at least partly clear, the humidity will remain low and breezes will continue.  The high fire danger will continue.  The firefighters in the forests and hills east of Middlebury will have a challenging day.  

Aside from the fire danger, we'll enjoy one more warm day.  It'll become partly sunny. Highs will once again reach 70 degrees for most of us, just as they have over the past two days. 

The spate of balmy afternoons has started to green up some of the trees. Most of the trees are still bare, but the hillsides are starting to show spotty, hazy areas of green,  Eventually, the forest leaf out will make Vermont's spring fire season subside. 

Once those leaves are fully out, the strong late spring and summer sun won't be able to penetrate to the forest floor and dry things out.  Leaves release moisture, raising the humidity to cut the potential of fires. 

But we have a much quicker way to get rid of the fire danger, at least for now.

THURSDAY

Overnight tonight, clouds will thicken up.  Some showers might come in late tonight. But the bulk of the rain will come in during the early morning hours Thursday.  The rain will continue through most of the morning, then turn lighter and showery during the afternoon. 

It'll be a much cooler day. Haul out the jackets and fleece again as highs will only make it into the 50s. 

This won't be a blockbuster rainstorm. In fact, forecasters have cut back on how much rain will fall. But the expected half inch or so of rain will get rid of the fire dangers, unless or until it stops raining again. 

Spoiler: It's going to rain again 

FRIDAY AND BEYOND

The new, chillier, long lasting weather pattern is now set in stone. All the computer models keep us mostly cool, and mostly at risk for showers almost every day through mid-May.

Friday and Saturday don't look particularly wet. There should be some showers both days  mostly over the north and mountains, and mostly in the afternoons and evenings. 

We'll have some sun both days, especially in broader valleys. But high temperatures will barely make it to 50 in most of the state. It'll be in the 40s for highs in the Northeast Kingdom, mid 50s warmer southern valleys. 

It'll warm up somewhat early next week. At least temporarily. It'll probably get up to 60 degrees on a couple days, maybe Tuesday and Wednesday. Now that we'll be getting into May, that's actually still a couple degrees cooler than average. But we'll still  have that chance of showers on those days.  

Fire Weather Alerts In Vermont Today Amid Dry Air, Gusty Winds. When Will The Rain Arrive?

After a long day of enjoying Monday's 
warm sunshine, a tired Henry the Weather
Dog settles down in the evening to watch
TV as evening sun bathes the 
living room in warm light. 

 We hope  you got to enjoy yesterday, Vermont's nicest day of the year so far. Temperatures were in the 70s, the sky was blue, there was a nice breeze making the daffodils dance. It was perfect. Except for the black flies, but you can't have everything. 

Last night turned interesting, at least for weather geeks like me, South winds in the Champlain Valley kept temperatures up, while in other areas especially east of the Green Mountains, light winds created another chilly night. 

It was a summer-like 58 degrees in Burlington at 6 a.m. But at the same time, it was just 34 degrees in Morrisville and 37 in Springfield.

The dry air and those south winds are conspiring to create probably Vermont's highest fire danger of the year so far. 

The whole region has a big fire risk today, but the worst of it is in the Champlain Valley and northern New York. 

A storm that caused severe weather over the Midwest yesterday is pushing east. That storm is rapidly weakening, but combined with the high to our east, it'll funnel stronger wind gusts up the Champlain Valley and into northern New York today. The humidity will stay rock bottom as it has for the past few days. 

With everything dried out and those winds gusting as high as 30 mph, fires could easily get going and then spread fast. And they'll be really hard to control once they do get going.    

Even though winds will be lighter in eastern Vermont, they'll still be enough to propel any fires that start there, too. The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation says today's fire danger is very high in western Vermont and the lower Connecticut River valley. That's an unusually dire declaration from state fire wardens. Elsewhere in Vermont, the forestry department gives today a high fire danger rating.

As of this writing, there was a fire weather watch in western Vermont and northern New York due to the fire danger. That watch will probably be upgraded to a relatively rare for Vermont red flag warning. Elsewhere in Vermont, a special weather statement highlights the fire danger.

This is not the day to be careless with cigarettes or burn that nasty weedy patch in back of your house. Do that and you can lose your house. Or your neighbors' house. 

That storm coming in will start to spread clouds our way this afternoon, but we won't have any rain to reduce the fire threat. Any showers coning from the Great Lakes area will fall apart long before they reach Vermont.

Otherwise, today will be great. Highs will reach the low 70s again. And the winds might help keep the black flies at bay a little. 

All this will leave us with a quiet, mild night tonight. 

