Strong Winds Cause Some Damage In Vermont, Even Stronger Than Forecast

 Boy, that wind really cranked this afternoon in parts of Vermont. 

Trees strain in the winds this afternoon in St. Albans, Vermont

 That's especially true for this time of year, when gusty winds like that are usually limited to small areas within strong to severe thunderstorms. 

With trees leafed out, all those leaves acted like little sails in the wind, pulling and straining trees and branches much more than they would in the winter. That caused some trees and branches to fall on power lines.

At one point this afternoon, nearly 2,600 homes and businesses were without power, mostly in northwestern Vermont where the wind seemed to be the strongest. The number of outages was down to about 1,200 by 6 p.m. 

The strong winds spread brush fires along Route 2 in Colchester and South Hero, but firefighters, with an assist from late afternoon rain, put a stop to that. 

Although we don't have a lot of official reports, winds clearly gusted to more than 40 mph, perhaps to near 50 mph in a few spots. 

There could be more non-thunderstorm related strong gusts this evening, but those should diminish later.

Northern and central New York is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 9 p.m.  Strong winds, hail and even perhaps a brief tornado could spin up there. 

The air over Vermont is more stable, so as that activity moves in to our neck of the woods, the storms are no longer severe. But heavy downpours and more local gusty winds are still possible. 

One band of locally heavy rain was moving into Vermont as of 6 p.m. A line of potentially severe storms lurks behind that in northwestern New York. By the time that second line arrives in Vermont later this evening, I doubt there will be any severe weather with it. Just some more downpours. 

Most of us should see about a half inch of rain, but some places will see more if they get bullseyed by the heaviest showers this evening and overnight. 

Tomorrow will stay mild, with a chance of a few more showers. We're still looking at a brief return to cooler weather for the second half of the week before it turns warm again.