Wednesday Evening Vermont Flood/Weather Update: Just Touching Base Quickly

Water levels had fallen substantially along the Lamoille River
in Cambridge by Wednesday afternoon, but the falls at the 
dam were still absolutely roaring. 

 I'm just going to do a quicky here tonight with some bits of news and updates on the Vermont flood situation.  

I was in the Lamoille River valley this afternoon. More on that tomorrow, but how awful.  It's really bad in Cambridge, Jeffersonville and Johnson.  Help has definitely arrived in those towns, but they will need more. Much more.

The benchmark for the worst flood in the Lamoille Valley had been August, 1995.  This is definitely worse.

To update you on the weather forecast I mentioned earlier this afternoon, as expected, the air has become drier and more reasonable. Humidity levels have fallen to about average for this time of year. Still, the humidity this evening is the most comfortable I've felt since the third week in June. 

Also, as promised, the humidity will surge again tomorrow and stay awful through at least early next week. 

As far as severe thunderstorm and flood potential goes, 

the National Weather Service office in South Burlington says the best chances of severe storms are after 4 p.m., but a few could occur earlier. 

The best chances of renewed flooding is from 5 p.m, onward and most likely from Route 2 south. That doesn't mean northern Vermont is off the hook.  It's just that odds slightly favor central and south. 

Whatever happens, iIt won't be nearly as bad as Monday and Tuesday, but there could still be numerous instances of flash flooding scattered about, unfortunately. 

There could be more scattered trouble Friday and Saturday, especially in eastern and southern Vermont. Again, nothing widespread, but a few locations could once again see some recovery efforts at least partially erased.

I'm also a bit worried about Sunday. Again, nothing as widespread as early this week, but the potential for trouble is real. Meteorologists are keeping a close eye on that. 

With or without storms, heat and humidity will continue into next week.  Usually, the thing to do under such circumstances  is to head to your favorite river swimming hole.

Not a good idea now. 

Rivers are running high, currents are unpredictable, there's debris in the water and pathogens. The configurations of swimming holes are also radically altered.  There's debris on the river bottoms, including broken glass, sharp metal, nails and other hazards. It's just not safe for now. 

If you need to take a dip, head to a lake or swimming pool. To make matters worse, check ahead before going to a lake. Flood water entering the lake might have contaminated beaches. 

Yes, this is dreadful, but nothing I can do about it. 

There are so many other updates I could make, but I'll close for now. Stay tuned on more info, including tomorrow's severe weather. I'll have a rundown on that fairly early tomorrow morning.