WEDNESDAY

It'll still be dry and relatively warm, so the fire threat will remain. It won't be as windy and the humidity will be slightly higher than it is today. It'll get into the 60s to around 70, so again, fairly warm for this time of year. Clouds will tend to increase again later in the day, in anticipation of a huge change in our weather pattern

RAIN ARRIVES

The next weather disturbance in the pipeline will head northeastward up the western side to the Appalachians and will start to arrive here late Wednesday night. 

That means much colder air and rain for most of Thursday. The steadiest and heaviest rain will probably come Thursday morning but I don't see any real dry periods at all.  High temperatures will only reach the 50s at best. 

Rainfall predictions are always tricky. They do change a lot leading up to a storm like this. But for now, the forecast calls for a respectable three quarters of an inch of rain, give or take. That's more than enough to dampen the fire risk. 

And the dreaded "S" word enters the picture, too. It should cool off enough Thursday night for rain showers to mix with or change to snow at elevations above 1,500 feet.  There might be an inch or two of new snow at the summits. This isn't super weird for late April but still vaguely depressing.

NEW COLDER PATTERN

Nothing's really changed in the extended forecast we've been talking about for a few days now. We have an extended period of mostly cooler than normal weather.  We had several days of sunny, dry weather, now we'll have at least double the amount of chilly, unsettled weather. Like I said yesterday, no good weather in Vermont goes unpunished. 

This will last at least until mid-May. It won't rain every day, and we should have a couple reasonably warm days thrown in here and there. 

Most days will have a chance of showers. The coldest days will be Friday and Saturday, as some of us will probably not break 50 degrees for highs.

On the bright side, chilly ain't what it used to be, as normal temperatures have been rising fast and will continue to do so into May.  Look at it this way.  A day that was ten degrees cooler than normal on April 10 would have had a high of 42 degrees. A day that's ten degrees on the cool side on May 10 would have a high of 57. 

So chilly weather is definitely getting easier. 

And for what they're worth, very long range forecasts call for a potentially hot and unusually humid summer around here. If that comes true, you'll be pining for those damp, cool days we'll have in May this year. 

Two More Dry, Pleasant Vermont Spring Days Due, And We Might Get A Bonus Day Before Chilly Rain Sets In

Daffodils seen here enjoying a sunny Sunday 
afternoon in St. Albans, Vermont. They'll continue
to soak up the sun today and tomorrow before 
rainy, chilly weather arrives late in the wee. 

Sunday was another luscious spring day in Vermont, and the forecast has held. It was nice watching the daffodils soak up the warm sunshine while dancing in the breeze. Makes you almost forget about the long winter we just emerged from, huh? 

We've got two more such days for you today and tomorrow. And it turns out Wednesday might unexpectedly turn out OK, too!

The best day will be today. We''ll see lots of sunshine and temperatures way up in the 60s. Some of the warmer valleys will touch 70 degrees or so.  It will be cooler along the immediate shore of Lake Champlain as cool breezes come off the still pretty frigid lake.

The nights during this spell have been chilly. Morning lows for most of us across Vermont were in the 30s today. The nights will still be cool, but slightly milder than recent days. So, in the 40s for many of us overnight today. And Tuesday night..

I'm saying Tuesday won't be quite as nice as today, but I'll still grade it an A+.  The sunshine and warm temperatures will continue, but the winds will pick up. Especially in the Champlain Valley, where gusts from the south could reach 30 mph  in spots.

The progress of spring has been moving along nicely the past couple of days. The mild afternoons and the somewhat less cold mornings over the next couple of days will accelerate it even more. 

But not enough to stop this week's fire danger.  The dry grasses and weeds from last fall still predominate. The strong sun has quickly dried out the leaf litter on the floors of the forests. 

Even without that much wind, brush and woodland fires are breaking out. Between the morning of April 22 and 26 three new fires in Vermont burned an additional eleven acres or so in Vermont.  I don't think that figure includes anything that happened Sunday. The total acreage burned so far this year in Vermont is 154.8.

The fire danger remains high today, according to the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.  The danger from woodland and field blazes will go up much more tomorrow amid those gusty winds. So let's be careful out there, folks. 

TURNING WETTER. COLDER

 We've thought for days that rain would move in Wednesday. It turns out some showers coming at us on that day will fall apart before they get here because of the dry air.  At this point, it looks like Wednesday will turn our partly sunny and in the 60s, so pretty good! We might see a few sprinkles on Wednesday, but that's about it. 

The real turn comes Wednesday night and Thursday, when a strong disturbance creates some rain. The disturbance will turn our weather much colder, with highs Thursday only in the low 50s or so. 

