Quick Saturday Storm Update: Many Places Going Over To Snow

Vermont Agency of Transportation web cam along Route 9 in
high elevation Woodsville, southern Vermont showed lots
 of giant snowflakes shortly after 5:45 p.m. today

 What a dynamic little storm we're having in New England today!

It's had it all, including one confirmed tornado in Dutchess County, New York, at least one possible tornado in Connecticut, tornado warnings on Long Island, and as I write this there's a tornado warning on Martha's Vineyard of all places.

 Large hail was reported n New Jersey, and many places got heavy rains. Now snow is moving in.  

It was so dark this afternoon across Vermont because a rapidly strengthening storm like this can produce some awfully thick clouds. There was some convection with this, too, as evidenced by the brief burst of heavy hail (both with small less-than pea sized stones) this afternoon at my place in St. Albans, Vermont. 

I'll have much more on this tomorrow, but here's a quick update.

The storm is so wound up that it's got something called a negative tilt.  It's a long story, but one aspect of a negative tilt is it has a lot of energy. And the cold air on the back side of the system comes in from the south or southwest, instead of north or northwest as per usual.

So, as of 5 p.m, it was snowing in Bennington and Rutland, but raining further north and east across Vermont, at least in the lower elevations. Even Jay Peak was still reporting rain. Snow levels are dropping, and that colder air from the south and west was sweeping in to get us all chilly this evening. 

At high elevations in southwestern Vermont, snow is accumulating. At 5:50 p.m. there was a report of two inches of snow on the ground at a 1,700 foot elevation in Shrewsbury. 

Snow total forecasts remain the same as this morning. While most of us will see snowflakes, at least one factor is at work to prevent a big dump.

This storm is absolutely racing toward the northeast even as it continues to quickly get stronger.

That fast forward motion means the storm won't have much time to dump snow this evening as it does the Road Runner fast act toward Maine and Canada.

Especially if you live in a mid or high elevation in Vermont, the weather might briefly turn dramatic with a burst of heavy snow and bad roads this evening, then the snow will quickly taper off. The roads might be an issue through early tomorrow morning, as temperatures will fall below freezing in many places where there's accumulating snow, so black ice will be an issue. 

Current bets still have nothing more than a thin slushy accumulation this evening in the valleys, with one or two inches at and above 1,000 feet, with as much as four to six inches on the tippy top of the mountains. 

In the grand scheme of things, this isn't a huge storm for average folks in Vermont. But for weather geeks, this system is really interesting and cool.