Time To Say Goodbye To New England's Biggest Snowman Since Perhaps 2008

The giant snowman in Shirley, 
Massachusetts, lit up at night. 

The forecast in New England calls for warm weather later this weekend and next week, so it might be time to say a fond farewell to Parker the giant snowman. Maybe. 

I say maybe because Parker is so big that it will take a lot of thawing to get rid of him.

He was built in February, towering 20 feet above an adjacent street in Shirley, Massachusetts. Then the big blizzard hit in late February, so Parker grew to 23 feet tall. 

Video of all this is at the bottom of this post. 

No offense to Parker, but he's a fat guy. He's a little wider at the base as he is tall. That's for stability's sake.  Parker's eyes, mouth, arms and buttons down his front also light up at night. 

His hat is a trash can atop a circular four-foot piece of plywood. 

Parker is named after the street in Shirley, Massachusetts where he and his creators live.  Said creator are the Aalerud family, especially Eric Aalerud, who built most of Parker. 

When Parker was a mere 20 feet tall, Eric Aalerud told WHDH 7 News in Boston that the creation of Parker was a lot of work.

"I was very sore.....And I'm an electrician and I flip houses, too, And I will say, I was more sore doing this than anything I've done in the last five, 10 years."

Aalerud used a snowblower, a shovel, wood and a ladder to build Parker, then sprayed water on the giant snowman to freeze everything. 

 Last year, the family built a smaller, but still impressive snowman that stood 15 feet tall. That one lasted until the end of March. 

Parker is now where close to  being the largest snowman in U.S. history. 

That honor goes to a snowwoman named Olympia, who was built in Bethel, Maine during the snowy winter of 2008. She was 122 feet and one inch tall and had a 125-foot diameter at the base, which is still in the Guinness Book of World Records as biggest snowman.  About 13 million pounds of snow created Olympia. 

Her arms consisted of 27-foot tall evergreens. Here "carrot" nose, which was painted by school children is eight foot long. Here eyes were made of giant wreaths. 

Back in Shirley, Massachusetts, Aalerud vows to build an even bigger snowman next winter. And perhaps give the future Parker a wife named Shirley, after the town they're in, of course. They'd better hope next winter is an even snowier one than this one was in Massachusetts.  

Video:

News video about the giant snowman. Eric Aalerud's New England accent helps. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Follow The Bouncing Temperatures As Vermont Freezing Rain Tonight Yields To Eventual New False Spring

Yesterday I began my March ritual in which I spread parts
of the deep snowbanks covering the gardens next
to my driveway back onto the pavement to melt faster in
the sun.  It's better than waiting until well into April to
see those snowbanks disappear. I'll have to stop this
work today and tomorrow, but will probably 
resume flinging the snow back onto the pavement
to melt in the sun come Sunday. 

March weather is usually confusing, surprising and all over the place in Vermont. That's definitely true this week!   

We started with subzero cold on Monday morning, followed by a shot of snow and icy roads Tuesday night, followed by a Wednesday that really felt like spring is coming. 

So much for that idea. It has turned colder, and will stay that way today especially in the Champlain Valley. More freezing rain is coming to parts of the state, followed by a huge thaw. We think.  

As usual, let's take it step by step.  

TODAY:  

Increasing clouds as that next wave of precipitation approaches. Highs will top out only near 30 in the central and northern Champlain Valley,  as that big, bloated Arctic high pressure in northern Quebec drains some of its chilly air down the Richelieu River valley and on into the Champlain Valley. 

 Highs elsewhere in Vermont will reach the 30s in the north and maybe near 40 south. 

TONIGHT

That big bloated, Arctic high in Quebec keeps trending a bit closer to New England for tonight, which means we have some more forecast adjustments. You might remember yesterday I said there was an unlikely scenario in which far northern Vermont would get either no ice or snow? Well, that's become much more likely.

So places like St. Albans and Newport seem pretty much off the hook for icy roads and such tonight and tomorrow morning.  

