Thursday Storms: Not Much Severe, But A Few Impressive Rainers

Bicyclist caught in a thunderstorm with a rainfall
rate of two inches per hour Thursday in 
South Burlington, Vermont. 

UPDATE:

Data that came in later this morning show that Chittenden County storm was definitely an exception with yesterday's storms.

The most precipitation reported in the state was 2.93 inches in Shelburne.  Many Vermont towns only reported around a tenth of an inch of rain, with a few places getting just a trace.

So the needed rain yesterday was more miss than hit. Which is too bad. We could use a more widespread rain, and nothing major is in the forecast.

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It turns out severe thunderstorms were few and far between across Vermont yesterday, but some of the storms that developed contained some really impressive rains. 

Severe weather was less widespread than expected, which of course is a good thing. The storms really began to crank up as expected around noon or shortly after in New York's St. Lawrence Valley and in western New York.

Then, they storms faded for some reason in the Adirondacks and western Hudson Valley of New York.  As the storm remnants approached the western Champlain Valley, they blossomed again to give some of Vermont -  not all - quite a torrential downpour. 

The storms were strong, but mostly didn't reach severe levels until you got to eastern Vermont. Storms in South Strafford and Perkinsville, Vermont did knock over several trees.

One particular storm had some of the most impressive rain rates I've seen in Vermont.  (Luckily, I was able to position myself in it. Video is at the bottom of this post). It came across Lake Champlain while strengthening and moved through Shelburne and South Burlington, then on into Williston and Jericho. 

The storm clipped the National Weather Service office in South Burlington with an inch of rain. Just a mile or two south of that, though in South Burlington closer to the Shelburne order, 1.75 inches fell in less than an hour. A rain gauge in Williston caught 2.3 inches.

In Jericho, a whopping 1.7 inches came down in 25 minutes. In the Nashville section of Jericho,  two inches fell in just 55 minutes. 

Traffic fights its way through near zero visibility in
torrential rain Thursday in South Burlington, Vermont.

Had it not been dry beforehand and had the storm lasted a little while longer, there could have been a damaging flash flood with this storm. 

Luckily, the storm moved forward at a reasonable clip, so the rain in any particular location stopped before causing too much damage. There were some driveway washouts, problems on the edges of gravel roads in parts of Chittenden County, and street flooding in South Burlington and Williston. 

As always, the storms and their rain was hit and miss.  I collected a respectable 0.8 inches in St. Albans, Vermont. Montpelier logged just 0.33 inches. 

Also, since the rain was so torrential, those that did get nailed saw most of the water run off instead of soaking into the ground. 

That's too bad, because it's still too dry in most Vermont, especially east of the Green Mountains. Chances of rain don't look great for the next week or so. 

I suppose there could be an isolated shower this afternoon, especially close to the Canadian border, but most of us won't get wet and the few who do won't receive all that much rain.

The next chance of showers and storms is Tuesday, and so far, I'm not impressed with the potential strength of that weather system. 

Hot weather will make a return, too. Saturday will be pleasantly cool and dry. Sunday morning will start off fresh too, but by afternoon it will be relatively hot, but still dry (mid to upper 80s)

We have a shot at a possible 90 degree day Monday before the heat dials back just a bit and temporarily Tuesday and Wednesday. Chances still look good of a hot end to next week. 

Video: Storm strengthens on approach to South Burlington, Vermont, results in incredible rain rates, street flooding. Click here to view, or click on the image below: