Kind Of A Springlike Storm Coming In Today

Snow is starting to melt again and this wedge of snow
stubbornly clung to our St. Albans, Vermont  house as it
slowly slid off the roof. That big wedge broke off soon
 after this photo was taken, and there was no harm done to
the eaves or roofs. Snow should continue to melt
as a mostly rain storm comes in later today. 

 Yesterday's nice afternoon weather is over, and clouds were rapidly thickening up across Vermont today, and for most of us it's going to be a wet afternoon and evening. 

And in some places, slushy, and a little bit icy in a few spots.  

The storm system that's coming in is going to our west, so that inevitably means mixed precipitation. 

Usually in February, however, this type of storm runs into a buzzsaw of cold air sitting over northern New England. The result would be a burst of snow, then a mix, then a little drizzle switching back to snow in the end. 

This time, there is precious little cold air to be found. There probably will be a little burst of snow in the high elevations and Northeast Kingdom to start. That could leave behind an inch or two of wet snow before a changeover to rain. 

During the transition it still looks like the spine of the Green Mountains and the cold hollows east of those mountains, should have some freezing rain later this afternoon and evening. It will be spotty, but enough to make the roads there a hazard.

Which is why the National Weather Service is maintaining a winter weather advisory for the Green Mountains and eastern Vermont north of White River Junction. 

In the Champlain Valley and valleys in southern Vermont, there might be a little wet snow and sleet when the storm starts today, but it won't amount to much. 

The rain could come down pretty hard for awhile late this afternoon and evening, so there might be a little street flooding where storm drains are clogged with ice. We won't see any widespread flooding though. 

This really is the kind of storm we'd expect to see in Vermont in the second half of March, not before Valentine's Day in February. But that's the kind of winter we've had.

Temperatures will fall behind the storm Friday, going from the 40s early in the morning to 20s by around dark. Snow showers will dust the western slopes of the Greens and the summits, with maybe one to three inches there. We shouldn't see anything more than a dusting in the Champlain Valley.

After a seasonably cold Saturday, it will warm up again Sunday through at least Thursday. The snow cover has started to melt away in the Champlain Valley and it will mostly continue to do so through the next week, with just a few brief interruptions.

Just like March. I'm only hoping that this March doesn't turn out to be like a normal February.