"Hallmark Christmas Movie" Vermont Snow Still On For Today, Tonight

The latest thinking on the oncoming snow from the 
National Weather Service office in South Burlington
Areas in yellow can expect at least six inches of snow,
blue areas get just a little under that. 

 We're still totally on track in Vermont today and tonight get a decent, but not extreme snowstorm - perfect for the holiday season.  

The record highs of Thursday and early Friday are a thing of the past. It was still pretty mild for this time of year early this morning, with temperatures within a few degree of 30. 

 But don't worry, temperatures will stay pretty steady all day, so we don't have to worry about much in the way of mixed precipitation, except maybe in far southern Vermont.

A winter storm warning is up for Vermont along and east of the Green Mountains, all of New Hampshire and New York's Adirondacks.  Those areas should expect at least six inches of snow. 

A winter weather advisory is on for western Vermont.  But the western half of the state will only have slightly less snow than other areas - probably four to seven inches.

The snow will come in today from southwest to northeast in the late morning or early afternoon. If you get a chance, watch the mountains if you can see them from your house.  In this storm, like most winter snow storms, the incoming precipitation has to overcome some dry air, so the initial snow evaporates on the way down.

If you look at the mountains, you'll notice later this morning the tops of them begin to get blurry then gradually disappear.  That obscuring trend will go slowly go down the mountain slopes until it starts snowing in the valley where you are.

What you're watching is the snow overcoming the dry air. The snow initially evaporates near summit level, but as the air moistens, the snow can get closer and closer to the ground in the valleys until it finally reaches your back yard. 

There will be the usual travel problems today and tonight with snow covered, slick roads.  So get your errands done by mid-morning.  The snow will come to an end early Sunday morning, and I imagine Vermont's excellent road crews should have things pretty much cleaned up nicely by late Sunday morning.

The snow will be slightly wetter than I had originally thought, but it will still have a pretty powdery consistency.  I can't rule out an isolated power outage or two, but it certainly won't be anything widespread.

Go back! Some daffodil shoots tried to sprout in my
 St. Albans, Vermont gardens from record warmth
in the past few days. They'll be buried in snow
by later today

However, this "Hallmark Christmas Movie" snowstorm, as I've been calling it, will do much more good than harm.  It will certain help set the mood for Christmas week, and will help anyone interested in winter sports.  

Except ice fishing.  Not quite yet. It's been warm and any ice out there is too thin for you.  Wait awhile on that. 

Temperatures next week will be perfect to enjoy the snow.  It will be cold enough so we'll get pretty much no melting.  

This time of year, we start getting into spells that are too cold - way below zero - but that's not the case here. While it will be on the cold side, even maybe a little chillier than normal, no extreme cold is in sight for now. 

For the most part, expect daytime highs between 25 and 34 next week, with nights mostly just in the 5 to 15 above range.  It is nice to have some normal, "traditional" winter weather for a change instead of weird extremes. 

The next chance of any real storminess would be Christmas Day or the day after that - Boxing Day - but it's still very unclear what kind of storm, if any, will hit then.