A Windy Vermont February Contrasts With An Oddly Calm January

Gusty winds sweep through some pine trees in 
St. Albans, Vermont on Sunday. February has been
a rather windy month in Vermont,
especially in the Champlain Valley

 It's been pretty windy in Vermont, especially in the Champlain Valley this month. 

Including today, 13 of the first 20 days of this February have seen wind gusts at or over 30 mph in Burlington. Winds got up as high as 50 mph on February 7. 

These winds have not been enough to cause a lot of damage, unlike the 71 mph gusts in the pre-Christmas storm back in December. 

But still, the winds have tempered the unusual warmth of this month by providing a little bite of wind chill to these mild days. 

In a way, the wind we're seeing is sort of a sign of spring.  That's why we have the famous March winds. 

It's just that they're a little early this year. The sun's angle is increasing, so it's getting a little better at heating the ground. The heat from the ground creates updrafts. Those updrafts get high enough to reach stronger winds a couple thousand feet overhead, and mix those winds to the surface.

The nice thing about these windy days is they tend to mix out and dissolve low clouds and fog. It still might well be overcast with these winds, but at least horizontal visibility stays pretty good. .

Of course, we can get strong winds in December and January on the power of any passing vigorous storm that passes through. 

This January, though, I counted only four days with winds of 30 mph or greater in Burlington. This helped make the month especially gloomy. Many days in January had us hunkered down under low clouds, fog, drizzle and snow flurries. 

It looks like windy days will continue off and on for the foreseeable future, as several storm systems will help stir the air. Plus we head into March and its gusty days soon.

So, hang on to your hats!

Video: Another windy day in St. Albans, Vermont on Sunday.  Click on this link to view or if you see the image below, click on that.