Stick Season To Arrive Saturday In Vermont Amid Continued Warmth

Foliage a bit pas peak but still gorgeous Tuesday at the
Spaulding Farm near Fairfield, Vermont. 

 Enjoy the fall foliage while you can here in Vermont, as it'll last just a few more days before the leaves really start to tumble.

Since it's a late foliage season, the leaves do tend to drop fast about now. Driving around rural Franklin County, Vermont yesterday, I sometimes hit blizzards of falling leaves despite light winds.  

Much of the Northeast Kingdom is now past peak, and a good chunk of the rest of Vermont will follow suit, especially Saturday.  

Why Saturday? Because that day will bring us the first substantial storm in two weeks. It looks like we'll have gusty winds and a good dose of rain Saturday, and that will bring down many more leaves. 

On the bright side, it's been dry this month, and we need the rain, so a rainy Saturday might be a good thing. 

Plus, it looks like we'll have another long dry period after Saturday's rain, so we'll take what we can get. 

I don't mean to be so gloomy about the foliage, of course. After Saturday's wind and rain, there still will be plenty of color and beauty in the Champlain and lower Connecticut River valleys and in lower elevations of southwestern Vermont. If you can't leaf peep until Sunday, head to those locations. 

So far this has been a remarkably warm month, too. In Burlington, only two nights have gotten below 50 degrees. This time of year, normal lows are in the low 40s in the Champlain Valley and upper 30s elsewhere. Frost is common this time of year. Usually. Not this year. 

Fall foliage near Fairfield, Vermont Tuesday. Wind and rain
forecast for this Saturday will bring down many
of these leaves, bringing us toward stick season.

Today is also likely to be eighth day in a row where the temperature reached at least 68 degrees. It's very common to get highs in the 50s even the 40s this time of year. 

The summit of Mount Mansfield, the mountain pictured in this post, still has not had a freeze yet. 

As WPTZ meteorologist Tyler Jankowski noted on Twitter, this will be by far the latest first autumn freeze on record for Mount Mansfield.

The previous record for latest first freeze on the summit was October 6, 2011.  It's now October 13 and the coldest it's been on Mount Mansfield this fall is 37 degrees.

The summit might finally see a freeze Sunday or Monday.  Maybe.

This warmth will last until Saturday. Especially at night. Lows in the Champlain Valley through Friday night will be close to 60 degrees, which is close to normal July nights.  Daytimes will come close to 70 again through Friday. 

Even after the approaching cold front goes by Saturday night, it won't get that cold in Vermont. At least  October standards.

Highs Sunday through Tuesday will be in the 50s, which is pretty close to normal.  Chances are most areas will continue to avoid frost at least through next Tuesday. 

If the last half of October remains relatively warm, we'll have another month among several this year that will score among the top ten warmest.  We'll see!