Update On Strong Winds And Then (Maybe Less) Snow?

Snow dusted pine trees in St. Albans, Vermont this morning.
Strong winds and warm temperatures tomorrow will
remove that pretty quickly!

 It looks Christmas-y outside here in St. Albans, Vermont again as yesterday's and last night's snow showers deposited a nice, white 1.6 inch coating of snow out there. 

The thin snow cover will be short-lived, as that gusty, briefly warm storm is still on its way to the North Country late tonight and tomorrow. 

Today would be an excellent day to make sure your outdoor Christmas decorations are secure and won't blow away. 

As expected, a wind advisory is up late tonight and Monday for much of northern Vermont and New York for winds forecast to gust to 50 mph or even a little more in those areas.

The rest of Vermont won't entirely escape the wind, as most places should gust at least into the 35 to 50 mph range. 

Today will be tranquil enough as you're outdoors buttoning down your Christmas stuff.  To be on the safe side, charge your devices this evening as the winds will howl, especially in the Champlain Valley, in the pre-dawn hours Monday.

This won't be a widespread power outage situation, but some of us could lose electricity at times because of the wind. 

Temperatures will go up overnight, so what little snow that's on the ground will already be melting by the time you get up.  Readings will get up into the 50s for most of us, which will make Monday the warmest day since November 18.

I'm afraid the snow pack in the mountains is going to take a hit from this. Eh, it's early in the season anyway. 

We'll have off and on rain Monday, but it won't amount to all that much. It'll stay windy, of course.  The storm's cold front will bluster through late in the day with its own package of wind and briefly heavy showers. 

Temperatures will crash back below freezing quickly Monday night. 

This storm is causing a lot of trouble elsewhere, too, so it's not just us.  The storm's cold front looks like it will set off some severe thunderstorms and possibly a few tornadoes in the mid-Mississippi Valley later today. '

The storm has prompted winter storm warnings for a half foot or more of snow and blowing snow in the  far northern Plains and western Great Lakes.  Other areas of the Midwest and Great Lakes should get strong winds from this as well.

Looking ahead, we've been talking about the possibility of a mid-size snowfall in Vermont toward the middle of the week.  That still might be on the table, but forecast trends have been taking that snow further and further south away from Vermont. Stay tuned on that one.