Autumn In July Has Started, Will Open August, Too

A beauty of a day Wednesday in Vermont was the start of

a spell of weather I'll call "pre-autumn."  I took this photo

in Georgia, Vermont Wednesday afternoon. 

If you were looking forward to autumn in Vermont, welcome to the season.

At least for now. 

Yeah, it's still the end of July but that well-anticipated summer cold snap of sorts is here, and will intensify tomorrow.  And last at least through the weekend. 

We'll get two shots of rain through this fall preview, but look on the bright side: It's not going to snow. 

To start, Wednesday was gorgeous, wasn't it? We got a reprieve from the hazy, smoky skies we've dealt with lately. We had blue sky, puffy clouds, low humidity and a nice breeze.  Just awesome.  It was cooler than normal, though, so we can consider Wednesday the start of our  "pre-autumn"

This won't be record cold, but it will be quite a change from what we're used to this time of year. Especially since the last several summers have been unusually toasty here in New England. 

To me, these out of season cold snaps look a little like bowling balls cold air rolling down from Canada, at least on upper air maps. 

The first of at least two bowling balls is on its way down now from Canada now. 

The severe thunderstorms from last night in the Midwest will go by well to our south and affect mostly the Mid-Atlantic states.

But these "bowling balls" are vigorous, we'll get our share of showers starting this afternoon and going on into tomorrow morning.  All of us will get some rain - which is still needed in far northern Vermont.  

NOAA's Weather Prediction Center has much of Vermont in a slight risk zone for flash flooding tonight, but I think any flooding will be minor.   Just watch for things like ponding of water on roads later tonight and early Friday. 

Rainfall will range widely, from a quarter inch to maybe an inch, perhaps locally a bit more in towns that get bullseyed by decent downpours.

Tomorrow you'll basically be welcoming October in to help close out July. 

It will be classic fall weather - temperatures will stay in the 60s all day.  Gusty northwest winds will make it feel even cooler.  A rather wet, damp morning will yield to a mostly cloudy afternoon. There will be a few breaks of clouds, but also the risk of light, chilly showers. 

Friday night, many of us will get down into the 40s. The "warm" spots will probably manage to stay at or above 50 degrees.

After a cool, but nice day Saturday, we get another bowling ball of showers Sunday, with temperatures remaining close to September levels through at least Monday. 

The autumn preview now doesn't look like it will last as long as previously thought. By the middle of next week, it might still be slightly cool for the season, but nothing odd for August. By then, daytime temperatures will be in the 75 to 80 degree range. 

So you might want to postpone that leaf peeping excursion for just a bit. Summer isn't quite over yet.