Upcoming Cold Snap To (Slightly) Revive Ski, Maple Sugaring And Mud Seasons

Back to the National Weather Service/South Burlington
snow prediction map after a long break.  Light snowfalls
are expected as a late season cold snap comes in, but the
mountains could pile up several inches of snow at least
between now and Monday afternoon

 Many of us here in Vermont are into spring weather, but are always ready for the inevitable disappointments. 

As advertised, spring is going on hiatus starting tonight.  It will stay away for a few days, but never fear, it will return. Eventually. 

There's been remarkably little snow on the ground this month, considering we often receive large snowstorms in March. The ground has been continuously snow-free in Burlington, for instance, since St. Patrick's Day, which is unusual.

By tomorrow, though, the ground will once again be snow covered. In the valleys, it won't be much, with most of us expecting one to three inches, with less in the Connecticut River Valley. 

The set up, though, favors what might be a decent snowfall in the central and northern Green Mountains through Monday. 

That Arctic front is still due to come through Sunday.  Ahead of it, it will be cold enough for some wet snow in most places and the mostly light snow will continue through much of the day.  With sharp northwest winds blasting, the western slopes and summits of the Green Mountains will see a more enhanced snowfall. Which will last there well into Monday.

Current National Weather Service forecasts have isolated amounts of up to six inches of new snow in the Green Mountains, which isn't odd for this time of year, but still a noticeable addition of fluff in this snow-starved year. 

I actually think some favored places might receive more than that six inches of snow by Monday afternoon. I'll go out on a limb and say there's a chance super favored places like Jay Peak and the Mount Mansfield summit could come in with a foot of snow. 

This will freshen up the ski slopes for a little while. 

It's going to be wicked cold, though, for this time of year. Things will freeze up really solidly out there again, as we'll have two nights of temperatures in the 5 to 15 degree range, with highs Monday only in the upper teens in the cold spots and mid-20s in the banana belts. 

This substantial cold will probably recharge the maple trees for more sap runs, but I have to wonder if it's too late for places like southern Vermont lowlands and the Champlain Valley.

It's been a very warm month, with too many nights that stayed above freezing.  I'll have to research this more, but I wonder about the quality of the sap coming from the trees right now in the warmer spots. It could be at least partly a season of lower grade (but still delicious!) maple syrup. 

Still, I think the cold snap will add a little new life to sugaring season.  

It's also been a hell of a mud season, which I'll have more on in an upcoming post. In some places, the mud has gotten a little less bad as more of the frost comes out of the ground.  This cold wave will freeze things back up.  Obviously, the frost in the next few days won't go as deeply into the ground as it did during the subzero spells of January.

It will prolong mud season, though.  Newly frozen ground will have to thaw again later next week when it warms up.  

We'll ruefully be singing that Brad Paisley song "Mud On The Tires" for a while longer, for sure.