Friday Evening Update: "Energizer Bunny" Vermont Storm Keeps Deepening The Snow

My partly buried truck in St. Albans, Vermont late this 
afternoon.  We've had 13 inches of snow, and it was 
still coming down lightly, but steadily as of sunset.

 Light snow continued unrelentingly across most of Vermont this afternoon and even managed to re-intensify a bit for a few hours as the snowfall refused to fully diminish.  

So I'm dubbing this the Energizer Bunny Snowstorm of '22.

The slow moving cold front that's been the centerpiece of this wide ranging storm since Tuesday in the middle of the nation came to a near stall again this afternoon. This time it's south of New England.

Yet another disturbance this afternoon rode southwest to northeast along the front this afternoon. That prolonged the awful freezing rain and drizzle in southern New England and lower Hudson Valley of New York.

Honestly, it's a real mess in these areas. The temperature in southern New England and New York very suddenly dropped from the 50s to around 30 this morning, resulting in a flash freeze that iced over the roads. Then the freezing drizzle started and lasted all day. Hundreds of car crashes have been reported in that neck of the woods and people are being urged to stay off the roads. 

This disturbance also added lift to the atmosphere over Vermont this afternoon, which kept the snow going. The bulk of the storm produced powdery, but relatively dense snow last night. This afternoon's snow was very light and fluffy.

That means not much water equivalent is being added to the snowpack but the amount of snow on the ground is climbing relatively fast.

Most of us will continue to see more light, fluffy snow come down well into tonight, so another inch or two is likely on the way, on top of what we've already received. 

At least no more freezing rain is falling anywhere in Vermont, as it did last night in far southern sections of the state. As of late afternoon, a good 3,000 customers in southern Vermont still had no power. 

 Snow totals remain quite uniform across all but southernmost Vermont, with most places coming in with around a foot or a little more of new snow. 

The greatest amount so far that I've found is 17 inches in Warren. The National Weather Service office in South Burlington was near the higher end of the snow totals so far, with 14.0 inches reported there for a storm total as of 4 p.m. 

The fluffy layer of snow from this afternoon will tend to settle a little tomorrow, so actual snow depths will decline by possibly a few inches over the weekend. 

It'll be a cold, but relatively nice day Saturday.  Highs will only reach the teens and a northerly wind will add some wind chill. But under partly sunny skies, if you dress correctly, you should be able to enjoy a nice powder day. At least from Rutland and Windsor counties north, which got all the snow.

When there's a deep, fresh snow cover and a clear night, temperatures tend to rocket downward. Saturday night will be no exception. At the moment, expected low temperatures are in the 5 to 15 below range.  However, I wouldn't be surprised if at least a few towns, possibly many, "over-perform" and reach 20 below or even a little colder than that. 

Sunday looks a little warmer, but in the Champlain Valley, winds will pick up from the south, so wind chills will also be an issue. Also, the Champlain Valley and the islands can expect some real problems with blowing snow as gusts reach 30 mph in a few spots.

If you like big storms, I hope you enjoyed today. There's still nothing major on the horizon through the end of next week at least. 

We're in for a warm, quiet week.  By warm, I mean temperatures in the upper 20s mid to high elevations to mid to a few upper 30s warmer valleys.  That means a wee bit of thawing, but we won't get rid of all this snow!