Vermont Still Showery, Locally Stormy As Gulf Coast Keeps Getting Blown Away, Drowned

Sun, clouds, sprinkles and TONS of black flies. That
was the way it was in my St. Albans, Vermont
yard on Monday evening. It rained again later at night. 

UPDATE: 1 PM

It turns out some of the storms that do manage to form in northern and central Vermont could be a little rambunctious this afternoon and early evening.

There seems to be enough instability out there so that a small minority of the the thunderstorms could contain strong, gusty winds and torrential rain, 

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has put much of northern New York and northern New England, including the upper half of Vermont, under a marginal risk of severe storms. 

That's the lowest of a five point alert scale and indicates one per two towns in that alert zone could get a severe storm with damaging winds.

The vast majority of us should just see standard issue showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Do note that lightning is always dangerous even if the parent storm isn't extreme, so head indoors if you hear thunder. 

The best chances of strong to severe storms are just south of where skies have cleared. I would put that give or take near Route 2. 

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

It's a rinse and repeat kinda day here in Vermont as more rounds of showers and maybe a rumble of thunder roll through once again. 

In once sense it's a typical May in the Green Mountain State, as temperatures have hovered fairly close to normal all month so far. Showers have been frequent, too, which is a pretty average state of affairs here.

On the other hands, it's been abnormal, too.  We usually get well defined spells of showery weather with periods of brilliant blue skies in between. Lately, those completely clear skies have been hard to come by. 

Sure, we've had nice enough days and maybe only a day or two has been a washout, but dawn to dusk sunshine has been non-existent since April 26.

Another weird thing is, despite all the showers, the month of May so far is actually a bit drier than average, at least in northern Vermont. Those showers have been on the light side. 

Through Monday. Burlington has collected 0.83 inches of rain, which is two-thirds of an inch on the light side for the month to date. Montpelier had an inch of rain this month through Monday, which is a third of an inch on the light side.  

Even with the slight lack of rain in the north, we are far, far, far from any drought worries. 

Southern Vermont has been doing better. Rutland and Bennington is running above average for rainfall so far this month. 

More showers are filling rain gauges a bit today. As far as heavier rain goes, it will be hit and miss. The showers today are riding roughly west to east along and a little south of a stalled front over southern Quebec. 

The few of us that get hit by two or three downpours will have a soaker. The rest of us, wet, but meh. 

The front will slowly sink southward today, giving almost everybody in the Green Mountain State an opportunity for showers, and maybe a rumble of thunder.  It'll get pretty warm in the south, as it will take awhile for the front to approach that area. A few spots in valleys along and south of Route 4 could make it to 80 degree today.  

Meanwhile, areas near the Canadian border will barely make it to 70.

For the rest of the week, through the weekend and probably into next week, this state of affairs will continue, with almost daily shower chances, and no extended periods of sunny weather in sight. Also, day long washout rains are also pretty unlikely. 

GULF COAST AWFULNESS

At least the showers and storms in Vermont have been gentle garden variety stuff. The Gulf Coast has been pummeled by repeated bouts of severe weather all spring. Over the past couple of weeks, it's only gotten worse.

Wave and wave of storms since last week have traveled from Texas through the Gulf Coast States to Florida. 

The storms caused intense flooding last week north of Houston after more than a foot of rain fell in those areas. Hundreds of people had to be rescued, including some from rooftops of inundated homes. 

Storms lashed the South again Friday, unleashing tornadoes and high winds. