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| Norway maple leaves, some still green remarkably remain on trees in Burlington, Vermont Saturday. Warm nights this autumn have kept the foliage on these trees much, much later than normal. |
So far this season in Burlington, the coldest it's gotten is 29 degrees.
The normal low this time of year is 31 degrees, so you'd think we would have had nights colder than the upper 20s by now. For perspective record lows this time of year are in the single digits above zero.
The result is, in more urban areas of Vermont anyway, a few leaves have stuck to some trees.
Norway maples usually lose their leaves pretty much last of all the trees except larches and Bartlett pears. But the Norway maple leaves have in the past always been gone by early November.
Yesterday was November 18 and the leaves are still hanging on, at least around Burlington. I've never seen anything close to this before. Another albeit minor sign of climate change, maybe?
In any event, this week should get rid of those leaves once and for all. A pretty good cold front today will eventually plunge temperatures into the teens to maybe near 20 by Tuesday morning, so that will bring us toward winter.
The whole week is setting up to be fairly wintry, as we remain stuck in a cold weather pattern. I don't see any epic storms coming our way, but there will be trouble from time to time.
Let's break it down day by day.
TODAY:
I, and the National Weather Service office in South Burlington, noticed some buzz on social media last night of the possibility of snow squalls today, which can be dangerous.
It ain't going to happen. Take the snow squalls off your schedule today and don't worry about it. It was just the usual social media clickbait and fake news.
With a cold front coming through today and a generally unstable environment, there's a decent chance of seeing some snow showers around. But they won't be heavy, and might mix with rain in warmer valleys.
The favored western slopes of the central and northern Green Mountains might see a couple inches out of this, but most of us will see a dusting at best.
MONDAY:
A cold one to start getting rid of those pesky yellow Norway maple leaves clinging to the trees, preventing you from raking the lawn. If you're in central or northern Vermont, I doubt the temperature will get above freezing all day. For many of us, it will be the first such day of the winter season. Aside from a few mountain flurries in the morning, we might actually see some sun in the afternoon. Yippee!
Monday night will be cold for this time of year, as mentioned, with temperatures bottoming out in those teens. Maybe some single numbers in the coldest hollows.
TUESDAY:
Quiet and cold in advance of a messy storm. Increasing clouds, highs in the 30s
TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY
The mess of the week, just in time for Thanksgiving travel. The forecast details will become clear in the next day or two. But for now, expect a messy mix of wintry crap coming out of the sky overnight Tuesday and likely into Wednesday morning.
Obviously, that means roads could be kind of nasty in the morning. At this point, it's looking like it might go over to rain in most spots Wednesday afternoon. So if you can delay your trip until then, that might be a good idea.
THANKSGIVING:
Back to quiet and cold with snow showers around. Unless Wednesday's storm somehow gets hung up nearby, there shouldn't be enough so to cause travel trouble.
BLACK FRIDAY
Sorry, but Black Friday is a day I distain. If you want to wait in a cold, blustery parking lot hours for dawn to grab those so called door buster deals, knock yourself out. Perhaps literally, the way some people behave on Black Friday. In any event, no storms seem likely on Friday. Just snow flurries to give you a bit of holiday cheer of sorts.
Remember the further out the forecast, the more likely it will change. Expect the forecast for later in the week, especially Wednesday through Friday, to get some updates.
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