The further south you go the worse things will get overnight and Friday morning. North central Vermont, places like Burlington, Montpelier and St. Johnsbury, should be OK. They'll get a little snow, likely less than an inch. There might be a few ice pellets or freezing rain drops near the onset of precipitation tonight, but nothing really to panic over.

The problems really start to show up from central Vermont south. A winter weather advisory is up from the southern Champlain Valley south to Bennington and beyond in western Vermont, an Windham County over in the southeastern parts of the state for freezing rain, sleet and eventually snow. 

If you have road trip plans in those areas, you're going to encounter a rough time tonight and tomorrow morning. 

FRIDAY/SATURDAY

Friday will just be cloudy and raw and VERY March like. You know, grey skies above, miserable dampness, highs only in the 30s to near 40.  Overnight Friday and early Saturday, there might be a little more freezing drizzle east of the Greens,.

On Saturday, the winds will really pick up, especially in the Champlain Valley where gusts could reach 40 mph. Those will be south winds, so highs should get into to the low 50s, which would be the warmest it's been all year. 

Saturday's weather will end the Lake Champlain ice party. Many of us have had the rare treat this winter of walking on water - specifically the frozen surface of Lake Champlain. The warmth and the wind will make the lake too dangerous to be on, except maybe the most thickly frozen bays. But otherwise, the wind and the warmth will start breaking up the ice. Get you ice shanties off the lake while you can. 

Eastern Vermont might stay a little cooler, but will still get well above freezing. Some patchy rain will come through, mostly in the late afternoon and evening. The thaw and rain might be enough to break up some river ice, so we'll have to start thinking about ice jams.

SUNDAY AND BEYOND

If you liked yesterday's weather, you'll love Sunday and Monday. Under mainly sunny skies, temperatures should hit the mid and upper 40s Sunday and get into the 50s in most low elevations Monday. 

Tuesday looks warm, too, but another Arctic high way up in  Canada might diminish the party in northern areas a bit by briefly dropping temperatures slightly. I'm not sure on that but we'll see. 

Early guesses are that a cold front will arrive Wednesday to end false spring. We might get one more warm day Wednesday as showers move in.

Although we're won't see much rain during this big thaw, the snow will melt so fast we will have to worry about ice jams and just general spots of lowland flooding along some rivers. We'll have more details as we get closer to those dates.

 

Oligarchs' Horrible Plan To Turn Our Nights Into Never-Ending Days

Tech companies want to launch a bunch of satellites that
would reflect sunlight back to Earth at night over
specific locations. Taken together and adding in
proposals by SpaceX to put up perhaps a million
satellites would largely take away our ability
to enjoy the night sky

As dystopian as things seem now, the oligarchy class wants to take away our nights. 

 The Trump administration seems to be on a mission to make all of our lives more miserable, except for the billionaire oligarch class that is just loving life these days. 

I just found a new way the administration is set to make life even worse for humans, and everything else on Earth. And this one is especially horrible. 

Big companies, including Elon Musk's SpaceX, have plans that would fill our skies with a million or more little satellites, and also position a whole bunch of mirrors in orbit around the Earth to reflect sunlight down on us at night.

Sounds a little like depressing science fiction, but it's true. 

THE PROPOSALS

Per the Washington Post:

"Two little-noted applications under review by the Federal Communications Commission would, if fully implemented, fundamentally remake the night sky. But the FCC, the satellite regulator, appears to have fast tracked approval without much of a pass eo weigh the benefits of these proposals against the harms they could cause to life on the planet". 

The two proposals would essentially turn night into day, or something close to it. WaPo explains further:

"A start-up called Reflect Orbital proposes to use large, mirrored satellites to redirect sunlight to Earth at night, with plans to bathe solar farms, industrial sites and even entire cities in light that could, if desired, reach the intensity of daylight. 

At the same time, Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to launch as many as a million satellites to serve as orbiting data centers - 70 times the number now in orbit. We could have a million points of light streaking across our skies at night."

Space X only submitted its proposal on January 31. Per PC Mag:

"Usually, the FCC takes weeks or months to respond. In this case, it made a decision in days, even though SpaceX's proposal appears preliminary and even rushed, according to space experts, some of whom question the constellation's feasibility."

