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| Trees an shrubs in my St. Albans, Vermont yard strain under the weight of heavy, wet snow Saturday afternoon. |
About 33,000 houses and buildings had no power in Vermont as of 5:30 p.m., down from about 55,000 at its peak around mid-morning. However, utility officials say it could take several days to get everybody up and running with the power.
Which sucks, frankly, since it's winter. It's not super cold out, but cold enough. There hasn't been many news updates on this, but I hope the hardest hit towns are opening warming shelters, especially for the most vulnerable, like the elderly and people with health issues.
Vermont Emergency Management announced early this afternoon they had already started scouting sites for warming centers in the hardest hit parts of the state.
Not much more snow is the cards for the rest of the weekend. Many roads and streets that had improved to just wet after snow plows came through and temperatures crept above freezing, are getting a bit dangerous again.
A friendly reminder to those of you have gasoline powered generators for electricity: Set them up outdoors, away from the house so deadly carbon dioxide doesn't build up in the house. The aftermath of a big storm can be the deadliest part of the whole shebang.
Additionally, those of us who got deep snow, a foot or two, should check around the house to see if vents are clogged or blocked by snow. That's another carbon dioxide trap. Clear the snow away from those vents!
One other helpful hint: Is there a fire hydrant near your house? Get out there and shovel the snow away from it. Or get a brawny teenager to do it. The life you save if you do that might be your own.
Now that night has fallen, temperatures are also going down. Untreated streets and sidewalks are getting icy, which can be dangerous for both drivers and pedestrians.
For the stretch from tomorrow through Wednesday, the weather won't be particularly wild in our neck of the woods. We can expect the usual December cloudiness and scattered snow showers, but temperatures will be close to, or perhaps a wee bit cooler than normal.
However, remember how earlier this month I told you this entire month would feature some really unpredictable weather? That's still playing out and the overall pattern is getting pretty volatile. Which will eventually impact us here in Vermont one way or another.
Later this week, a huge Arctic blast is forecast to plunge into the middle and eventually eastern United States. The forecasting models disagree somewhat on how cold, but we know it will be very cold.
This blast of frigid air is also forecast to spin up what looks like will be a very strong storm in the eastern United States. All the models disagree hugely on where this storm will go. Through the Great Lakes? Right over Vermont? The coast? Who knows?
It is clear that depending on where you are in the United States, this storm will provide a pre-Christmas risk of blizzards, severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, high winds, heavy snow, lots of ice, heavy rain, flooding and gawd knows what else.
If current forecasts are to be believed, Vermont would be subject to snow, then ice, then rain, possible flooding, strong, perhaps damaging winds, and a sharp freeze at the end. But we have no idea if this particular forecast is actually anywhere close to accurate.
This forecast could change radically. But it might be wise to start thinking about some sort of disruptive weather possibly starting on Thursday, continuing through Friday and into Christmas Eve.
I guess it's never a dull moment as we close out 2022!
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