After that, Friday and Saturday continue to look nippy, with highs only in the 40s with some low 50s i the warmer valleys south. Ugh.  There will be chances of mostly light showers during that time. And yes, some snow on the mountains. Mostly above 2,000 or 2,500 feet. That happens a lot this time of year, actually, but it's still annoying to know it's snowing somewhere in Vermont as we flip the calendar to May. 

The weather continues to look mostly cool and unsettled into the middle of May.  There might be a warmer day or two thrown in there, and some days will feature sone sun. But this gorgeous stretch of weather we're having now won't repeat itself for quite a long time to come. Enjoy it now. 

Top FEMA Official Says He's Been Teleported Several Times. Including To A Waffle House

Gregg Phillips, a top official at FEMA, says he's been
teleported numerous times.  That doesn't add a lot 
of confidence about an agency that's supposed to 
help disaster victims, but has been in disarray
ever since the Trump administration took over. 

A top official at FEMA filling a critical role in disaster recovery, says he is often teleported, and he spreads wild and violent sounding conspiracy theories, we learned from various media sources this month. 

Another case of the inmates running the asylum in Washington, I guess.  And his presence at the Federal Emergency Management Agency probably does not make disaster victims rest any easier. 

The guy's name is Gregg Phillips, and hoo boy, buckle in. 

The piece of his saga that's gotten the most attention is that Phillips blames he was teleported 50 miles to a Waffle House.  Or at least he doesn't remember getting there. Here's his exact quote from a January, 2025 podcast:

"I was with my boys one time and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get Waffle House. and I ended up at a Waffle House - this was in Georgia and I end up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was."

I dunno, Show me a person who doesn't remember traveling 50 miles to a Waffle House and I'll show you somebody who was really super drunk. Allegedly. Who knows what was going on?

We cam all laugh, but Phillips has an important role in regards to weather and climate disasters. Per CNN:

"FEMA officials have described Phillips' job as among the most consequential in the agency, involving decisions that affect search-and-rescue-operations, emergency aid, infrastructure restoration and ultimately distributing billions of dollars in disaster assistance."

 Weirdness  seems to be a thing in this administration. Trump is a teetotaler, but Secretary of Defense Pete Kegsbreath, Hegseth has a bit of a frat boy party reputation, despite his newfound devotion to his brand of devout Catholicism. 

Then there's FBI director Kash Patel who is suing the Atlantic for $250 million for what looks like a well-researched account of his, ahem, definite taste for alcohol. Allegedly, of course. 

And I don't even want to get into RFK Jr. 

For a change, I see no evidence Phillips actually has a drinking problem, but he does have a lot of  stories of being teleported.  Which is arguably worse than a drinking habit. 

He says he doesn't like the experience.

"Teleporting is no fun.....It's no fun because you don't really know what you're doing. You don't really understand it it's scary, but yet, um, but so real. And you know it's  happening but you can't do anything about it, and so you just go, you just go with the ride. And wow, what just an incredible adventure it all was."

I'm also not sure who or what supposedly teleported Phillips to destinations like a Waffle House, and why that happened. Ah, the mysteries of life. 

Phillips dropped some hints about where all the came from on Truth Social, the social media platform that Trump calls home. The teleportation had something to do with a "spiritual journey" when he was battling cancer, and that the Bible has lots of examples of supernatural events. 

 OK. I just wish he could have teleported those recent tornadoes that struck cities like Union City, Michigan, .Kankakee, Illinois and Enid, Oklahoma.

There are other things about Phillips you might not like.  He doesn't sound especially.....compassionate. Which is kinda what you need in a time of disaster. 

Phillips apparently went to the Steven Miller school of immigration. Here's what he said about migrants coming to the U.S.

"They want you dead.....They've come here to kill you And if anybody believes it any differently, they're wrong. These people are here to fight. They're here to fight us. They're here at war"

Paranoid much?

He also posted crude, typo-ridden insults against other people on social media, but I won't get into it here. 

This is another example of how Trump seems to let nutcases do the serious business of running the government, with most of them being stupid, arrogant, crooked and just weird. 

Phillips, though, believe it or not, seems to be doing a better job that most Trump appointees. That's not saying much, but that's the world we live in. Phillips took on his FEMA position shortly before a series of destructive winter storms swept much of the nation in January and February. 

The nation needed an effective FEMA, which had basically stopped being effective under former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. 

CNN again:

"Multiple FEMA officials speaking candidly to CNN expressed initial concerns about whether Phillips was up to the job. But after a few weeks, several of them told CNN that, to their surprise, Phillips' hands-on involvement during the spate of storms had softened some of their doubts." 