TEMU STARS

 The Washington Post concedes there is some benefit of moving data centers to space. It's better that consuming huge amounts to land water and energy on Earth.  Reflected sunlight could boost clean energy supplies and help with food production and even search and rescue.

But should we destroy night to accomplish these goals? Especially since we could solve all these problems right here on the ground. I'm rolling my eyes at the big building boom of AI data centers, that will use up huge amounts of energy and water. You'd think they'd be able to find a way to run AI that doesn't gobble up all the energy and water in the world. 

Aside from ruining the night sky, all this SpaceX satellites could end up colliding with other satellites and space debris. Some scientists worry this could lead to a chain reaction of colliding material.  Picture a high speed highway in a snow squall. 

One motorists swerves on the slick freeway to avoid debris on the road, crashes, and then all the other vehicles behind it pile up.t really is a war on nature waged by the oligarch class, egged on by the goons in the Trump administration. 

After all, to the billionaire class, nature is to be exploited for profit. Simply letting us serfs have calm, peaceful moments with the night sky is verboten. They should be working under grim, florescent lights for peanuts.  

Washington Post again: 

"...untimely light contributes to the loss of insect and bird populations. It disrupts migration, the seasonal patterns of plants and the circadian rhythms of animals ranging from sea turtles and mountain lions. Humans lose sleep because of artificial light, which potentially contributes to obesity and cancer. Light as faint as a full moon has been shown to alter our sleep patterns.

Reflect Orbital aspires to produce for its customers the high of up to 1,000 moons by 2028 and 360,000 moons by 2035. 

Then there's the philosophical questions: How will it feel if we can no longer gaze upward to see Orion, Ursa Major or the other constellations our ancestors have traced since Ptolemy? How will we perceive our place in the universe if we can no longer take in the twinkling starlight that began its voyage to us before the Pyramids rose in Egypt?"

Granted, Reflect Orbital does not propose lighting up the entire night sky at once. The reflected light from the mirrors would target specific areas. And under the lights, it would only have 20 percent or so of the sun's brightness. But the light pollution in areas surrounding the beam of night light would still be staggering. 

Especially combined with the zillions of SpaceX satellites up there that would essentially create a huge, ugly constellation of fake Temu stars 

The mirror satellites themselves would look like giant, artificial bright starts in the sky cluttering up and dimming the natural field of millions of stars so, so far away.  As you can imagine, astronomers are livid at this idea from Reflect Orbital.     

CAN WE STOP THIS?

 There's precious little standing between all of us who actually like it dark and night and the forces that would take that away from us. 

The FCC has pretty much exempted satellites from the National Environmental Policy act, which should require federal agencies to take into account environmental considerations. 

And, WaPo adds, the Trump FCC wants to strengthen the exemptions for satellite operations. And bipartisan legislation that recently got through the Senate Commerce Committee would further speed approval for satellites. 

I guess I'm one of the few left in the world who actually enjoys the night sky. I hope I'm wrong. An organization called DarkSky.org is of course opposed to this.

In addition to the harm the mirrored light would cause to birds, insects and our own circadian rhythms that regulate sleep, DarkSky.org catalogs other risks. People could be at risk of eye damage if they look at the light from the satellite mirror, like what would happen if people look directly at a partial solar eclipse. 

Moving beams of light from the mirrors could create sudden flashes, glare or weird illumination patters that could cause problems for airline pilots or even motorists, especially if these satellites and mirrors malfunction. 

"We also call on Reflect Orbital to demonstrate leadership by voluntarily commissioning a comprehensive, independent environmental impact assessment conducted by qualified experts - regardless of whether such review is required by the FCC," Darksky.org said in a statement.

In other words, even if nobody in charge wants to review dangers to the public, that review should be done anyway.

Public comment on SpaceX's proposal only lasts through Friday, March 6 . Click this link for information on how to do that.

I guess for now, we should find places away from cities to gaze up at the stars and the heavens. If the oligarchy class has its way, we might soon lose that simple pleasure. 

