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| A little more progress on the crocus front in my yard in St. Albans, Vermont after temperatures reached 70 degrees Tuesday afternoon. |
BALMY VERMONT
The temperature at Burlington, Vermont reached 70 degrees Wednesday, the first such reading of the year and one that came much earlier than normal. On average, the first 70 is sometime later in April.
Since it was last 70 degrees on November 10, I thought that might be the shortest winter time period we'd spent under 70 degrees. I asked the National Weather Service in South Burlington and they very quickly responded, that nope, not really even close.
Burlington tied for the eighth shortest stretch between 70 degree high temperatures. The high of 70 in Burlington was not a record high for the date, but other places around here set record highs Tuesday.
Montpelier reached 65 degrees Tuesday, breaking the record of 63 set in 1979 and 2012. St. Johnsbury reached 68 degrees, breaking the old record of 63 from 2012. Plattsburgh, New York also managed a record high of 68 degrees. The old record for the date was 64 set on several years.
Early this morning, there was a remarkable temperature contrast across Vermont. The air is still dry, so areas with clear skies and light winds had a chilly-ish start to the day. At 6 a.m., it was 28 in Montpelier, but just 35 miles to the west in Burlington, it was a balmy 54 degrees. Clouds and a south wind kept temperatures up in the Champlain Valley.
Temperatures will even out this afternoon, but not be quite as warm as yesterday. Still with highs within a few degrees either side of 60 degrees, that's way above normal for this time of year.
STORMINESS LOOMS
We've been anticipating a break from the very dry conditions we've experienced and it still looks like that's on the way. A weak feature will probably spit out a few scattered light showers this afternoon an evening, but that won't really amount to anything.
The real show starts Friday, but before that, we have more March heat to get through, more on that in a sec.
A storm is forecast to start winding up in eastern Texas and then move Northeast Thursday and Friday. A week ago, a tornado outbreak struck Mississippi and Alabama, but the twisters hit mostly rural and remote areas. That minimized damage and injuries somewhat, which was nice.
This upcoming storm is forecast to create another tornado outbreak in the exact same area tomorrow. Will they be relatively lucky a second time? Let's hope!
The parent storm that caused the tornadoes last week missed us here in Vermont, but this time, it won't. Instead of tornadoes, we'll get some needed rain.
Ahead of the storm, more warm air will surge up toward our neck of the woods, which would bring more near record high temperatures Thursday. We could make another run at 70 degrees again.
Rain will come in Thursday night and go into Friday, and we might actually hear a rumble of thunder as it stays very mild Thursday night and a good part of Friday. It might stay in the upper 50s overnight Thursday in the Champlain Valley, which isn't too far off from a normal July night.
The storm might bring a period of gusty winds on Friday as well, so there might be a few isolated power problems.
Even though we are technically dry, the rain and snowmelt from the mountains could bring some rivers to near bank full or even cause some local, minor flooding.
Another storm comes along Sunday and with more rain, and maybe some snow, as it will be cooler. That system looks to be pretty dynamic, especially as it's forecast to blow up near the coast of Maine as it's getting ready to depart.
That's when some areas of Vermont, especially the mountains could get snow. Winds will get pretty strong as well. Sometimes, temperatures fall well below normal when this type of storm departs. This time, there won't be a lot of cold air to grab onto, so by Monday, temperatures will only be slightly below normal -- perhaps near 40 degrees for highs.
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