Your Vermont Weekend: Well, You Know What They Say About April Showers

A little bit of white returned to my St. Albans, Vermont
perennial gardens this morning, as some sleet mixed in
with the occasionally heavy rain from overnight. 

 As expected, we got a good soaking yesterday and last night. 

Most places, especially along and west of the Green Mountains received at least a inch of rain.

The only surprise was the thin scrim of white  I found in my yard in St. Albans, Vermont when I got up this morning.  Looks like it cooled off just enough aloft to change the tail end of the rain to a sleety, slush in some areas. On closer inspection, that scrim of white in my yard was sleet, not snow. 

Judging from Vermont traffic cameras, the sleet was mostly confined to the northwest corner of Vermont and the northern and perhaps central Green Mountains.  

Don't worry, that little bit of snow is not part of any big trend toward a return to winter. At least for now. 

Streams and rivers rose pretty sharply overnight, especially after a particularly heavy period of rain late last night and early this morning. But things are behaving well. The only flood warning I've seen so far in the area is for minor levels of high water along the Ausable River in New York State.

Overall, it was good that it rained so much. Ground water levels are meh, especially in the Northeast Kingdom.

Plus, it's actually brush fire season now in Vermont. Just a couple sunny, dry days can make last year's dead brush, grass and leaves vulnerable to catching fire, say from a careless smoker or something. We don't have to worry about these fires, at least for a few days. 

The heaviest rain was headed into Quebec early this morning, but I can't say the weather will be exactly nice today and through the weekend.  We'll have lots of showers around, but at least it won't be raining the whole time. Or snowing, if you are up in the mountains. 

The National Weather Service in South Burlington says the sun might even break through the clouds occasionally this afternoon.  Still, there will be some hit and miss showers around, maybe even an isolated rumble of thunder. Temperatures will be close to normal for this time of year  - in the low 40s. 

There's a better chance of showers tomorrow.  Temperatures aloft will cool further as a big upper level low comes nearer. Plus a weak disturbance will help kick off showers.  It won't be a nice day, as the showers will probably be fairly frequent. Once again, we could hear a springlike rumble of thunder from some of the more robust showers.

Most of us will probably receive another quarter to third of an inch of rain. Mountain summits might end up with a couple inches of new snow. 

Sunday will be even chillier. Kind of a throwback to March, really. Temperatures during the day will hold in the low to mid 40s with a northwest wind making it feel colder. Scattered showers continue, and they'll probably be mixed with snow, graupel or little ice pellets at times even in the valleys.

The mountains could get another couple inches of snow. 

During the upcoming week, it'll turn warmer again, but how warm is still a question mark. The NWS is throwing in chances of showers almost every day next week.  A warm airflow from the southwest will also have little weather disturbances embedded within it, so you can't rule out some periods of rain. But there will be pleasant interludes of weather between the raindrops.

In other words, typical spring weather.