Michael Brown, an astronomy professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia put it this way: 

"I sort of ike the sky being sort of this shared wilderness. If you go somewhere where it's nice and dark and look at the night sky and have all these constant reminders of technology, I think that's a bit of a loss."

That's a huge understatement, but the man is absolutely correct. 

 

 

Minor Storm Brought Vermont Road Issues, More Ice To Come Then Huge "False Spring"

From Facebook. Things got snarled up in the snow
yesterday in far southern Vermont. I believe this is
Route 9 in Searsburg. 

Our little storm last night wasn't really that bad or memorable, but it proved it doesn't take much to make a mess. 

Yesterday afternoon, it looks like they had to shut down Route 9 over the mountains between Bennington and Brattleboro because road conditions got so bad so quickly. The roads were pretty awful across southern Vermont during the afternoon commute. 

The snow abruptly came into Burlington last evening. Reports were it was slow going on Interstate 89, not so much because he road was slippery, but because the large snowflakes, blowing erratically in the wind, annoyingly made visibility terrible. 

This morning, Interstate 89 around Milton was seriously backed up due to a crash or crashes, presumably in part because there was lingering slush on the roads. It must have been frustrating with stuck there, with the warm March sunshine streaming through windshields and water from melting snow trickling pass car tires just sitting there in the traffic jam. 

Nice morning today, but Vermont AOT web cam showed
traffic really backed up on Interstate 89 in Milton,
possibly partly due to lingering slush on the
road from last night's burst of snow. 

I don't have much in the way of snowfall reports, but judging from traffic cameras, the expected one to three inches fell, with perhaps locally more in some high elevations. 

Burlington has 1.3 inches. Far northern Vermont missed out, as expected. I only had 0.2 inches here in St. Albans, which had already largely disappeared in the morning sunshine. 

We'll have one more wintry bump in the road before we get the big thaw this weekend that will be our false spring.  I define false spring as the first spell of balmy weather,  usually in late February or March, before winter weather returns. 

Let's get into the daily forecast. There's been a few changes since we last checked in with this yesterday. 

TODAY

Despite what all those people stuck on Interstate 89 thought this morning, today will truly be a nice one. The sun had returned, or was in the process of return, by around 8:30 or so today.

Maple sugar makers might get a decent run today as highs get into the low or even mid 40s. We'll have a fair amount of sunshine as well. 

THURSDAY 

We have some changes to the forecast, mostly in the Champlain Valley. That cold high pressure in Quebec we've been talking about will be taking hold. It looks like the high pressure might be a tad further south in Quebec than first thought. That means  chilly low level air will start to bleed down into the valley. Instead of highs in the low 40s that had been forecast, it'll barely make it to 32 degrees.

The cold air will have trouble making it east of the Greens, so places like Montpelier and St. Johnsbury should still make it at least into the upper 30s. Southern Vermont still looks like they'll see another sap run day with highs passing 40 degrees.

THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY

The fact that the cold air from Quebec is asserting itself a little more is a problem. The next weather disturbance coming along will run into that shallow layer of cold air settling into northern New England while warm air flows in aloft.

There's are classic recipe for freezing rain and sleet. I'm seeing varying scenarios as to how much we'll get. At the moment, it does't look like the icy stuff won't come down hard, but you need just a teeny tiny bit to make things miserable. After hacking the ice off your car to get in, you next need to deal with very slick roads. 

I think the trees and power lines are safe, though. It doesn't look like we'll have enough ice to cause that kind of damage. 

Thursday evening's commute is safe, as we won't have anything worse than thickening clouds then. But Friday morning could be a real mess. 

A couple other things could happen, one of which would help. It's possible the cold high pressure will get so strong that it could deflect all precipitation away from some areas north of Route 2. That' scenario is unlikely, but it's one that I'd love to see. 

The other one is that the warm aloft might erode and turn colder. That, in turn would change precipitation to snow for a time Friday morning. Snow is at least a little better than freezing rain. This scenario is slightly more likely, but not definite. 

