A January Full Of "Steamy" Nights In Vermont

Screen grab from this morning of Lake Champlain in 
North Hero shows a lot of open water in areas that 
should be frozen by now. Just some pack ice near shore.

The first 17 days of January have been remarkably mild in Vermont. 

You might have missed it, though, because you were probably sleeping. 

While daytime highs have been generally warmer than normal, they haven't been extreme - running about five degrees warmer than average so far in January in Burlington.

 It hasn't even made it as high as 40 degrees yet this month, and it usually does in January. Instead, it has consistently been in the upper 20s and 30s.

The nights -  while you have been sleeping - have been the most remarkable part of this month's warmth. Through the 17th, the average low temperature in Burlington this January has been just a hair under 24 degrees. That's close to the average high of 27 or 28 degrees! 

The nights are running a good 12 to 13 degrees warmer than average.  That's been very friendly to the heating bills, of course. 

It hasn't been so friendly to people who like to ice fish.  The ice on lakes is thin an unsafe. From my vantage point in St. Albans, I see that St. Albans Bay is not yet frozen. That's easily the latest open water I've seen since I started living here 14 years ago.

That's all about to change.

The long awaited weather pattern change arrives today.  A weak front, combined with favorable wind directions has unleashed a few more inches of snow in parts of Vermont, including Burlington. 

More importantly, it'll be colder this week. All week.   As advertised earlier, we're not in for anything extreme. Just normal January stuff - highs in the 20s, lows in the single numbers and teens. 

With snow now on the ground, it's also more likely that a clear, calm night could yield subzero temperatures. That, of course, is most likely away from Lake Champlain. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get a subzero night or two later this week outside the Champlain Valley.

Meanwhile, in Burlington, it has not yet made it down to zero yet this winter. I'm pretty confident it will, eventually. There's only been one winter in the Queen City without a zero degree reading. That happened in the winter of 2001-02.

Temperatures can and do fall below zero through at least mid-March, so we'll have plenty of opportunities to see that kind of chill before winter ends. 

All this means ice will finally build up on lakes, including parts of Lake Champlain. I imagine St. Albans Bay will have frozen up by the time next weekend comes.

But be careful. Like I said, it won't be all that cold, so the freeze up will be a gradual process. Lake ice remains thin and unsafe. Let's be careful out there!