Interesting Weather Afternoon In Vermont; Drought Relief For Many, But Too Much For A Few?

Heavy showers developing south of Burlington 
late this morning

 Weather radar has been lit up since mid-morning in Vermont and eastern New York with many showers, some heavy, and a few embedded thunderstorms. 

The worst of them could even cause local floods. 

As of 2:30 p.m this afternoon, we still had lots of showers and storms around. For most of us, this is a good thing. It's too dry, and we need the rain. I noticed a few trees have yellow leaves and are dropping some of them as a defense against the dry weather. A stormy afternoon is just the ticket for Vermont. 

Most of the storms weren't covering a big area, but a few were strong.  We don't expect severe weather today, but locally torrential rain could become an issue. 

That's especially true if any one location gets hit repeatedly by a train of torrential storms.

As of early this afternoon, we had a local flood warning in the area where New York, Vermont and Quebec meet. This includes Isle La Motte and Alburgh, Vermont.

As of 1:20 p.m. in that area, up to 2.5 inches of rain had fallen and up to 1.5 more inches was expected. Some roadways were already covered by water. All this happened because torrential showers "trained" over the area, so it kept repeatedly pouring. 

At 2:30, that train of storms near Alburgh appeared to be weakening, but more storms were downstream and could hit that region. 

A flood advisory was also in effect around Manchester, Vermont due to locally heavy rain there at mid-afternoon. 

I noticed that a smaller and more brief train of storms early this afternoon caused a bit of minor erosion damage in parts of northern Chittenden and Franklin counties.  Thankfully, it wasn't nearly enough to trigger any flood alerts.

NOAA's Weather Prediction Center decided late this morning to put Vermont and adjacent areas under a marginal risk of flash flooding, meaning we had a risk of isolated pockets of flooding. Had it been wet prior to today's weather, the risk of flash flooding would have been higher. 

Thunderstorm clouds billow high into the sky over the 
Adirondacks west of Burlington, Vermont late this 
morning This storm was one of several that ventured
toward the extreme northwest corner of Vermont,
prompting a flood warning

The showers and storms are all moving slowly, so they could linger over some areas, adding extra rain. It's pretty damn humid out there, so there's no question the rain could be torrential. 

It probably won't flood where you are. But there's a low chance it could. Remember, water rises super fast in these torrential storms. I know the "Turn Around Don't Drown" admonishment can feel kind of obnoxious, but it's a good rule of thumb if you: A. Want to live and B: Are not ready to buy a new car. 

If you see water across a road way ahead of you, don't chance it. Doing a detour is annoying, but getting caught in a flash flood and needing a rescue and wrecking your car is so much more than annoying. 

Total rainfall by tonight will be extremely variable. The unlucky among us Vermonters who really need the rain could see a tenth of an inch or less. The few pockets of flood zones could see in excess of three inches. Most of us will settle on a half inch of rain, give or take. 

Today's Vermont weather is a minor example of how droughts are being periodically interrupted by torrential rains and flooding. I definitely can't say whether today's conditions have anything to do with climate change. But it is consistent with the phenomenon.

This all should taper off this evening and tonight, ending the threat of any dangerous weather.