By Friday afternoon, temperatures should crawl back above freezing. It looks like the day will just be cloudy, raw and damp. 

FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY

The next wave of rain will arrive Friday night. Or freezing rain, unfortunately. It still might be cold enough east of the Green Mountains for some ice. Increasing south winds west of the Greens should keep things just wet.

Temperatures should rocket upward Saturday afternoon so that it could get into the 50s in some areas. Dew points, a measure of how humid it is, will get into the 40s. That's pretty high for this time of year. 

Snow melts faster with higher humidity, so we might start getting into trouble Saturday and Saturday evening with ice breaking up on rivers, so we'll need to keep an eye on that. One bright spot is the it looks like the rain will be mostly light and sort of on and off. It won't add much to the runoff.

SUNDAY AND BEYOND

It still looks like decidedly springlike weather looks like it's on the way. Sunday looks slightly cooler and definitely less humid than Saturday, so that will probably temporarily slow the melt runoff into the rivers. 

But Monday, Tuesday and possibly Wednesday look interesting. A summer-like Bermuda high will set up, bringing us temperatures that will possibly threaten record highs. And once again bring high humidity for this time of year which just eats up snow. ]\

Whatever snow is left in the valleys will melt super fast, and many low elevations that are now deep in snow will be looking at bare ground by next week. 

Some preliminary data suggests some area rivers might go over their banks, and we'll still have the risks of ice jams. which of course can cause flooding if they dam up rivers in the wrong spots.

Early guesses are we'll go back to wintry reality by the end of next week. Of course, cold snaps tend to start losing their bite this time of year. By no means do I expect any subzero cold to return. Instead, just the usual March schmutz.

Michigan Family Gets In Zoning Trouble Over An Igloo

Here is an igloo a Southfield, Michigan family built in
February. Efforts to delay melting got them in 
trouble with the municipal zoning office. 

A family in Southfield, Michigan built a colorful igloo in their yard during a spell of cold weather last month. 

Eventually the sun came out and threatened to melt the igloo

So they put a canopy on the igloo to block the sun. It was one of those cheap portable pop up canopies small groups of people sit under for shade during summer visits to the beach.

And that, my friends, got the Roberts family in trouble from the Southfield with the city. They got a notice from the city that read: "Zoning and building approval is required for the canopy in the front yard," the notice read. "Please obtain proper approvals or remove this illegal structure."

Remember, this wasn't a permanent structure. The family just sort of leaned the canopy against the igloo, and moved it during the day periodically to block the sun. 

The city of Southfield responded with this predictably bureaucratic response:

"City Ordinance requires permits for all accessory structures, including temporary ones. These requirements are in place to keep residents safe, especially during winter weather, and to ensure structures meet placement regulations such as setbacks and front-yard restrictions"

The pop up canopy leaning against the igloo was meant
to prevent the sun from melting, However, Southfield
Michigan officials declared the canopy an
illegal structure and threatened the family with fines.

To keep residents safe? Safe from what? A piece of plasticky canvas and some flimsy aluminum poles? Safe from allowing the three Roberts girls, all under the age of 5, and neighborhood kids from having a great tine outdoors. Gotta keep those kids indoors tied to their devices instead of getting fresh air, I guess. 

And what are the fees for these permits? Are these permits just a sneaky way to siphon more revenue from the fine citizens of Southfield? 

I'm surprised Southfield officials didn't order the family to take down the igloo as an illegal structure. Each block of ice on the igloo was made of water infused with food coloring frozen into lasagna pans. 

In the end, the Roberts family removed the pop-up canopy, which apparently satisfied the zoning staff for now. Since it was removed the city graciously opted not to fine the Roberts.    

 “If their priorities are a shade that’s clearly over a kids igloo on a warm day for the last couple of days it was going to be frozen, I have got to kind of reconsider the city I live in or who I vote for,” said dad Justin Roberts said.

I heard you, brother!

Read further details on this story by clicking here on clickondetroit.com

Abrupt Spring: Weird Summer Heat Spreading Across Much Of The U.S. Way Too Early. Severe Weather, Too!

