This 'N That: Snow, Welcomed Rain And Tropics

 It's that time of year again. We are starting to hear the "S" word crop up here in the North Country when talking about the weather. 

Snow in my St. Albans, Vermont yard on October 24, 2018.
Nothing like this is in the forecast yet, but this is the time
of year we start talking about snow.

Yep, snow. Don't worry. There's not exactly a blizzard in the forecast. At least not yet. But once you get into October, the snow flakes usually begin to fly. At least in some places. 

During those chilly rains yesterday, it got cold enough atop of aptly named Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks for it to snow for awhile. It didn't amount to much, but there it was. 

Today, a few widely scattered light showers are in the forecast across Vermont. 

On the mountain summits, these showers might come down in the form of snow flakes, according to this morning's forecast discussion from the National Weather Service in South Burlington. 

All this is completely normal for early October around here. After what was the hottest summer on record, at least in Burlington, the sound of the word "snow" still comes as a shock, I guess. 

In Vermont's banana belt around Burlington, the average first snow flurry of the season comes around October 15, so we're coming up on that. Flurries have dusted Burlington as early as September 20, in 1956 and 1991. Burlington had an inch of snow as early as October 9, 1979.

If you're not ready for snow, it could be worse. It could always be worse, unless of course you're talking about current news events. 

Some of us remember an epic snowstorm on October 4, 1987 that deposited up to 18 inches of snow in Pownal, Vermont and 3 to 12 inches in much of the state outside the Champlain Valley.

AT LEAST IT RAINED

Yesterday's rainfall did manage to over perform in Vermont once again. Which is a good thing, as we still need all we can get to erase the drought.  Burlington received 0.56 inches of rain. My unofficial rain gauge in St. Albans, Vermont collected a solid half inch.  Montpelier and St. Johnsbury each collected about 0.4 inches. 

Not a lot of rain is in the forecast, but there are chances for it midweek. We hope for another overperformer then. 

TROPICAL STORM GAMMA

After a break in this very busy tropical storm and hurricane season in the Atlantic, things are starting to hop a little bit 

Tropical Storm Gamma formed yesterday near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Gamma is forecast to meander around the southern Gulf of Mexico for a few days and is not expected to turn into a monster hurricane. At least at this point 

The National Hurricane Center is watching two more systems, one in the Caribbean Sea the other way out in the Atlantic. Neither is an immediate threat but the one in the Caribbean in particular bears watching.