Final Words On Spring Snowstorm, But Will It Snow Again?

 Phew, that was fun!

A photo from Shrewsbury, Vermont looks like it was taken
in January, but it was shot on Friday by Carmine
Iannace @Carmine_Iannace  via Twitter

Maybe not for some early garden plants, but the spring snowstorm that hit a good chunk of New England and New York is done. 

The storm that caused this spring mess is only slowly tottering away from the New England coast, so today will be a cloudy, cool day, with maybe a scattered light shower or two. That could be snow up high, but we're just talking flurries. 

Here in Vermont, snow totals were pretty impressive at high elevations. The big winner appears to be Searsburg, at a 2,250 elevation in southern Vermont, with 14 inches. West Wardsboro reported 12 inches, and Shrewsbury reported 10.5 inches.

The afternoon burst of snow Friday was especially impressive along the east slopes of the Green Mountains in central and parts of northern Vermont. As of dawn yesterday, accumulations were meh, but by the end of the day, we had reports like 10.5 inches in Warren, 10 inches in Vershire, and 9.1 inches in East Barre.

The soaking nature of the storm was a godsend, as it had been so dry.  A little over a week ago, a little over half of Vermont was in moderate drought. By Thursday, just before the rains hit, the drought had spread to virtually the entire state.

It was a long duration event, so rain and snow ever so slowly soaked into the ground rather than running off.  Rain and melted snow amounted to about an inch statewide, which was a more widespread soaking than many expected just days before the storm. 

Remember, at the beginning of the week, forecasts called for the storm to pretty much miss northern Vermont entirely. 

Lots of snow in the air yesterday in St. Albans, Vermont

You can see the soaking nature of the storm in river levels across the state.  Sure, water levels rose, but not by all that much.  That suggests the bulk of the rain and snowfall is percolating into the ground, rather than just rushing off on the surface and having little impact.  

This storm did not end droughty conditions in Vermont, but put a nice, sizable dent into it

A new storm midweek promises more help.  It won't be as robust as the storm that just ended, but early indications are it could produce another half inch or so of rain.  

Also, we might not be done with the snow just yet.  It looks like cold air will blow in as the midweek storm slowly departs, giving many of us a little more snow. We shall see! 

I took a little video during a break from work during a burst of snow Friday afternoon around my property in St. Albans, Vermont.  It's below. Click on the YouTube logo to make it bigger and easier to see.