As Advertised, Winter Has Arrived In Vermont; More Coming

Snow dusting the Christmas tree we just picked up 
yesterday as it waits for us to bring it in today
from my truck in St. Albans, Vermont. Snow and
more normal winter weather is making things look
appropriate for the season. 

A little over a week ago, when we Vermonters were basking in unseasonable, record warmth, we promised that we would gradually sink into winter by now. 

Just like that, it has come to pass. We're not getting anything unusual for December. But it's wintry. 

We've had three days in a row with temperatures remaining below freezing. Most of us have a nice white dusting of snow on the ground now. 

Roads were icy for Wednesday morning's commute, and the air had a bite to it yesterday. Here in St. Albans, Vermont, we collected about an inch of snow. So did Burlington. 

Yep, it's winter.  Although this is a fairly mild version of it, and it will stay on the reasonable side. You should still expect more seasonal challenges and joys in the coming days. 

Starting now.  Most of us are waking up to some light snow falling, and that will be the state of affairs fro the rest of the day and into tonight. 

This won't be a blockbuster storm by any stretch of the imagination.  It's coming in from the west, so it doesn't really have a great supply of moisture. Plus this storm is weak. 

Even so, it's got enough energy and spunk to crank out a storm total of one to four inches over most of the Green Mountain State by tomorrow morning. Some of the higher elevations could close in on six inches with this thing, says the National Weather Service office in South Burlington. 

There will be the usual problems with roads this morning and for this evening's commute. Again, nothing extreme, but you should slow down, keep as much space between your car and everyone else's as possible, and just be sane and attentive while driving. 

It's not all that cold out, and it will stay on the relatively mild side. That sets the stage for the next challenge. 

After more flurries Thursday, then some sun and warmish weather Friday (highs near 40!), we get into the next storm. 

The next one is no huge thing either, but it will give us another challenge we'll need to get used to: Freezing rain. Ugh. 

Now, this won't be a disaster, the trees won't be caving in under the weight of ice or anything that dramatic. 

But there seems to be increasing chances that freezing rain will turn roads, sidewalks, driveways and such pretty icy Saturday night and Sunday morning.  This is especially true east of the Green Mountains, where low level cold air is more likely to linger.

The Champlain Valley is a more likely to just see a cold rain. However, I expect the experts to refine this weekend forecast as we get closer to the event, so stay tuned for updates and changes.

You know the drill, though. Every year we have to deal with such icy weather several times per winter.

One thing we haven't seen yet is true Arctic cold.  The coldest it's been in Burlington so far this season is 18 degrees, back in mid-November.  Pretty tolerable, for sure. 

I don't really see many signs of any subzero cold coming in anytime soon. I mentioned yesterday that Canada is extremely warm currently by their standards, so there's no real supply of bitter cold up there. 

Frigid air is likely to finally build up in northern and central Canada over the next week to ten days, which is what you would expect in December. 

However, forecasts call for a continued fast, mostly west to east flow across the United States. That would tend to block most of the frigid air off to our north, with few chance for any of it to break loose and head south towards us. 

If long range forecasts hold, that would mean no subzero cold in Vermont except in the coldest hollows between now and Christmas.  There's also no real sign of any sustained periods of super balmy weather either, which should give some hope to winter sports enthusiasts. 

That is IF the current forecasts hold.  As I've said repeatedly, long range forecasts can be unreliable.  Don't be surprised if there's a surprise or two.