We didn't see forecast maps like this much during the
winter. High chances of well above normal 
temperatures in the East between March 8-12

The heat of winter in the United States are continuing into a new month as blowtorch record highs out west threaten to head east.   

Record high temperatures really began to take hold of portions of the United States in the past few days. While the West roasted, much of the rest still shivered. For the first couple of days in March, anyway.  

Believe it or not, meteorological winter, the period from December 1 to February 28, was the second warmest on record in the U.S.

People in the northeastern United States would beg to differ. But the colder than average weather in the Northeast was far outdone by the bonkers warmth across the western U.S.

SOUTHWESTERN BLOWTORCH

Many of the records that have already been set are pretty alarming. 

In the final days of meteorological winter, on Thursday, February 26, preliminary data shows that the temperature reached 106 at Falcon Dam, Falcon Reservoir, Texas. That's right on the Mexican border about halfway between Laredo and McAllen, Texas. 

If that temperature is verified, that would be the hottest temperature on record anywhere in the United States in February and in meteorological winter. The normal high temperatures this time of year at Falcon Dam is in the mid to upper 70s. 

The previous mark for hottest U.S. temperature rwas 104 degrees.

California and Arizona joined the chat on Friday. Ocotillo Wells, California reached 101 degrees, which sets a new mark for hottest February day on record for anywhere in California.

Meanwhile, Tacna, Arizona reached 100 degrees Friday, which is the hottest winter day anywhere in that state. Phoenix, Arizona hit a high of 92 on Friday, tying the record for hottest February temperature. It was the first 90 degree reading of the year. That milestone usually comes in late March, a month later than it did. 

Then it reached 92 degrees again in Phoenix Saturday. Then it hit 93 on Sunday. Another record high.  

Those temperatures shattered what became by far the hottest meteorological winter on record in Phoenix, with a mean temperature of 64 degrees. The old record was 61.3 degrees, set just last year in the winter of 2024-25.

Phoenix has had some alarmingly hot, consistently record breaking heat over the past two years, so this trend is troubling. 

Record highs included downtown Los Angeles at 91 degrees, Woodland Hills, 92 degrees and Burbank, 90 degrees. At a higher elevation, Big Bear had a record high of 70 degrees. 

HEAT MOVES EAST

Now, for something different. For the first time since early winter, the record western  heat in the US is heading east. 

It started in the Rocky Mountains, which also had a warm winter. 

Over in Colorado, Denver just had its second warmest winter on record, and the most days of 60 degrees or more in meteorological winter, with a total of 41. 

Up in Montana, the warm dry winter continued right through February and into March.  A wildfire erupted in late February near Butte. State fire officials said it was unheard of to see a fire this time of year on a north facing slope at an elevation above 6,000 feet. There should have been snow on the ground. 

By the end of this week, the heat will have spread to much of the central and eastern United States. There will be dozens, or more likely hundreds of record highs through the rest of the week and into the weekend. .

For example, by Friday, places like Tennessee will be in the low 80s, which will threaten record high temperatures. 

Oxford, Mississippi, hardest hit by the destructive ice storm back in late January, is expecting daily highs in the mid 70s to low 80s today through at least next Monday. 

Charlotte, North Carolina is expecting near record highs in the low 80s by Friday. 

Washington DC had nearly an inch of new snow yesterday as temperatures held in the 30s all day. Daily high temperatures there Thursday through next Monday are likely to be in the 70s.  

It's still unclear how warm it'll get here in New England and how long it will last, but we should see at least a few warmer than normal days. With a lot of snow lingering on the ground near the Great Lakes and in New England, ice jams and flooding are possible. 

SEVERE WEATHER

The real dangerous weather, though, looks like it will set up in parts of the Plains and Midwest over the next several days. 

South winds that are helping to move the heat into the United States are now starting to pull deep moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and that trend will continue to intensify. It'll be downright humid in much of the central and southeastern U.S. the rest of the week.

