Northeast Ice Woes Continue, Arctic Blast Still On Schedule

Yet again, freezing rain is causing headaches through large
swaths of the Northeast today, including parts of Vermont.

UPDATE: 9:15 am SUNDAY:

Light freezing rain has spread through pretty much all of Vermont, at least for a few hours this morning.

While it's quite light, it's more than enough to ice up the roads. Travel is treacherous throughout Vermont this morning. 

There have already been several reports of crashes.  Stay off the roads at least until things get better this afternoon.

Things will improve first in the Champlain Valley, where temperatures will briefly sneak above freezing this afternoon 

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

I really hope you're not driving through Pennsylvania, New York or New England this morning.

Widespread freezing rain, as expected, has developed over that whole region this morning, and I'm sure we'll hear plenty of news about pileups, spin outs and car crashes. 

The freezing rain, though mostly quite light, is hitting an unusually large region. A region that is highly populated. With lots of cars, trucks and highways.  As you can see, it's not a great place for freezing rain.  

On the bright side, at least it's Sunday, so not as many people feel compelled to drive to work this morning compared to a weekday. 

Here in Vermont, the worst of the ice seems to want to hit the southern third of the state. Freezing rain started around 6 a.m in Bennington, for instance. I checked the Vermont Agency of Transportation web cam of Route 7 in Bennington shortly before 8 a.m. and it looked bad.  So did Route 9 heading east into the mountains from Bennington.

In the northern half of Vermont, precipitation today will be spottier. Up in the north, we'll see a few snowflakes, then a few areas of freezing drizzle today. 

Even that little bit of freezing drizzle will be enough to freeze up the roads and driveways, so everyone will need to watch out.  Just know it will be worse the further south you drive.

Very much like the ice we saw on Christmas Day, today's freezing rain won't really be enough to cause problems with trees and power lines in southern Vermont.  It will be a driving (and walking) issue. 

Many places in the Northeast, including some valleys in Vermont, should briefly rise above freezing this afternoon, which would ease the hazardous conditions a bit. 

ARCTIC BLAST 

That Arctic cold wave is still on track to hit us Monday through Wednesday morning. 

A piece of the famous polar vortex is breaking off, something that happens often in the winter, and will be nearly overhead or just to our north Monday night and Tuesday. That will help prompt the bitter cold and wind.  Often, when this happens, we get these tiny, fine snowflakes coming down and that's probably what we'll see, too.

Expect worsening wind chills Monday, with those chills falling into the 20s and 30s below.  Actual temperatures will fall into the upper single numbers and teens below zero Monday night, and then not even make it up to zero Tuesday afternoon.

On Tuesday morning especially, if you can stand it,  check out Lake Champlain, as there's still a lot of open water.  You'll see plenty of steam devils, little whirlwinds of steam, and maybe, just maybe, some full-blown waterspouts. That's not guaranteed, but possible. 

Also, expect some lake effect snow downwind of Lake Champlain.  It won't amount to much, but those fine, thin flakes that come down in subzero cold waves make roads surprisingly slick.

As has been the pattern in recent winters, this cold wave should stay brief.  Strong southerly winds will take over Wednesday morning, which would maintain those bad wind chills. But by afternoon, it should be up to 20 degrees or so.

It won't actually get warm later in the week, but it will be tolerable. 

Contrary to what some online weather pundits were saying around New Year's Day, this won't be the year without a winter for us Vermonters. It turned colder at the start of the New Year, and we're going to stay with normal or below normal temperatures, probably to around the end of the month at least.

We haven't gotten all that much snow, and I still don't see any blockbuster storms on the horizon. But we're set up for occasional shots at light snow for the next couple weeks.  And who knows? During that time period, the stars, or at least the weather pattern could align for a somewhat larger snowstorm.  It's impossible to tell whether that will happen more than a few days in advance. So yeah, I'm kinda guessing.