Wednesday Evening Vermont Update: Forecasters Backing Off On Ice Chances

It's been damp and gloomy in Vermont, but updates
forecasts late this afternoon have scaled back the 
risk of ice. Most of us should expect light rain, 
drizzle, fog, gloom to continue into tomorrow.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, it's looking more and more like the weather will be less of a pain in the butt over the next day or so than originally thought. 

Predictions have trended warmer with tonight's precipitation, so most of us should see primarily a cold rain.  Except in a few favored spots, there won't be much ice. 

Temperatures all day stayed rock solid in the mid to upper 30s, with a few spot low 40s. Another even more important thing to watch has been dew points. 

That's the temperature at which the air would be totally saturated. The actual temperature of the air must always be at or above the dew point temperature.

Those dew points for almost everybody in Vermont stayed above freezing all day. 

It was thought that a little low level dry air would come in, dropping the dew points below freezing. Then, when the rain arrived, that precipitation would cool the air, bringing the temperature down to near the below freezing dew points. 

That ain't happening. 

Northern New York is still under the gun for some freezing rain. So are a few patchy spots in Vermont. The National Weather Service in South Burlington has kept the winter weather advisory up for most of Vermont because of the risk of those icy patches here and there.

But the advisory has been dropped for the Champlain Valley. Very little if any ice will form there. 

So, the gloomy weather will continue well into tomorrow, but it will stay warm, at least by January standards. 

You'll want to watch out for icy patches on the roads if you're driving tonight just about anywhere, but it won't be as treacherous as initially advertised. Back roads and sidewalks are most at risk for ice. Watch your step! 

Rainfall will total out to about a half to three quarters of an inch overnight and early tomorrow. That might be enough to make rivers rise somewhat, but the rain will fall well short of causing any flood problems. Especially since there's almost no snow left to melt in Vermont. 

Kind of sad to say that in January, but there you go.