Friday Evening Snow Update: Main Show Is Now Through About Midnight

A rapid transition from damp November to winter wonderland
late this afternoon in St. Albans, Vermont.

 Rain was changing to snow right on schedule in Vermont late this afternoon. 

A mix of rain and wet snow flakes that has been pestering us in St. Albans, Vermont starting shortly after noon suddenly and fully transitioned to snow at around 3 p.m. It rapidly began to accumulate. 

It was still raining late this afternoon on some of the warmer valley floors but that will change soon enough.

 Burlington was just flipping to snow as of 5 p.m. Road conditions through most of the state were deteriorating late this afternoon and will continue to get worse this evening.

There's only been a few changes in the forecast from this morning. It seems the heaviest snow will come in a slightly more concentrated period of time, from early evening until sometime between midnight and dawn Saturday for most of us.   

Here's what the National Weather Service in South Burlington was thinking as of late this afternoon:

If you know your elevation, expect one or two inches if you live at or below an elevation of 500 feet above sea level, three to eight inches between 500 and 1,000 feet; and 8 to 12 inches at 1,000 to 2,000 feet.  Summits in the northern Green Mountains are in for 14 to 18 inches, with about a foot or a little less for summits further south. 

Snowfall rates on the western slopes of the Greens could be up to 1.5 inches per hour for a time this evening, so that's pretty intense. 

Still, some areas might receive a bit less snow than forecasted this morning, but not by much. These minor forecasts adjustments are just back ground noise. 

Gusty winds are still forecast to be a problem overnight, so expect blowing and drifting snow as well. As I said this morning, tonight is an excellent night to stay in. 

Although the consistency of the snow will dry out as the night goes on, early on it's pretty wet and sticky. There are some power outages beginning to crop up. As of 6 p.m. there were about 600 outages, mostly in southern Vermont. 

Most of us on Saturday will see little more than light snow showers but the mountains might still manage to pile on just a few more inches. It will be windy and cold all day Saturday, so you'll want to keep the wind chill in mind if you go out and play in the snow, or shovel your driveway.