Even so, the Phillips' teleporting claims are keeping FEMA in the midst of upheaval, even as we are now in the heart of tornado and severe storm season. 

We have this epilogue from CNN:

"After CNN first reported on Philipps' teleportation claims, the White House contacted the Department of Homeland Security - FEMA's parent agency - urging officials either to remove Phillips or keep him out of public view, a White House official told CNN"

I just wish whoever it is who does all the teleporting could just move the bozos out of FEMA and replace them with at least semi-competent people to ensure people can recover after the inevitable next spate of weather and climate disasters.

 

Enjoy Vermont Spring Now, Because It Will Come To A Temporary Halt Late This Week

Some hyanicith and daffodils enjoying spring this
week in a St. Albans, Vermont garden 

Saturday was another gorgeous spring day in Vermont, though it did, as expected, cloud up quite a bit in southwestern parts of the state. 

We have basically three and a half days more wonderful spring weather coming up before the season comes to a grinding, though obviously temporary halt at the end of the week. Weather systems often stall in the spring. 

We're lucky enough now to be stuck under sunny high pressure. By the second half of the week, we'll be mired beneath a cold pool of cold air aloft, which means clouds, very chilly air, some rain showers, and yes, mountain snow. 

 I'll do the spoiler now: The halt to spring won't wreck your garden plants and trees, but it will stop the buds from popping and more flowers from bursting for a least a couple days. 

Let's get into the details

TODAY

The disturbance that dove southeast through New York State Saturday, giving much of that state a damp, rainy Saturday is heading off into the Atlantic Ocean. That Canadian high pressure that's been giving us the cool, generally sunny weather the past couple of days is taking over again. 

It's a big one, extending from Nunavut, up in the Arctic of northeastern Canada a little west of Greenland, all the way down to New England. 

Canadian high pressure is usually chilly. And the northern part is. The forecast high in Iqaluit, Nunavut today is 9 degrees, compared to a normal high of 20.  Yep, it's cold up there in the Arctic, Captain Obvious  tells us.

However, way down here in tropical New England (practice your southern accents, y'all), the strong late April sun is cooking the air mass and making it warmer and warmer. That's why Saturday was a little warmer than Friday. And why today will be a little toastier than yesterday. 

So we'll have quite a lot of sunshine with highs generally in the low 60s today. The Northeast Kingdom will be a little cooler in the upper 50s while southern valley floors probably reach the mid 60s. 

MONDAY AND TUESDAY

The spring sunshine train will continue as that high pressure holds firm.  It'll turn even warmer both days as we get well into the 60s. A few places will flirt with 70 degrees. That's 'actually only somewhat warmer than normal for this time of year. (Normal highs are near 60 degrees) We'll take it! 

The only problem with all this is the fire danger. It's very dry and very sunny, with very low humidity. Too many verys there but you get the point. Winds should be pretty light today and tomorrow, which will help. Even so, light winds don't prevent fires. They just don't spread as fast, but they do spread. 

A brush and woodland fire in Milton looks like it spread pretty quickly yesterday afternoon, and firefighters were on the scene for about four hours putting it out. 

It'll get windier on Tuesday, so that will be the day to really watch out for woodland and field blazes. 

WEDNESDAY

A transition day as we begin to flip toward the new, definitely less pleasant stuck weather pattern. Sunshine should fade behind clouds and there might be some rain drops toward the end of the day. Highs will still reach the 60s.

THURSDAY

This will be the rainiest of the days as low pressure becomes established overhead or at least nearby. Hard to say how much rain we'll get, but early projections suggest a half inch. So not all that much, but at least it will wet the ground down and end the fire danger. 

FRIDAY/ NEXT WEEKEND

The cold pool of air will sit overhead during this time, keeping us mostly cloudy and definitely cold for this time of year. Highs Friday and Saturday might not get out of the 40s for many of us, which is why I'm saying spring will come to a stop. Plants don't like to grow when it's in the 40s. At least we won't have any real freezes to hurt anything as nighttime temperatures should stay mostly in the 30s during this nippy spell.

Much of the time should be rain free, but there will always be a risk of light rain showers at any time. But especially in the afternoons and evenings as the April sun makes the cold air less stable. 

And yes, it will be cold enough for snow in the highest elevations. Not much, but some. And even in the valleys, a particularly robust shower might bring down some extra cold air, and you'll end up with something called graupel. 

Graupel is basically teeny tiny snowballs.  They are snowflakes that had super cooled water attach to them. So they're these little white sleety things that remind me of bits of packing material or styrofoam. 

So. Yay. 

