Minor Weather Annoyances, But Mostly Smooth Sailing Through Vermont Christmas Holiday

The elves at the North Pole leaked this photo of just a 
tiny, tiny, tiny percentage of presents Santa has prepared to
deliver to Vermonters. Although there might be
some low clouds and a little fog Christmas Eve,
Santa, guided by Rudolph's nose, will have 
absolutely no weather trouble with his 
Vermont deliveries to children across the state and beyond.

 It's Christmas Eve Eve this Saturday, and I'm sure people are doing their last minute holiday shopping. 

I heard it was a zoo in and near many Vermont downtowns and shopping malls on Friday, and I expect the same today. And Sunday, Christmas Eve.   

We still don't have too many weather problems to report for this holiday, but as always, there are some minor complications.

After a spell of relatively cool weather, it's turning mild again, and it will stay that way through Christmas Day and beyond. The chances of a white Christmas still look bleak. 

And the skies will be rather gloomy much of the time as well.

The deets:

SATURDAY/SATURDAY NIGHT

Expect clouds all day as temperatures creep up to a little above freezing by afternoon.  

One little issue comes through this evening and tonight. A weak, dying storm is heading in from the west. It seems destined to drop just a little scattered snow, sprinkles and freezing rain sprinkles across much of the area, especially south and west of Interstate 89.

This isn't a huge deal at all, but it could be enough to cause some spotty icy spots on the roads between late this afternoon and midnight tonight. Just be aware. 

CHRISTMAS EVE

Warm, but gloomy, but no real weather issues. Under overcast skies temperatures should rise to near 40. That would melt the tiny bits of snow on the ground in some valleys in Vermont. 

 Clouds and maybe a little fog will probably last into the night. But the low clouds and light fog will be no match for Rudolph's nose and Santa's sleigh.  Old St. Nick will be able to deliver his presents to Vermont children without any trouble at all. 

CHRISTMAS DAY

Forecasters are going with partly sunny on Christmas Day, but I'm a little skeptical on how much the clouds clear out. Many spots in Vermont could stay cloudy all day.  If it gets sunny, as it might, consider that a bonus. 

It will be really warm for this time of year, so it'll be easy to go for walks to work off any Christmas feasts. Highs should make it into the low 40s, with upper 30s in the higher towns. No rain or snow or schmutz  is in the forecast on Christmas.

WARM AND WET OUTLOOK

This will be another long warm spell, especially during the nights. For instance, temperatures will barely hit 32 in the Champlain Valley tonight, and are then expected to stay continuously above freezing from early Saturday morning through Thursday evening. That's an oddly long time for that kind of thing in late December. 

Highs through the period look to be in the 40s. That wont break any records, but it's still toasty for this time of year,

Even worse, it appears we have another rain storm to deal with. Rain seems likely from later Tuesday through Thursday. 

Unlike the last storm, the rain won't be especially heavy - much less than we saw on Monday.  Plus there's not that much snow left to melt. Which means we're NOT in for another flood, thank goodness. 

But rivers will rise just a bit, but stay in their banks. And it will keep Lake Champlain near minor flood stage. The worst of it is that the rain will hit even in the mountains, so that's bad news for the ski areas and other winter sports venues.

If you want winter weather to finally arrive, there's a glimmer of hope. If long range forecasts turn out to be true, a somewhat colder, but not super stormy weather pattern could hit as we welcome the New Year.