Frigid Day Is Here, Stay Warm! Other Cold Wave Coming, Too!

The air in St. Albans, and many other areas of Vermont had
a hazy appearance this frigid morning. That's "diamond dust,"
ice crystals that form in clear air during very 
cold, subzero temperatures. 

 As expected, the frigid weather has arrived in Vermont. Temperatures were in the mid single numbers to low teens below zero at dawn, with wind chills solidly in the minus 20s.  

In the "it could always be worse department," I checked conditions atop Mount Washington New Hampshire at 7 a.m.  

A lovely morning was in progress there with a temperature of 29 below, northwest winds of 61 mph gusting to 74 mph, giving a wind chill of 76 below.

Yeah, it's a lousy day for a winter hike. Don't do it! (I have to say that because crazy people have hiked Mount Washington in this weather, and some have died trying it).

Even though wind chills are "only" in the 20s to low 30s below zero today, needless to say, bundle up.  

One thing to watch out for is surprisingly slippery roads in spots, something I brought up yesterday.  The National Weather Service in South Burlington noted early this morning patchy areas of snow along Interstate 89 from Milton all the way to Montpelier. 

Plus, any bridge that goes over water probably has black ice from steam rising from that water. 

You'll also note that the air in some areas, including here in St Albans as I write this, has a hazy appearance. That's "diamond dust," which is ice crystals that form in frigid air. You know it's really cold when you see diamond dust. 

Here's another important tip. Keep pets indoors to be the best extent possible. Sure, you'll need to walk your doggos, and that's fine. But it would be dangerous to leave them outside for any extended period of time, even if they are normally outdoor dogs or ones that love playing in the snow. 

I know my pups, Jackson and Tonks, behaved different from usual when I let them out early this morning. Usually they like to spend time, sniffing around to smell which critters visited the yard overnight. This morning it was out the door, do their business, and run right back inside. 

We'll muddle through today with high temperatures that in many areas won't crack zero. 

This is a quick shot of Arctic air though.  Temperatures will fall pretty far below zero this evening. But west of the Green Mountains, readings will start to head in a more welcome direction and start to rise after midnight. East of the Green Mountains, some places could near 20 below before temperatures start to turn around early Wednesday. 

By tomorrow afternoon, we'll be in reasonable 20 to 25 degree air, Phew! We will have made it through a nasty subzero cold wave. All done, right?

Ummmmm. No.

Another large offshore storm - they keep missing us so we're not getting much snow - will move north toward the Canadian Maritimes and yank another shot of Arctic air down on us  from Quebec starting Friday.

Friday will probably be a bad day with falling temperatures and gusty north winds bringing back the wind chills. By Friday night, we'll be back well below zero again.  And it will stay cold through the weekend, with only some moderation by Sunday afternoon back into the teens.

From there, we're still looking for more systems that would give Vermont decent snows, but things are iffy at best. 

Yet another substantial storm looks like it might give the South more wintry weather over the weekend. The storm will turn north early next week.  Most computer models take that storm too far offshore to give Vermont any real snow.

But there is a slight glimmer of hope because a few models do take the storm fairly close to us. That's unlikely at this point, but there's a low chance of some decent snow. Stay tuned!