:Air Quality Alert! Chilly And Probably Smoky Week In Vermont, But Sadly, Precious Little Rain Coming

UPDATE 1 PM MONDAY

Maybe a little hard to see but the darker orange splotch
in the middle of this image is a forecast of smoke
making its way southward into 
Vermont this afternoon and evening. 

An air quality alert has been issued for western Vermont and most of New York,

Wildfire smoke from Canada is spreading southward, and will probably be thickest west of the Green Mountains.  

People with pre-existing lung conditions are particularly at risk. People with lung disease, asthma etc should at least be careful, and try to stay inside if possible. 

As of 1:15 p.m. I notice haze increasing in St. Albans, Vermont, where I'm located.  I'm also starting to smell smoke, and I know there are no fires burning near my house. 

Satellite photos show a plume of smoke heading south,  having just crossed the Canadian border in northwestern Vermont.

Smoke will also make an appearance probably everywhere else in Vermont this afternoon, too, but will likely be not quite as thick as in the Champlain Valley. 

The air quality alert remains in effect until 9 a.m tomorrow. Do note that more air quality issues could easily come back during the course of this week. 

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

There's some pretty chilly air in and around for this time of year, and that's not going to go away anytime soon. We've also in for what could well be by far the worst smoke attack from Canada so far this year.  

But rain? You know, the stuff we really need? Ha!  

We'll get some of that longed for wetting, but not all that much, I'm afraid. 

We're chilly here in Vermont, starting off the day mostly in the 40s, but some of the usual suspect nearby cold spots are pretty impressive. 

Saranac Lake, New York, can't seem to shake winter, judging from the frigid 27 degree low temperature on Sunday.  It had been 90 degrees there just four days earlier. It was back below freezing in Saranac Lake this morning

The summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire has been experiencing snow and freezing rain since yesterday.  Snow showers and bouts of mixed precipitation should continue up there at least into Thursday. 

Down here in Vermont, we stayed cool and breezy Sunday on the far western edge of a  stalled storm off the New England coast. A few sprinkles popped up in eastern and central Vermont, but those didn't amount to much.  Pretty much anybody who did see raindrops received less than a tenth of an inch of rain.  

The northeast winds steered wildfire smoke southwestward toward the Great Lakes, so we didn't have any trouble with that. Hope you had a chance to breathe that clean air Sunday, because.....

SMOKE TODAY? RAIN LATER?

There's going to be a reshuffling of this state of affairs today as a reinforcing shot of chilly air sinks down from Quebec.  As it does so, it'll bring with it a dose of wildfire smoke. Unfortunately, the smoke this time will be both aloft, and at least to an extent, down here where we live and breathe, too.

It's kind of hard to know exactly how smoky it will get.  The air quality was great early this morning. Later this afternoon and this evening, not so much. There's no air quality alerts in effect in our area, at least for now.  But expect at least haze, and perhaps the smell of smoke later on today, especially west of the Green Mountains. 

This reinforcing shot of cold air will create lots of showers Tuesday through Thursday, which is great news. The bad news is these showers will not be soakers. Over the next five days, many places north of Route 2 could get a half inch of rain, with maybe a third of an inch or so over most of the rest of Vermont. Southeastern Vermont might even get less than that. 

As a rule of thumb, we need about an inch of rain per week to keep things on an even keel. This won't be enough.

At least we won't have any dry heat to really desiccate things, like we had during the heat wave late last week. 

It'll be downright chilly for June, especially Tuesday through Thursday.  Highs will only make it into the 50s in most places, at a time of year when it should get up into the 70s.  I wouldn't be surprised if a few spots in the Northeast Kingdom stay below 50 all day on Wednesday. 

It'll slowly turn a little warmer and a little sunnier toward next weekend. But this week and beyond, we could see easily see more smoke attacks from Quebec. The fires up there won't be going out anytime soon.