With storms moving across the north central United States and cold air lurking to the north, this is a classic set up for severe weather, tornadoes and flooding. 

It'll start up this afternoon in a small way across Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. It looks like the risk of severe will increase tomorrow around northeastern Texas, and parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas. More severe weather is expected in Texas Thursday.

Friday looks like a particularly dangerous day from Texas all the way up to Iowa. It's looking like there could be quite a few tornadoes. This could be first major severe weather outbreak of the season. 

 

Vermont Transition To Warmer Weather To Be A Little Messy

Today and this evening's snow forecast.  A few inches
in the southern Green Mountains. Very little far north.
This is part of our transition to a warmer weather
pattern. We'll finally get a thaw, eventually.

 I hope early risers got to see the lunar eclipse at dawn today. 

I didn't quite luck out with it. Literally the only cloud in the sky obscured the view of it from my perch in St. Albans, Vermont. Oh well, it's a nice morning anyway. Although weird.

I say weird because temperatures were all over the place this morning. It was below zero again in places like Montpelier, St. Johnsbury and Morrisville. 

West of the Green Mountains, it was in the teens. As south winds began to blow, Burlington rocketed upward to 24 degrees, a 14 degree boost from a few hours earlier. 

We've now begun the transition to a warmer weather pattern. This being Vermont, there are some complications with that. Which is typical.  At least the iffy weather this week doesn't look particularly extreme. 

The trouble might actually start when we do get into the warm air this weekend. More on that in a minute. 

TODAY

The sunshine you might have seen early this morning will fade behind. The wide range in temperatures will even out later this morning and most of us will top out somewhere in the 30s. 

The trouble comes from a small storm that will send some wet snow our way. It will slowly spread northward across the state today.  And I do mean slowly. It'll start around Bennington early this afternoon and not make to places like Burlington, St. Johnsbury and St. Albans until early this evening. 

Also, the further north you go the less snow will fall.

Far southern Vermont - Bennington and Windham counties - are under a winter weather advisory this afternoon and overnight. That's because the initial thump of snow could briefly come down pretty hard this afternoon. And later, toward evening, there could be some light sleet and freezing rain.

Snow accumulation in the winter weather advisory zone will be two to five inches, with the highest totals in the southern Green Mountains.

That harder thump of snow, as noted, will slowly head north, but tend to weaken as it does so. We'll still see a good two inches of fairly wet snow in many places all the north almost to Route 2.  Some of the central Vermont Green Mountains might see three or four inches. 

Central Vermont might see some slippery roads for today's afternoon commute. 

The intensity of the snow will continue to fade as it reaches northern Vermont this evening. Places way up north like St. Albans and Newport will see less than an inch.

Later tonight, all areas could see some patchy freezing drizzle, so there might be a few issues here and  there o the roads first thing tomorrow. 

WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY

I hope Vermont's maple sugarers are ready for this. Both days should hit the low 40s (some upper 30s in the cold spots) with at least partly sunny skies. 

This will start to erode the snow cover nicely, especially on south and west facing slopes that collect the heat of the sun. The March sun is strong enough that I noticed it was melting snow in sunny corners yesterday even though temperatures were only in the low 20s. 

But these two nice days won't complete our transition into our upcoming false spring. 

Some precipitation is coming at us Thursday night and Friday. But, as mentioned yesterday, strong, frigid high pressure will be temporarily building up in northern Quebec. That will probably result in mixed precipitation. 

Exactly how that plays out is still in question. But whatever comes out of the sky doesn't look torrential. It'll probably be heaviest south. More details to come.  

WARM WEEKEND

It still looks like it'll get into the upper 40s and low 50s Saturday through Monday. It also looks like we'll get some rain Saturday. Again, nothing torrential, but still.

The rapid thawing and rain will send water flowing into our iced up rivers. The ice will start to shift and move. This is when we'll need to keep an eye out for ice jams that could cause some local flooding. 

It's only mid-March, so the warm weather won't last forever. It's hard to say how long the mild spell will last. But don't worry, more winter is inevitable. Meanwhile, enjoy the upcoming mild spell.