Another Remarkably Wet Day In Vermont Saturday; First Snow In High Spots Today, Then More Warm?

Dark clouds and rain Saturday did help to pop out
remaining fall colors, as seen here in Georgia, Vermont. 

 For the second Saturday this month, some pretty remarkable rains fell in parts of Vermont. 

Burlington had 2.33 inches of rain  yesterday, a record amount for the date. This follows another record 2.8 inches back on October 7. It's quite rare to have more than two inches of rain fall on two different days in the same month. 

It's been that kind of weird, wet weather year. The rain, though thoroughly drenching, didn't come down fast enough to cause any real flooding. Vermont's rivers certainly rose quite a bit, but they are not at or threatening flood stage. 

The heaviest rain Saturday seemed mostly focused along and west of the Green Mountains. The bulk of the moderate to heavy rain didn't hit eastern Vermont until later.

For most of Saturday a  little trof line - basically a mini weather front - steered Atlantic moisture northward through western New England and up through Bennington and Rutland counties and on up into the Champlain Valley. This was all happening as a strengthening storm near the coast helped funnel wet air northward.

Rainfall tapered off a little from central Vermont and points east. For instance, Montpelier has only reported about an inch and a quarter of rain. That made for a soggy day, but nothing too out of whack. Still, some areas in the southern Green Mountains and Northeast Kingdom got more than two inches of rain. 

I don't have complete rainfall data yet, but some of the highest storm totals I came across are 3.37 inches in Marlboro, 2.9 inches in Middlebury and 2.69 inches in West Rutland. So this storm was less intense that the one early this month, but not by much.  

A RAW SUNDAY 

That storm is now well to our northeast up toward Nova Scotia. But it's circulating cold, damp air back over northern New England.

This situation is serving up, as previously advertised, a raw, nasty Sunday in Vermont, and in places like northern New York, New Hampshire, Maine and southern Quebec.  

These trees near my St. Albans, Vermont house were still
mostly green three or four days ago, so a belated
autumn is now progressing on this chilly, raw Sunday.

A little more cold air than anticipated is flowing in, so snow won't necessarily be limited to just the highest peaks. 

The National Weather Service in South Burlington says you might see snowflakes in Vermont at elevations at or even a bit below 2,500 feet. In the Adirondacks, snow levels could briefly fall to 1,000 feet above sea level.

For the rest of us, cold northwest winds, temperatures in the 40s, along with light but persistent showers will make for a miserable day.  It's a great Sunday to get indoor chores done, I guess.

Although today's raindrops are cold and awful, rainfall amounts won't be anything like Saturday. Expect another 0.1 to 0.25 inches, with maybe a little more than that in the central and northern Green Mountains. Southeastern Vermont valleys could stay dry much of the day. 

Monday still looks cool and somewhat cloudy. We're still looking at some fairly widespread frost Monday night and Tuesday morning, but like I've said several times in the past week, a first frost and freeze this late is off the charts wacko.  I think many areas in the Champlain Valley will stay above freezing. 

ANOTHER BIG WARMUP

We're not done with this warm autumn just yet.  After Tuesday morning, we have another unseasonably warm week to look forward to. 

Tuesday looks seasonable, with highs in the 50s. That's just about normal for this time of year. By Wednesday and Thursday, it could even be warmer than last week was.  Highs will at least be in the 60s both days.  Some forecasts call for a high of 70 in the warmer valleys on Thursday.  

So those indoor chores you're doing on this raw Sunday probably shouldn't be putting away your t-shirts and shorts for the winter just yet.