BEYOND NEXT WEEKEND

It'll warm up a little after next weekend, but we're stuck in a chilly, unsettled weather pattern at least into the middle of May, and possibly beyond. There's a good chance you'll see an occasional sunny, warmish day thrown in from time to time, but generally speaking, it will be cool and showery much of the time. 

It's way too soon to figure out if we'll get some soaking rains out of this pattern, or just some annoying sprinkles. As far as I'm concerned, if it's going to rain, we might as well get some good drenching here and there to get the gardens and farm fields in shape for the start of summer. 

Time will tell, as it always does..

Gorgeous Spring Weekend In Vermont, Stays Beautiful Beginning of Week

Yesterday afternoon's satellite view tells the story. Narrow high
pressure nosing down from Quebec is keeping Vermont
sunny for the most part. Low pressure in eastern
Canada kept the Northeast Kingdom cloudy yesterday.
Today, that eastern Canada is gone so the Northeast Kingdom
will be sunny today. Those clouds you see in the upper
left corner are diving to the southeast. That might
turn far southwest Vermont cloudy later today but
it'll be sunnier the further northeast you go. 

Our spell of dry, more or less sunny weather in Vermont continues today through Tuesday. With a warming trend to boot.  

It was almost too cool on Friday, especially in the Northeast Kingdom  

Low pressure spinning near the Maritime Provinces of Canada and high pressure way the hell up there around Hudson Bay provided Vermont with two dramatically different types of weather.

North and east of Interstate 89, it was a cloudy, breezy and notably chilly day.  Shades of March, actually. Highs never got out of the 40s and wind chills at times were in the 30s. Not a nice day. 

South and west of Interstate 89, it was entirely a different story. Sure, it was cool and breezy, but temperatures were in the low to mid 50s, so pretty reasonable. And quite sunny and bright. The southwestern third of the state had not one single cloud in the sky.

It cleared up everywhere overnight. The dry air, the clear skies and the lighter winds got us pretty chilly by dawn today. I noticed Morrisville was down to 24 at 6 a.m. and Montpelier was at 25. Most of us were in the 27 to 33 degree range as the sun began to rise.

Other than those chilly temperatures this morning, that high pressure is gradually nosing down from northern Quebec. But it's not really bringing any really cool air with it. At least this far south. So a slow warm up will start today and continue

TODAY

We'll pick up a few extra degrees this afternoon compared to  yesterday as temperatures make it into the mid and upper 50s.  It'll be places south and west of Interstate 89 that eventually get the clouds today as a rainy disturbance treks from around Toronto and western New York this morning, making it down to New York City tonight. 

It won't be an overcast sky for the most part, but when you get down toward Bennington, it'll probably be pretty gray by the end of the day.  A sprinkle might even make it as far as Bennington tonight, but otherwise the rain will stay in New York. 

Meanwhile, the Northeast Kingdom, which was so cloudy yesterday, might see some high clouds, but the day will be sunny. 

SUNDAY

The National Weather Service is going with partly sunny skies tomorrow, which makes sense as there might be some lingering clouds from that thing that went through New York State. But it's going to be a gorgeous day no matter. Highs should top out near 60 degrees. Get out there and enjoy it. 

MONDAY/TUESDAY

The start of the week will be call in sick to work days. Not because you are sick, I hope, but because you're "sick" enough to just adore spring.  Highs both days will get well into the 60s, maybe even flirt with 70 degrees.  You'll want to enjoy these days because....

WEDNESDAY AND BEYOND

........ no good weather in Vermont goes unpunished.

The punishment starts next Wednesday or Thursday, as we'll get into a much cloudier, more showery pattern that looks like it could last well into May. I'm waffling on which day because some computer models hold off the showers until Wednesday night or Thursday. 

It looks like an annoying weather pattern more than anything else. It won't rain all the time, but almost every day starting Wednesday and continuing on more than a week after should have at least a chance of showers. 

Unless a very wet weather system to poke its nose into this weather pattern - an iffy proposition - we also might not have the kind of soaking rain we occasionally need to keep everything moist enough. Especially now that everything is getting set to bloom and the forests are getting ready to leaf out. 

Instead, it would be mostly those pesky, light showers. Or very, very brief downpours that also don't really soak everything down. It will also be a cool weather pattern. Monday and Tuesday might be the warmest days you'll see in quite awhile. 

I think May might turn out to be one of those months that are cool, and damp, a reluctant spring. Then, sometime later in the month, we might flip right over to hot summer weather. I have no forecasts that says that's going to happen.  Because it's impossible to forecast the weather a month in advance.

But I just have that feeling. I've seen it before, and I think we might see it again. As always, stay tuned.