Record Heat In Vermont Yesterday As May Hot Spells Become More Common

Record heat and very dry air helped these late season 
daffodils to finally give up the ghost in the past couple of
days in my St. Albans, Vermont gardens. Don't worry,
pretty much everything else is thriving, with a little
help from irrigation

The temperature soared, somewhat unexpectedly, all the way up to 92 degrees in Burlington, Vermont on Thursday breaking the high temperature record for the date of 91, set in 1975.

It was also the first 90 degree reading of the season, definitely hitting earlier than average.  There's a decent shot Burlington could hit 90 degrees again today. 

Temperatures in this hot zone were once quite rare in May.   There was some 90-degree May heat in 1911, and a spate of more days like that in 1975, 1977 and 1979.

There were a couple more May days in the 90s in the 1980s and 1990s. But lately, such weather has gotten a lot more common in May. 

Including yesterday, it's been in the 90s during May in Burlington six times just since 2010.  In 2017, we tied the record for the hottest May temperature of 93 degrees. Then, just last year, that monthly record in Burlington was broken with a high of 95 degrees. 

Could be yet another sign of climate change, huh?

Here in New England, most hot spells are accompanied by relatively high humidity, making the heat seem more unbearable. 

Yesterday's heat was bone dry.  The relative humidity was in the upper teens to low 20s, basically making the day feel like springtime in Phoenix.  Because of the dry air, I was able to work aggressively outdoors in the gardens without wilting - as long as I stayed in the shade. Too bad it was my garden plants wilting in the bone dry heat. 

Needless to say, the heat and arid air made the dry woodlands and fields of Vermont even more parched.  The forest fire danger was already high when we started yesterday, so it's probably even worse now. 

Today's very warm conditions will also be accompanied by low humidity. Like yesterday, there just might be one or two isolated thunderstorms in the mountains. Yeah, just what we need. Dry lightning to risk new fire starts.

There's a somewhat better chance of hit and miss showers or storms Saturday afternoon, but they won't amount to much. Temperatures will also be slightly lower, and humidity will creep up just a bit. 

A strong cold front is forecast to push through on Sunday, accompanied by a band of showers and storms. Again, these won't produce blockbuster amounts of needed rain. But we'll take anything we can get. 

Depending on the timing of the cold front and how much sunshine we can get before it passes through, there's a chance a few storms could be locally severe, with strong winds the main risk. At this point, the chances of severe weather is fairly low. 

The heat will get squashed to the south, at least temporarily, as we in Vermont have a delightful day on Monday, with much cooler temperatures, sunshine and low humidity. 

The Southeast will then suffer under a heat wave well into next week as that ridge of hot high pressure holds firm in that neck of the woods. 

The hot weather will make another run at us next Tuesday and Wednesday, though it's unclear how hot it will get. Still, 80s are a good bet. Another sharp cold front will come through Wednesday or Thursday to bring back the normal, cooler spring weather. Unfortunately, rainfall next week at this point looks unimpressive.

If Thursday's heat was a bit much for you, it was still better than the opposite kind of weather in the western states. Parts of Montana were hit with a late season snowstorm Thursday. 

It's common for the mountain summits there to have snow in May, but this snow extended into the valleys, smushing green trees and shrubs under several inches of snow in some towns. Cut Bank, Montana, which already has a reputation for dreadful weather, was down in the mid-20s Thursday afternoon during a day-long snowstorm. 

It's been super dry in Montana, so they needed the moisture, but come on, snow?  Another wet storm is due there over the weekend and early next week, but that one will be mostly rain. 

We'd love for those wet storms out there to head to Vermont, where the precipitation is desperately needed. We'll skip the snow, though, thanks.