Big Vermont/NY Downpours Monday, And Wannabe Bonnie Takes Far Southern Cruise

Torrential rains Monday morning wash cars in a 
Burlington, Vermont parking lot. The city recieved
1.2 inches of rain in the storms that passed through. 

 Yeah, it really did pour like crazy in parts of Vermont yesterday morning, didn't it?

Those were some impressive rainfall totals, though not something record breaking.  But it's a sign of the season.  If you're going to get a gullywasher, it's probably going to be in the summer. 

Parts of northern New York and western and northern Vermont got a quick dose of more than an inch of rain. Most of the rain fell an hour or two.   

Gully washers, they were. The most rain reported in the region was right at two inches in Essex, New York. The biggest rainfall totals in Vermont included 1.74 inches in Johnson and 1.68 inches in Hinesburg.

Burlington received 1.2 inches of rain. That wasn't even the wettest June 27 on record. That honor goes to the 1.45 inches that fell on June 27, 1970.

Because of previous heavy rains in northern New York last week, a flood warning was issued for a time in parts of the Adirondacks. I don't have any reports of serious damage.

Much like the heavy rain in New York last week, the downpours weakened some as they crossed over Vermont.  By the time the showers reached the Connecticut River Valley, totals diminished to less than a half inch in most places. 

Plus, all but the extreme northwest corner of Vermont  mostly missed out on the rains last week. So, the National Weather Service issues no flood warnings in Vermont. Instead, they covered the band of rain by issuing special weather statements, warning of torrential rain, poor visibility on roads, hydroplaning and ponding of water on streets and highways. All of which of course happened. 

The one thing we'll need to watch out for now is beach closings along Lake Champlain. Downpours like the one we had Monday unleash waves of phosphorous and other yucko stuff into the lake. Sewage treatment plants also get overwhelmed in these downpours, and that flows in the lake. Lovely!

Downpours such as Monday's might contribute to additional algae blooms in the lake later this summer. To note again, the magnitude of these downpours wasn't all that unusual. If there are problems in Lake Champlain because of Monday's rains, it will be caused by pollution, plain and simple. 

We might get something of a repeat of Monday's downpours Friday night. Very much like Monday morning, moisture will pool along and just ahead of a strong cold front passing through. Severe thunderstorms don't look like they are in the cards, but at this point, it looks like there's potential for additional torrential downpours in spots. We shall see

WANNABE BONNIE'S WAY SOUTHERN CRUISE

A system that's trying to become a tropical storm is current east of the southern Windward Islands and east-northeast of Venezuela. It has top winds of 40 mph, which would (barely) qualify it as a tropical storm. But it doesn't have a well defined circulation, so it's currently being called Potential Tropical Cyclone 2.   

The projected path of Bonnie is awfully far south, near
Venezuela. Usually, these westward moving storms
are later in the season, and much closer to Puerto Rico,
Dominican Republic and Cuba. 

That's a mouthful, so I'm calling it Wannabe Bonnie, because if it does become a tropical storm, they'll name it Bonnie. 

As Dennis Mersereau of DAMweather.com notes, the weird thing about Wannabe Bonnie is how far south it is, and will be. It's forecast to move westward, scraping along the northern coast of Venezuela. 

Most tropical systems are much further north, close to places like Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. This would be a near record south track. 

Plus, this is pretty early for a tropical storm heading westbound in the deep tropics, Mersereau reports. Early season tropical systems usually form even further north, often along the decaying edges of dying cold fronts coming off the Southeast or Gulf Coasts.

The National Hurricane Center says Wannabe Bonnie could well turn into a full-fledged hurricane once it gets past Venezuela and enters the extreme southwestern Caribbean Sea. If that happens, the storm will eventually become a big threat to Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama