Friday Evening Snow Update: Surprise Snow Now Parts Of Vermont, Gearing Up For Storm #2

The National Weather Service office in South Burlington,
Vermont has already started making snowfall prediction 
maps for the next storm, due Sunday night and Monday.]
This one is so far expected to focus on southern 
Vermont, but as always, results may vary 
and are subject to change.

 Up until late this afternoon, the storm that started last night ended up with amounts close to forecast, and the system more or less behaved as expected. 

The general consensus was we'd receive 4 to 7 inches of snow, and as of late morning, most of central and northern Vermont came in with 3.5 to 6 inches. Light snow continued thereafter, so those amounts will end up a little higher.

The snowfall was remarkably uniform, with no big outliers of especially heavy or light accumulations. Except a few low elevations of southern Vermont under-performed a bit. 

But late this afternoon, snow seemed to be blossoming again. It's not super heavy, but it was starting to accumulate as of 5 p.m. Especially since temperatures, which had been a bit above freezing in many valleys all day, were slipping below freezing. 

Since it's getting colder, roads that had been just wet all day will get slick moving forward this evening. So be careful on those roads. Roads that look wet this evening might have patches of ice. Even Saturday morning, there will be some issues here and there as temperatures bottom out in the upper teens. 

It looks like we're in for another inch or two of snow before drier air infiltrates later tonight to shut off the snow. A few lucky devils will see three inches of new snow between now and Saturday morning. Or even a touch more than that. 

Saturday looks like a fantastic day to enjoy the new snow. It looks like we'll have a fair amount of sun, and temperatures will be comfortable - well into the 20s, with some 30s in low elevations south.  Then, we have Storm #2 to deal with.

STORM #2

This one's due to hit later Sunday, Sunday night and part of Monday. Unlike the storm that's just ending, this one so far looks like it wants to focus its snow on southern Vermont. 

It'll be another quick mover, so, like the storm we just had, the one coming Sunday night won't have a lot of time to dump its snow. 

The National Weather Service in South Burlington has issued a winter storm watch roughly south of a Brandon to Thetford line. In the watch zone there could be seven or more inches of snow with the new storm. 

Amounts will taper off as you head north and west, but, at least as it stands now, ski areas in central and possibly northern Vermont could get another half foot of snow. 

A few inches of additional snow will probably also grace the Champlain Valley.

Of course, all this comes with caveats: If the storm keeps trending further east, the amount of new snow by Monday morning would be less than forecast statewide. A slight jog to the northwest would bring heavier snow all the way to the northwestern tip of Vermont. 

It will be another relatively warm storm, but not quite as warm as we just had. The snow Sunday night probably won't be champagne powder, but it won't be a slushy mess, either. That's because temperatures during the bulk of the storm will probably be a few degrees below freezing for most of us

`STORM #3

Yes, forecasters still  have their eyes on Storm #3, due around Wednesday. This one MIGHT have more of an inland track, which opens the door to an ugly mess of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain even as far west as most of Vermont.

There's plenty of room for this forecast to change one way or another. Although there's a risk of a mess, I'm still thinking we'll end up with a net gain in snow cover after that one. But like I said, no guarantees.

We've been looking at signs that the weather pattern is trending colder in much of the U.S. after a warm first half of January. Most indications are this will continue. 

By the end of next week, we in Vermont could be looking at daytime highs somewhere either side of 20 and lows either side of zero. That is so typical of late January, but after the weather we've experienced since late December, it will come as a bit of shock. 

Longer range forecasts have Vermont with better than equal chances of somewhat chillier than normal weather in the opening days of February. Precipitation looks to be near normal, which likely means a series of light snowfalls after the two upcoming storms. 

As always, forecasts change, so I'll have updates as we get closer to the two upcoming storms.