As Expected, Most Of Vermont Got First Frost Of Season. More Tonight?

A marked the first frost of the season in St. Albans, 
Vermont this morning by marking the occasion,
using my finger on the ice covering my truck windshield.

 Pretty much everyone in Vermont woke up to a frosty Monday morning, as expected.

Most dawn temperatures across the state and surrounding areas were within a couple degrees of 30.  The coldest I've seen so far in Vermont is 25 degrees in the usual cold spot of Island Pond. Over in more notorious cold hollow in Saranac Lake, New York it was 21 degrees.  

The official temperature at the National Weather Service office in South Burlington reached 34 degrees. So, although there was probably a frost there, they haven't had their first freeze of the season yet. Maybe tonight. 

Yep, despite a lot of sunshine and afternoon temperatures that will tick up about one or two degrees warmer than Sunday, more frost and freezes are coming to many of us tonight. Keep those sheets and coverings handy for your gardens tonight!

I've been a bit of a drama queen over the frost and freezes we're having, but they are coming right about on schedule. 

According to data from the National Weather Service in South Burlington, based on records from 1991-2020, the first 32 degree reading of the fall season in Montpelier would on average fall on October 3. This year, Montpelier is right on the money.

St. Johnsbury's average first frost would be expected on average tomorrow. So they were a day early in 2022.  We won't know how close to "normal" Burlington comes, because, as I noted, they haven't had a freeze yet. 

I'll also note that the National Weather Service in South Burlington, and some other NWS offices in the Northeast, have made frost and freeze advisories and warnings a little easier to understand and follow this year. 

Chilly northwest breezes Sunday stirred up waves on
Lake Champlain in Burlington and brought the cold
air to Vermont that resulted in this morning's frost
and freezes. More due tonight. 

In past autumns, they'd stop issuing freeze warnings for areas that already had a good freeze.  

As we know, though, one town might have had that freeze while the next town over stayed a bit warmer. This would result in a confusing patchwork of frost and freeze warnings. It was hard to tell who these freeze warnings applied to.

This year, the National Weather Service is trying to streamline things. They won't issue freeze warnings in the Northeast Kingdom after October 1, when the growing season is considered over. That's why the NEK wasn't under any kind of frost or freeze advisory this morning. 

In most of the rest of Vermont, freeze warnings will stop after October 11. In the warmer Champlain Valley, they'll stop the freeze warnings after October 21.

I guess after that, we can start in with the winter storm warnings for snowstorms, right?  Or is it too soon to mention anything like that?