May 18, 2023 In Vermont: Winter. May 18, 2024 In Vermont: Summer. Then What?

Brown, ruined blossoms after the devastating
Vermont freeze on May 18, 2023.

 Exactly one year ago today, May 18, we were waking up to icy carnage in the gardens and the orchards.  

After an early, warm spring, temperatures fell to record lows. Most of us were well down into the 20s. A few places were in the teens.

Blooming apple orchards, vineyards, strawberry patches, gardens and even whole trees were decimated by the freeze. It was officially an agricultural disaster.

The freeze was the opening salvo in what turned out to be a summer of misery. After a brief late spring drought, clouds and humidity set siege for the rest of the summer. That wet air allowed frequent, torrential downpours which led to some of the most destructive flooding in Vermont history. 

By contrast, this morning, after a sort of warm spring, temperatures at dawn were on the warm side for the season. Most of us were in the 50s to low 60s, pretty far from the freezing mark. And we're in for a true summery stretch of weather. 

The contrast between the two years began in earnest May 17. 

On May 17, 2023, high temperatures in Vermont  never got out of the 40s, and snow flurries blew around in the chilly pre-freeze wind. Burlington managed a high temperature of just 48 degrees, a bit cooler than the average low for this time of year. Montpelier had  high of 42. 

On May 17, 2024, Burlington saw its first 80 degree reading of the season. The end of the day was punctuated by a small, brief, summer-like thunderstorms. Looking ahead, we have several more days during the upcoming week that should also reach into the 80s.   

By contrast, apple blossoms are doing just fine
in this frost-free May, 2024. 

I definitely hope the placid stretch of weather we're seeing this year is a precursor for a quiet summer. 

As of now, no super extreme temperatures are in the forecast, though expected temperatures in the mid-80s by Tuesday are awfully far above normal. (The record high on Tuesday is 92 degrees.)

At the moment, soil moisture seems neither particularly wet (except maybe in the Northeast Kingdom), nor excessively dry. 

Last year we went from drought in early June to floods by early July. 

We might see hints of wildfire smoke over the coming days and weeks from Canadian wildfires. But at least so far, no big dense smoke attacks seem to be in the offing, like they were on occasion from late May through July last year.

On a post I put out on May 4, I referred to the Goldilocks whether we'd been having - not too hot, cold, wet or dry. That Goldilocks trend has continued since then. 

I hope it continues for the rest of the summer, but who knows? Long range forecasts call for an oppressively hot, perhaps humid summer. I hope not. 

Wouldn't you just love to have just one standard, old fashioned Vermont summer for a change? You know, afternoons in the low 80s with minimal humidity, warm enough to hit the swimming hole, but  comfortable enough for a hike or garden work. 

How about some nice July starlit nights with lows down in the 50s? The kind where you leave your windows open and sleep comfortably in the cool fragrant summer air coming  into the house?

In this age of climate change, that might just be a pipe dream. Extremes are happening everywhere. Ask the folks down in Houston. Or flood-ravaged Brazil, Or heat wave-addled Asia. 

I just figure the other shoe will drop, and us Vermonters will suffer through something ranging from unpleasant to dangerous in the coming months. 

Maybe I'll be wrong. Maybe Goldilocks will bring us that idyllic comfortable summer, 

A guy can dream, right?