Winter's Grip Intensifies In Nation, Including Here In Vermont

I can't remember the last time I saw so much of the nation
covered in winter warnings and advisories. Notice the
huge area of Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas under 
as winter storm warning (pink color) 

 Yesterday I illustrated this blog thingy with the National Weather Service home page which showed all those blue winter weather warnings.  

I'm doing the same today because I don't remember the last time so much of the nation was covered by winter storm warnings, watches and advisories, and will chill warnings and advisories. If you eyeball it, I'd say 70 percent of the nation is under the above alerts. 

You can see we here in Vermont are conspicuously outside those alerts, but that will change as the week goes on. 

Those future Vermont advisories won't include wind chill alerts, but it was still freakin' cold out there this morning. Not nearly as cold as it can possibly get in February, but chilly enough. In northern Vermont outside the Champlain Valley, pretty much everybody was in the teens below zero. 

That's not nearly as bad as the 30s and 40s below zero weather that is surely delighting the denizens on parts of places like North Dakota and Minnesota, so we'll take it 

Plus, for us, the breeze wasn't blowing much this morning, so wind chills aren't excruciating. Plus we're in for a warming trend around here. Which is nice, but the weather will get quite a bit more active. All those winter storms slamming most of the United States won't stay away forever.  

WHAT'S IN STORE

It'll stay cold in Vermont today as the Arctic air remains in place.  It'll only be a couple degrees warmer than yesterday as afternoon clouds increase. 

A nothing burger little disturbance, starved for moisture, will come through late tonight, tossing down a handful of flakes ( dusting to an inch valleys, up to 2 inches mountains).

That'll zip on out of here in time for us to enjoy a Sunday afternoon, partly sunny heat wave - highs in the 20s! 

Remember, though, I've been touting that bending jet stream all week, and how it will orient itself southwest to northeast over the Eastern Seaboard.

That is indeed setting up. It'll bring moisture up from the south, so more light snow will break out by Monday afternoon. It won't amount to a whole lot, but enough to sweep or shovel away. 

Then that next touted storm comes along Tuesday.  That one looks to be a little too far south to give us a huge dump, but close enough to give at least some of us a few inches of snow  anyway.  Especially in southern Vermont.  This is when we'll start to share in those winter alerts from the National Weather Service. If this forecast holds, I'm sure they'll issue winter weather advisories for snow, at least in southern Vermont. 

After a break with dry weather and just slightly cooler than average weather midweek, the forecast is still calling for a bigger, wetter storm for us Green Mountain Boys and Girls. 

Hard to tell if we're in for snow, a mix or even rain at this point but the potential is there for a lot of something to fall from the sky. 

STUNNING NATIONAL PICTURE

This weekend and the first part of the upcoming week are turning out to be pretty historic in the weather department, especially across the South. 

A glimmer of hope. Long range forecasts for the end of 
February indicate chances of above normal temperatures
in the northern Plains, Texas and Oklahoma, the areas
being hardest hit by the current spate of winter weather. 

All of Oklahoma is under a winter storm warning.  Virtually all of Texas and most of Louisiana is also under winter storm watches, warnings and/or wind chill alerts, which is pretty remarkable. 

One of the most memorable aspects of this siege of winter weather is how much ice - freezing rain and sleet - has come with this and will continue to come. 

I've noted that horrible ice-related wreck in Fort Worth the other day and that ice storm that damaged trees and power lines and caused too many vehicle crashes to count in Kentucky and Arkansas.

Vast parts of Texas were being hit again by ice this morning. Freezing drizzle, freezing rain and sleet will continue in large parts of Texas, all the way down through what is normally pretty tropical Houston. 

Temperatures in the South during and after this storm will be extreme to say the least. Monday afternoon temperatures in Dallas could well be at or below the record low for the date of 13 degrees. 

This whole thing in Texas is especially dangerous as widespread power failures are likely as temperatures fall into the single numbers at night through most of the state Sunday and Monday.  Pipes will freeze in countless buildings. Travel will be all but impossible probably in more than half of Texas come Sunday and Monday. 

Crop damage in the southern half of Texas will be massive.  I also hope people take their pets indoors during this. The National Weather Service in Brownsville, in the southern tip of the state, just issued their first winter storm watch in a decade. 

As the National Weather Service in Houston warns residents: "Remember the 4 P's: Pipes, people, pets and plants."

A second winter storm of freezing rain and sleet is expected in Texas Wednesday. 

Oklahoma is facing some of its most intense winter weather in history.  The temperature there fell to 20 degrees this past Monday and won't get above that level again until Thursday.  That's at least nine consecutive days at or under 20 degrees in a city whose normal highs are in the mid 50s this time of year. 

 That freezing rain is extending, and will cover many areas of the East in the next few days. Already, an ice storm was underway this morning in Virginia. Power outages were already occurring there, and will get worse as the freezing rain continues all day.

Off and on freezing rain and sleet is likely from the Mid-Atlantic States today through Tuesday. 

In the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, where trees and power lines are laden with ice already, a snowstorm is coming Sunday and Monday followed by more snow and freezing rain later in the week. It seemingly doesn't end. 

It's even hitting the West Coast. At least 266,000 homes and businesses in Oregon were without power after a big ice storm hit Portland and surrounding areas yesterday and overnight. 

Perhaps we in Vermont are missing out on this extreme weather. Thank goodness! This siege of winter weather has killed at least a dozen people in the United States since midweek.  I'm afraid this will prove fatal to many more, since vast areas that aren't used to winter weather are getting nailed. There's already also been a lot of property damage, and a lot more of is coming to homes, businesses, farms and crops throughout much of the South, Midwest and East. 

You'll see a LOT of rough winter headlines in the news in the coming few days.