Christmas Night Vermont Update: Still Kinda Gnarly Out There

You an see trees being weighed down by ice in the 
background in this screen shot of an AOT traffic cam
along Interstate 91 in Guilford, Vermont.

 Today, as expected, was a disaster for driving and/or walking in Vermont.

Freezing rain was widespread, and that put an end to plenty of Christmas plans, including my own. I had planned to travel from St. Albans to Rutland to visit family, but the roads seemed a bit much.  

There were accidents and slide-offs galore, and some roads actually closed. So it wasn't worth it. 

Among the roads largely shut down was a 40-miles stretch of Interstate 91 in southeastern Vermont, which was closed to all but essential travel for several hours. A number of secondary, hilly rural roads were impassable.

It doesn't take that much freezing rain to do that. Ice accumulation was mostly around a tenth of an inch, in line with forecasts.  But that's more than enough to stop trapping. Icing was a little thicker in southeastern Vermont, where it piled up to close to a quarter inch. It was enough to cause a few minor and brief power outages.

Far northern Vermont escaped the worst of it, but it was still icy.  For instance, Burlington was pretty iced in by mid-morning, but at my place, there was barely any ice until freezing drizzle and fog moved in during the middle of the afternoon.

For those of you planning on making a car trip in or near Vermont this evening, it's not going to get much better. It could actually get a little worse as temperatures drop.

Freezing sprinkles, freezing patchy light freezing rain and freezing drizzle (or as I call it, "frizzle") will continue over night. And possibly be mixed with a bit of snow in spots.   Total precipitation, if you melt it down, will amount to only a few hundreds of an inch, but that's more than enough to keep roads, sidewalks and such icy. 

Also as expected, it got a little bit above freezing in some valleys of western Vermont from Burlington south. But that will all freeze up again this evening, so you won't get a break there, either.

"Frizzle" and patchy snow will continue into Sunday morning, so don't expect perfect driving conditions until later in the day.

Unless my flight is canceled, which seems like a strong possibility given the news, I'm leaving to visit relatives and friends in Maryland and Delaware, so posting on this here blog thingy might be a bit spotty over the next few days, but I'll try my best of course! 

Check for updates, as I'll have 'em!