Saturday Evening Vermont Update: Snowstorm To Be A Little Bigger, Windier Than First Thought

When the first snowflakes began to fall in St. Albans, Vermont
around 1 p.m. today, it was a throwback to bleak
November, but as the snow intensified......

 Some changes in the forecast have popped up from the National Weather Service in South Burlington regarding the "Hallmark Christmas snowstorm" Vermont is now experiencing.

In many areas, snow accumulations will be a little deeper than forecasts from this morning.  More wind is going to mix in late tonight and tomorrow, so there now looks like there will be some blowing snow issues.  

The winter weather advisory that was in effect for western Vermont has been upgraded to a winter storm warning.  In the Champlain Valley, four or five inches of new snow had been expected by dawn tomorrow. Now, this area is under the gun for seven or eight inches. Not a huge difference, and not an enormous snowstorm, but still pretty decent.

The winter storm warning for eastern Vermont remains in effect. Expected snowfall there has stayed at 5 to 10 inches. 

Temperatures in most of Vermont had fallen a few degrees from this morning. By late afternoon, readings were mostly in the mid-20s. This means a powdery snow with no trouble from power outages.

One very important thing to look out for:  Ground temperatures are quite warm for this time of year, especially after the record heat in Vermont Thursday and early Friday. This means the roads are, and will be overnight more slick than you'd expect from such a fluffy snowfall.

The snow is partially melted, then re-freezing on the pavement to create sheets of ice, and then snow accumulates on top of that. Take even a little more care on the roads than you normally would in a winter snowstorm.

Far southern Vermont is having a far nastier experience with this storm than central and northern Vermont. Mixed precipitation has worked as far north as Bennington and Brattleboro. Bennington reported freezing rain at 4 p.m., for instance. 

....by 4 p.m. we were much closer to a Christmas season 
winter wonderland

The two southernmost counties will have to contend with snow, sleet and freezing rain, especially along and south of Route 9 overnight. It doesn't look like the mix will make it very far north from where it is now.

Since the storm seems a little stronger, winds will be more of a factor as the system departs early tomorrow.  These won't be screaming strong winds, but gusts in the 20 to 28 mph range late tonight and Sunday will keep snow blowing around some 

For winter sports enthusiasts, Sunday is shaping up to be a decent powder day. 

In Burlington, snowfall for this season so far was running 7.2 inches below normal, so this storm should bring us pretty close to normal for this time of year.

However, very little snow is expected this coming week, so we'll fall a bit behind again.