Monday Noon Update: Storm/Flooding Is Worse In Vermont Than Expected, Of Course

Town of Waitsfield posted this photo of a flooded
road in town to Facebook. Dozens of Vermont
roads are closed due to flooding this afternoon.

I've got a little time for a noon update.  

Rainfall has over-performed in Vermont, and the result has been some damaging flooding.

It's not as bad as in July, but it is serious. There are plenty of reports of road closures, and some property damage. Water got into the Moretown Elementary School, forcing it to shut down for the day. 

There have also been some road washouts reported across the state. Sections of a few dozen roads at least are closed or at least under water. Flood warnings cover large swaths of Vermont this afternoon. There's no one place it seems that has been hit particularly hard. It's every corner of the state. 

Among the roads closed are several around Chester, Route 14 in Sharon and numerous roads in and around Chester. This is kind of concerning because the area under the flood warning was especially hard hit during the July flood.

I don't know whether the landscape was left unstable after the July flood, making it more prone to problems now.  

Some pretty strong winds have been reported in eastern Vermont, and along the western slopes of the Green Mountains. Nearly 4,000 homes and businesses were without power as of 12:30 pm. 

The path of the storm so far, pretty much headed up the Champlain Valley, has caused some weird contrasts. There's record warmth, odd December humidity and gusty winds in most of Vermont. Temperatures are in the upper 50s to low 60s.

But in the immediate Champlain Valley, winds are much lighter and temperatures are holding in the upper 40s. 

It seems like most of the heaviest rain was just moving out of Vermont as of 12:30 p.m. There's one more batch to get through, with the storm center itself. That might help local runoff calm down a little bit. Another batch of heavy rain looks like it might move through during the mid-afternoon.

Mainstem rivers will get higher tonight, overnight and early Tuesday than earlier expected. Again, not July levels, but we'll see lots of moderate flooding at least.

Be careful on the roads through tonight. There's high water and potential washouts everywhere. 

I'll have a much more detailed update this evening. By then the storm should be waning, but there will be updated news and forecasts on flooding which will certainly be ongoing even if the rain is starting to taper off by then.