How Dry I Suddenly Am: Rain Really Shuts Down In Vermont

Yet another clear morning in St. Albans, Vermont today.
Aside from a scattering of showers and local 
thunderstorms over the next couple of days. mostly dry
weather should continue for another week at least.

 We've been realty whiplashing between almost two dry too nearly too wet to too dry again this spring here in Vermont.  

I was getting vaguely concerned in April during a long stretch of unseasonably warm, dry days. That was followed by a couple weeks of wet weather that moistened everything up nicely.

Then the rain shut off again, and it's going to stay largely off for quite awhile yet. For many of us, today will be the seventh day in a row without rain, though a few lucky spots might squeeze out a little later this afternoon.

Still, we'll soon be getting to the point where we'll need a good soaking.   Other that scattered showers, on a couples days here and there, nothing is in the offing through most of next week. 

The culprit is that building western ridge, or heat dome that is going to cause a record breaking early season heat wave over southwestern Canada and the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

This heat dome is getting huge, and creating a corresponding northwesterly flow through central Canada and into the northeastern U.S.

Cold fronts and little disturbances will ride this northwesterly flow and cross over us from time to time over the next week.  These could spit out scattered showers and thunderstorms when they pass through. 

But systems coming down from the  northwest tend to be moisture-starved, so rainfall with them tends to be unimpressive. Plus, they'll zip through quickly, so they won't linger and bring us long soakers.

Oh, sure, a few lucky people will manage a downpour if a stray thunderstorm in this regime happens to hit squarely where they live.  But most of us will get sprinkles and splatters and not much more. 

 It's hard to say when the pattern will break down to provide us with rainier weather. Some extended forecasts make us wetter during the final week of May, but long range forecasts aren't all that reliable.

This is no crisis yet. We're not in any kind of drought. It could be worse. In May, 1903, for instance, there was no measurable precipitation for the whole month, That probably withered a few spring blooms that year. 

Besides, the weather is pleasant. The dry weather is presenting plenty of opportunities to enjoy spring.  . 

Today and tomorrow will actually be quite warm - near 80 degrees. The warmer air will interact with a couple of those disturbances I talked about to trigger some scattered showers and storms. Especially on Friday. 

Then, it's back to dry and sunny over the weekend. 

The haze aloft from those fires in Alberta will also linger off and on through the upcoming week. Batches of smoke will ride that northwest air flow and pass over the Northeast,