Vermont Snow Update; Hurricane Eta; Typhoon Goni

Forecast continue to call for six or more inches of
snow (yellow and orange shading) in northern
Vermont and the Adirondacks of New York.
Even the Champlain Valley will get some
accumulating snow out of thisl

 We'll start with the local this morning: And in Vermont, that means snow.

It was not snowing in all of Vermont as of early this morning, but snow showers were blossoming and spreading, especially away from Lake Champlain. 

This first round of snow showers should continue through this morning, but wane as the day goes on.  But there's more to come after that. More in a minute.

A series of cold fronts has brought much colder air in. Another disturbance in the northwest air flow is what's causing new snow showers to develop early this morning.    

Snow did start to fall in both Burlington and St. Albans around 6 a.m. and I expect it to continue for a few hours  The northern Champlain Valley should see at least some light accumulation. I wouldn't be surprised to see a dusting to as much as two inches, especially north of Burlington with this initial burst of snow. There might be slick spots here and there on the roads. 

Get inland from the lake this morning, though, near the western slopes of the Green Mountains, and you'll likely get enough snow to mess up the roads, so be careful out there this Monday morning 

Snow showers will wane this afternoon, but strong northwest winds will keep things wintry all day.  Some of us will never even get above freezing this afternoon.  The Champlain Valley and lower Connecticut River Valley banana belts will manage to get to the mid-30s. There might be a spot upper 30s reading down below White River Junction.

The wind is strong enough to prompt a wind advisory east of the Greens in Orange and Windsor counties

Then a second, stronger disturbance comes in tonight in that cold, northwest flow.  Forecasts call for a lot of snow showers tonight, especially along the western slopes and the summits. 

The snow could be locally heavy at times overnight and Tuesday morning in a few spots.  Even the Champlain Valley should get an inch or two.  The far northern Champlain Valley away from the immediate lakeshore should get a good three or four inches of snow.  

Storm totals in much of central Vermont, again, especially in the Green Mountains and parts of the Northeast Kingdom, should range in the four to nine inch range.  Some favored summits still look like they'll get over a foot.

For those of you working or going out to vote tomorrow, look for some slick roads Tuesday morning.  If you haven't voted yet, definitely do so on Tuesday, but if possible, wait until later in the morning or afternoon when the roads will be better. 

As mentioned last night, we're in for a very sharp warm up to balmy readings for November by the second half of the week. Say goodbye to any new snow we do get.

HURRICANE ETA

The ever-producing Atlantic hurricane season is popped out another one: Hurricane Eta. It's in the western Caribbean, having formed as a tropical storm a couple days ago and now up to hurricane status. 

It's heading west toward Nicaragua and Honduras, and could become a major hurricane. This also has the seeds of a major disaster.  Hurricane Eta is moving slowly, and will plow into the mountainous terrain of Central America when it makes landfall.

This combination of torrential rains totaling as much as 30 inches from Eta and steep terrain set the stage for a terrible flash flood disaster, especially in Nicaragua. 

Some are comparing this storm to Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which unleashed immense mud slides in Honduras and Nicaragua, with a terrible death toll estimated at 11,000 people.  Let's hope this one isn't nearly as bad as Mitch. 

TYPHOON GONI

Over the weekend, Typhoon Goni, with estimated top winds of 195 mph, gusting to 235 mph, made landfall on the island Catanduanes in the Philippines. This is believed to be the highest winds on record for the world for a landfalling tropical system.

(Typhoons are hurricanes in the western Pacific Ocean).

There have been other typhoons or hurricanes that were as strong or even a little stronger, but none of them were at that strength at landfall. 

There is some dispute over the wind estimate with Goni, so I don't think anyone will ever be sure winds were that strong on Catanduanes.

Nevertheless, the winds with Goni were extreme and there is massive damage in parts of the Philippines. 

Unfortunately, there is a disturbing upward trend in the number of mega-typhoons in the western Pacific. This might be another risk from climate change. Scientists think these super strong typhoons will continue to become more common. 

strongest tropical system

Typhoon Goni made landfall near Bato, Catanduanes Island, Philippine