Vermont's Annual Spring Leap Forward Is Well Underway. It's A Very Wet Version

Crocuses happily soak up the sun Tuesday in
St. Albans, Vermont. The same crocuses were 
buried under 14 inches of snow just last Friday morning. 

 Pretty much every year that I can remember, after the usual fits and starts and disappointments of early spring, the season has a glorious week in which the season charges forward and the landscape dramatically changes and greens up.  

Vermont is now in the midst of this big spring push, and it is glorious.  This year's "sudden spring" seems even more abrupt than most years. Even if the forecast going forward the rest of this week is very wet.

There's still some risk of flooding in play between now and the weekend, but nothing extreme. 

 Be cautious around rivers and streams. The rain mountain snow melt has Vermont waterways quite high and cold and strong, and that will continue at least through the next several days.  

Can we first talk about how stunningly gorgeous Tuesday was.

Burlington hit 70 degrees for the first time this year. It was just a little ahead of schedule, as the average first 70 in recent decades comes around April 16, according to the National Weather Service in South Burlington. 

There was a smattering of record highs across New York State, as temperatures reached the 70s from Buffalo to Albany. 

Around my house in St. Albans, Vermont, the last of the snow we got a few days ago disappeared in a flash. Crocuses erupted into bloom, and all of a sudden most of my daffodils have flower buds. Tree buds swelled noticeably.  

More crocuses seemingly in a good mood Tuesday. 

This trend will continue. 

TODAY/TOMORROW

Because of the clouds that have moved, today will be cooler, but still mild for the second week in April. It'll get well into the 50s, maybe near 60 in the warmest spots. 

We've already had some showers early this morning. After a break in the rain this morning, more April showers will move in. It'll be kind of gusty out there, too.   

Here's another sign of the season: There's a very slight chance of a rumble of thunder or two.  As spring advances toward summer, thunderstorms become more and more likely.  Today, by the way, isn't the final chance of thunder this week. More on that in a bit, too. 

There will be a lull in the showers tonight, but they'll re-blossom Thursday as a big storm from the southern United States heads north, sending a warm front our way. It'll still be just seasonably mild, in the 50s to near 60.

STORMY END OF WEEK

That developing storm was responsible for severe weather and flooding in the South Tuesday. Today, that southern outbreak of severe storms, tornadoes and flooding will become more intense. 

We in Vermont are not in danger of that, but it goes to show how dynamic the storm is. It'll go by well to our west, so it'll bring a slug of warm, humid air with it. 

The strong storm will bring fitful bursts of showers Thursday night, and some pretty strong, gusty winds. The winds probably won't be strong enough to cause widespread power issues. Probably just a few isolated instances.  

Visible satellite photo from Tuesday shows
 snow remaining in the Green Mountains of
Vermont. Much of that snow will melt
in this week's warm, rainy weather, which
will keep rivers high and possibly help
prompt some minor flooding. 

The warm winds will turn the night humid for this time of year, and you'll notice it when you get up Friday morning. It won't be oppressive like summer, but it will feel vaguely summer-like.

Friday is a bit of a wildcard. The storm's cold front will be coming in.  If it runs behind schedule and a little clearing takes place before it gets here, it could get up to 70 degrees or more, with a risk of at least some thunderstorms with downpours. 

If there's a lot of clouds ahead of the front and/or it comes through early in the day, it will bring another batch of rain with it, but not much in the way of thunderstorms. 

By Friday afternoon, we will have had several rounds of rain. The warm humid air will have melted a lot of snow from high elevations. Rivers will be running bank-full, and some might go into minor flood stage

Also, if thunderstorms can get going Friday, their downpours could lead to local flash floods in spots. We're not getting into anything like the constant flash floods of last summer, but there could be spots of trouble

BEYOND FRIDAY

We'll have a brief spell of raw, cloudy, chilly, showery weather on Saturday, with temperatures actually a little cooler than normal. (Highs in the 40s to near 50). There could even be some snow at very high elevations, mostly above 2,000 feet. 

It'll warm up again next week. At least for while. 

I'm sure we're not done here in Vermont with snow, hard freezes, and chilly days. We still get those into May during many springs.  But at least we get to enjoy the buds, the greening grass and all those wonderful signs of life we've been waiting for all winter.