Welcome To Spring! Oops!, It's Gone, Single Digit Cold And A Snowstorm On Our Doorstep.

A rapid snow and ice melt.  Part of my yard in St. Albans
Vermont looked like this late Tuesday afternoon......

 As expected, we awoke to springtime in Vermont this morning. Temperatures for most of us were in the 50s, the brooks were running full and strong and where did the snow that was in our yards yesterday go?  

This spring is very, very brief, as it will be in the 20s by this afternoon, single digits tonight, and -  the piece de resistance - all of Vermont is under a winter storm watch. 

As of 8 a.m. the sharp cold front was on our doorstep.  It was a balmy 56 degrees in Burlington and 59 in Montpelier and Rutland out of ahead of this front. These would be record highs except or the extreme, bizarre February heat wave we had back in 2017 that made today's record highs ridiculously high. 

Temperatures as of 8 a.m. were falling fast everywhere west of Plattsburgh, and we'll get into the crashing temperatures any minute.

There might be a few scattered rain showers as the front comes through, but if there are, they'll hardly amount to anything. In the unstable, cold air behind the front, a few snow showers might crop up but again, don't worry about it.

Flooding is still a threat today as ice jams continue to move about on swollen rivers.  Rainfall was actually a little less than forecast last night, but snow melt really took charge with the runoff into brooks and streams. Route 4 around Woodstock was occasionally under water because of an ice jam on the Ottaquechee River. At last report Route 4 remained open, but there's no guarantees with ice jams. 

After a quiet and cold Thursday we have our snowstorm to talk about.

Before we get into that, can we look at Arkansas and Kentucky again?  Hear me out. All winter, those two states have been buffeted by severe thunderstorms, destructive tornadoes, repeated, often serious flooding and damaging winter storms. 

The worst of seemingly every storm this winter has hit that area.

True to form, the storm that will eventually give us our Friday snowstorm will cause havoc in Arkansas and Kentucky first. Western Kentucky and much of Arkansas, especially the northeastern part of that state, are in for a destructive ice storm over the next couple of days. 

......The same spot in my yard at 7:30 a.m today. That ice
was slick underfoot. I'm glad a lot of it is gone! 

Ice might accumulate up to three quarters or even maybe an inch, which would cause a lot of damage to trees and power lines. Meanwhile, much of Kentucky faces a new round of flooding from this storm. 

The storm will lift northeastward, then jump to the coast south of New England Friday.

SNOWSTORM

Vermont looks as if it will be in the sweet spot for snow, especially southern Vermont.  There, up to a foot could fall.  Northern Vermont will probably see something closer to six inches. That's because the storm will have to overcome some dry air first to get the snow going, and the north will be a little further from the storm, so less moisture will be available.

One wild card: If upper level support is weaker than expected for rising air during the storm in northern Vermont, that would cut the expected accumulation by a lot.  If the storm whiffs anywhere in Vermont, it would be the north. But for now, it looks like areas north of Route 2 should still see a decent six inches or so. 

Generally speaking for most of the rest of Vermont,  expect 6 to 10 inches of snow. Forecasters don't think we'll deal with any freezing rain or sleet, which is a pleasant change considering how this winter has gone. The snow will be powdery, so it won't be all that hard to clean up. 

Snow is forecast to roll in before dawn in southern Vermont and start around the morning commute up north. It'll snow all day, so the trip home Friday evening will be a bit of a chore on the roads, too.

The weekend should be pleasant enough, with highs in the 20s Saturday and maybe low 30s Sunday ahead of an Arctic front.  So if you want to pick a weekend to play in the snow, this would be it. Even if there's just mud and bare ground outside your door today.