Vermont September: Dusty And Hazy Until A Final Deluge

We Vermonters just missed out on having what would have been the easily the driest September on record.  

A very hazy sun due to smoke aloft from western forest fires,
as seen from South Burlington, Vermont on Sept. 16. 

Had those downpours not arrived late Tuesday and early Wednesday, rainfall in most places in the Green Mountain State would have been measured in tenths of an inch, which is ridiculously below normal. 

Even with those downpours that ended Wednesday morning, September was still generally a dry month. 

The numbers are in for September, and no wonder the drought intensified through the month. For instance, Montpelier managed to be the lone major Vermont station that managed to eek out above normal precipitation for the month. 

Montpelier had 3.75 inches of rain for September, just a smidge above normal. However, all but 0.34 inches came during the final two days of the month. 

Elsewhere, precipitation was decidedly below normal. Burlington's 2.29 inches was 1.35 inches shy of normal. St. Johnsbury's 1.89 inches was one and a half inches on the light side. Springfield's 2.84 inches was an inch or so below normal. 

Temperatures for the month in Vermont worked out to be pretty close to average. A sharp, frosty cold wave mid-month was offset by mild weather at the beginning and especially the end of the month. Burlington was just 1.6 degrees warmer than average. Most other places were less than a degree either side if normal 

Unlike some Septembers, when you can get some snow flurries at mid and high elevations, I'm not aware of any snow falling anywhere in Vermont, including the summit of Mount Mansfield. 

That mid-month cold snap ended the growing season prematurely for many of us.  Montpelier and St. Johnsbury had three consecutive days of record cold, an oddly long streak of broken records. 

On the closing day of September, the smoke aloft had cleared
for now, rains cleaned everything up, and the clouds and
fall foliage made for a gorgeous evening in 
St. Albans, Vermont. 

Burlington managed to stay above freezing all month, with the lowest reading at 34 degrees. So its frost free warm season continues.  The first day with 32 degrees or lower in Burlington on average is around October 7. 

September in Vermont is known for its cool, crisp brilliant days with deep blue skies and bright sunshine. We did have a few of those days, especially during that mid-month cold snap. 

However, what would have been quite a few other such days were marred by smoke overhead billowing from those massive forest fires in the western United States. 

I found that to be a little depressing, frankly.  I counted at least 16 days during September with smoke overhead. 

The smoke never made it in any appreciable way to the surface, so we didn't have to worry about the health effects of those smoke and soot particles like folks out west. But it was a reminder that the climate is out of joint, and will probably worsen 

The drought in Vermont was worrying and the mid-month frosts were disappointing, but both seemed to contribute to an early and especially brilliant fall foliage season so far. The weather is bringing out more of the reds and deep orange, as seen in pictures and videos from Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, which has reached peak foliage.

In lower elevations, it's not quite peak yet, but there are brilliant splashes of color that point toward a spectacular start to October.

You never know what the next month will bring, of course. Long range forecasts unfortunately call for a return to dry weather. Nice for foliage watching, bad for those near empty wells out there