Tuesday Evening Storm Update: Tornadoes Still Loom Midwest; And An Ugly, Even Icy Wednesday In Vermont

The first crocus of the season finally made
an appearance today on my property in
St. Albans, Vermont. A couple others popped
open later in the day. Tomorrow these
flowers will shiver in  cold rain with
temperatures in the 30s.

Depending on where you were in Vermont today it was either a nice early spring day or overcast and rather meh. 

Up near the Canadian border, sun broke through the clouds in the afternoon and temperatures reached the low 50s. 

Most of central and southern Vermont held in the upper 40s under overcast skies.  So the weather was acceptable. 

Tomorrow, not so much. Not at all, 

As the day wears on, rain will increase, and much of Vermont is at risk for some freezing rain Wednesday afternoon and night. 

Everything north of Bennington and Windham county and east of the Route 7 corridor in Bennington and Rutland counties and east of the Champlain Valley are actually under a winter weather advisory. 

It'll be patchy, but those of you in the winter weather advisory stand a decent chance of seeing freezing rain. In most places, it won't accumulate much, but some isolated areas will see up to a quarter inch of ice. 

Kinda impressive for April. Considering some places in the Northeast Kingdom won't even manage to get above freezing. 

In the winter weather advisory area, you'll need to watch out for treacherous backroads, and suddenly icy bridges and overpasses. It won't be fun underfoot, either, as you walk along some sidewalks and driveways.

Those of us who escape the ice will see a cold rain, especially in the afternoon and evening. A stiff east wind will blow in many areas, and most of us will not get out of the 30s during the day and night. If you want a definition of raw weather, this is it. 

The culprit is that large storm in the Midwest that will be heading into Canada. Aloft, meteorologists are still expecting a big punch of warm, very wet air heading north above Vermont. Near the surface, dense cold air will drain down from Quebec, keeping things chilly. 

There's a lot of moisture and instability in that warm layer way overhead. So rain, or freezing rain in spots, could come down pretty hard tomorrow evening and night. There could even be some rumbles of thunder, especially west of the Green Mountains.

Eventually, the warm air will win out, briefly.  Thursday's temperatures should poke up into the 50s for most of us. Rain will continue in the morning as a cold front comes through, and temperatures will start to fall in the afternoon. 

This rain could cause some minor flooding on some rivers, but nothing widespread is in the cards. 

It'll be kind of cool Friday and Saturday - highs in the low to mid 40s lows in the 20s - but that's not so weird for early April.

Those of you who are looking forward to spring, there's some potential great news. Long range forecasts are beginning to call for a long stretch of mostly warm, dry weather starting Sunday and continuing into mid-month.

If you want your daffodils to bloom and the buds to expand, that is great news. 

TORNADOES STILL LOOM

Tornadoes remain likely in the Midwest and South today,
and in the southern and central Great Lakes area tomorrow.
Hopefully, none will be as strong as this F5 in the same
region - Xenia, Ohio, in 1974. 

Not much has changed in the storm and tornado forecast for the Midwest and South since this morning. 

As of 4:30 p.m. local time today, the first thunderstorms were just beginning to erupt in Iowa, western Illinois and northeastern Missouri. These storms will intensify quickly and threaten that region with tornadoes, some of which are still forecast to be strong. 

Further south, in Arkansas and southern Missouri, tornadoes are not expected until tonight. 

Strong to violent tornadoes overnight can be especially deadly, since people are sleeping and not aware of warnings when they strike. 

A rather significant tornado risk is set for tomorrow, also, in the central and southern Great Lakes.