One More Oppressive Day, Then "Autumn" Arrives, And We Go Flood-Free

After a rainy, very humid day in St. Albans, Vermont, a 
glimpse of evening sun shines through this hydrangea
blossom. Less humid air is on the way. 

Boy, that humidity on Thursday was miserable, we can certainly whine about that.

But we should also thank our lucky stars that a day that had a relatively high potential for severe thunderstorms and flash floods in Vermont produced neither.  

It was rainy, it was stormy, it was dark, but it was not destructive in any sense of the world. By this summer's standards, that's a bonus day 

Dew points, a good measure of how uncomfortable it feels, were solidly in the low 70s for most of us.  For hours on end. I saw a few reports of dew points of 74 degrees around Vermont. That's pretty much as high as it can go in these parts. 

Even if it was far from the hottest day of the summer, it probably was the most humid. And arguably the least comfortable. Especially given the rain, the clouds, the sauna-like atmosphere. 

We'll have to endure one more day of this, and then "autumn" arrives. More on that in a minute.

In terms of Thursday's storm damage potential, we dodged at least a couple bullets. The mesoscale convective system, or MCS that we knew would come through was on a weakening trend as it arrived Thursday morning.

Rainfall across northern Vermont was still heavy, but not enough to cause major harm. Sure, I saw some minor driveway washouts and ponding of water in my travels, but it wasn't enough to keep the state's July flood nightmare going.

We knew if there were to be severe thunderstorms, they'd strike southern Vermont. But the heaviest activity ending up getting going a tiny bit to our south and east.

For instance, a strong, but not really that severe thunderstorm crossed far southern Vermont. Once it crossed the Connecticut River into New Hampshire, the storm blew up, prompting a tornado warning around Keene, New Hampshire. Meteorologists expect to investigate the area to see whether a twister actually touched down. 

 FRIDAY

We're honestly not expecting much weather today, except toward evening in the far north. There could be a thunderstorm or two up there. 

But if you go outside anywhere in Vermont, you're going to wilt. Actual temperatures will hover somewhere between 85 and 90 for most of us, which isn't that extreme for this time of year.

But those dew points remain stubbornly high, near 70 degrees. A heat advisory is up for the Champlain Valley, and in the valleys of southern Vermont. The "real feel" out there will be in the mid-90s. Even though the rest of Vermont is not under that heat advisory, it'll still feel awful.

Be careful out there, and don't overdo it.  If you have some real physical exertion to do, wait at least until tomorrow or Sunday, when conditions will be much better. 

RELIEF IN SEVERAL FORMS

A cold front lurking in Quebec will slip into Vermont tonight, and that spells a long awaited and advertised huge shift in the weather pattern. 

There was a question yesterday as to whether that front would stall over Vermont Saturday and allow torrential storms along it to create a new flood threat. The first piece of good news is that it looks like that won't happen. The heaviest rain will pass to our south, so no worries there.  

Saturday will still be rainy, but not enough to make us worry about flooding. In fact, for the first time since maybe June, for the next five days at least, there is no chance of any flash flooding in the Vermont forecast.

You'll notice a dramatic cool down Saturday. It will still be a little damp and humid, but it will only get into the 70s.

Sunday looks like a stunner: Sunshine, a few photogenic puffy clouds, low humidity, coolish temperatures and perhaps not even any wildfire smoke from Canada! It looks like it will turn out to be a classic blue/green Chamber of Commerce day in Vermont.  The green being the landscape, the blue being the sky. 

Long range forecasts into August 10 suggest the Northeast
could stay on the comfortably cool side for awhile. 

It still looks like it will stay on the cool side pretty much all next week, too. There are chances of light rain showers Monday and perhaps into early Tuesday. But the next chance of any noticeable rain is at the end of next week.

Enjoy! 

 NOT JUST US

Much of the nation could use a break from the relentless heat and/or humidity many areas of the nation experienced during July.

Like Vermont several areas - but not all - seem destined to experience that break. Long range forecasts encompassing the first week of August suggest temperatures will be a little below normal throughout the Northeast.

Those cooler than normal temperatures could persist into the second week of August and possibly spread westward into the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains. 

Meanwhile, the southern tier of the United States looks like it will be mired in near record heat waves through at least the middle of August