Hope You Enjoyed The Mild Autumn Weather: It's Over

Because of recent mild nights, I still have zinnias blooming
in late October against a backdrop of fading fall colors in
St. Albans, Vermont. Upcoming colder weather will
finish off any lingering live plants in my gardens.

Yesterday in Burlington, Vermont, the temperature reached 76 degrees, just two degrees shy of the record high for the date, and 22 degrees above normal. (It was considerably cooler in eastern Vermont).

Before dawn this morning, it was almost summer-like, with temperatures still in the 60s in the Champlain Valley.  

If you didn't get out to enjoy the warm weather, you missed your chance. 

Yesterday was likely the last truly warm day until next spring.  Sure, we'll have a few mild days in November, but chances are the 70s will not make a return for four or five months at least. 

Starting this afternoon, we Vermonters will have some pretty typical conditions for November, even though we're not quite at that month yet.

Temperature for most of us will be in the 40s by this afternoon, and the chances of it getting above 50 again through next weekend are pretty slim, except maybe in the warmer valleys. Sunday's dry chill will give way to a damp, wet, stay inside type of Monday. 

The rest of the week will be blah with clouds, breaks of sun, maybe a light shower here and there, which would come down as snow in the mountains.  This is nothing remarkable for Vermont this time of year, but it is a pretty abrupt change.

Nights in particular have been mild lately, so frosts and freezes have been minimal, especially in the Champlain Valley. In my St. Albans, Vermont yard, II  plucked a ripe, tasty cherry tomato from a remaining plant in my garden yesterday and ate it. I think that's the latest in the season I've ever had a garden tomato. 

My zinnias are still blooming, a few other potted plants are still trying to put out flowers and my perennial beds are still partly green.  That state of affairs will inevitably change with the frosts and freezes coming up this week 

At least this return to chilly weather is nowhere near as dramatic as the mid-winter conditions across the northern tier of the United States from Washington State to upper Michigan. 

Spokane, in eastern Washington State on Friday had 6.9 inches of snow, their largest October snowstorm on record. Spokane's normal temperatures this time of year are similar to Burlington's.

A blizzard warning has been issued for parts of the Montana Rockies. Winter storm warnings for heavy snow extend from Idaho to Nebraska. 

Temperatures in the single numbers and teens below zero are expected this weekend in Montana and Wyoming, and record  single-digit cold is expected in the Dakotas.

Thankfully, nothing that harsh is coming our way quite yet.