Northern Vermont Gets A Welcome Soaking; Southern Vermont Next

By October, Vermont gardens tend to look shabby, but
the colors of lingering flowers and changing leaves
pop out in the gloom and drizzle of a rainy weekend
here in St. Albans, Vermont

 I actually don't mind autumn days like we had in northern Vermont on Saturday. 

It was dark. And overcast. It rained all day. There was fog. It was gloomy.  A great day to get stuff done indoors.  

Today won't be all that much better. Sorry sun lovers!

However, northern Vermont should welcome the rain in particular, as it's still on the dry side, with drought lingering near the International Border.

The rain, while drenching, surely helped ease the drought and dryness, but still wasn't enough to resolve all of the groundwater shortages.   

One unofficial measure of this is the Woof River, which is what we call a small stream that runs past my house in St. Albans.  There's been no water in it for months.  With this rain, there is now the tiniest of trickles in the Woof River, but it's not flowing like it should.   We still need even more rain, on top of the 1.25 inches we've received so far here this weekend. 

Still, it was the style of rain Saturday that definitely helps. Rather than short bursts of downpours that quickly run off, this was a slow, steady wetting that tends to soak in nicely.

The trees are starting to go dormant for the winter, too, so they won't be taking up as much moisture from the ground as they would in late spring and summer. So more of the water will be stored in the ground. We need a few more autumn days like Saturday up here by the Canadian border. 

Though it will stay gloomy, probably through Monday, northern Vermont probably won't get much more rain.  The National Weather Service in South Burlington is thinking maybe a quarter of an inch through tomorrow.

Southern Vermont, which got little or no rain Saturday, will have their turn for a soaking today and tomorrow.

A weather front had stalled over northern Vermont all day Saturday and little disturbances rode northwest to southeast along it, keeping the rain going from the pre-dawn hours Saturday to dawn today. 

That front is now slowly sinking southward, and those pesky little disturbances are still riding along this front. That will aim plenty of rain through the southern half of Vermont. 

That part of Vermont is certainly not suffering from drought after a sopping wet summer.  However, September was drier, so the upshot to all the southern Vermont rain will be.......pretty much nothing. 

The rain  - amounting to more than an inch in several areas - will water any lingering autumn garden plants, and that's about it. Precipitation amounts will fall short of being able to produce any real flooding, so that's good news.

The gloom at first glance might not seem wonderful for those of you who want to go out and view the rapidly developing fall foliage.  But give it a chance. Get out there!  The dark skies really make the colors pop. Those colors almost shimmer in the rain.  Patches of fog add contrast, as do grey clouds and shrouded mountains in the background behind bright red, yellow and orange leaves.

But if you insist on sunshine for your fall foliage, you're in luck. It'll start to clear, Tuesday, and skies will be mainly sunny for most of the rest of the week.  And it will be warm, with daytime highs mid to late week hitting 70 or better in many towns. 

The rain and upcoming sun to me is giving us a classic, gorgeous start to a Vermont October.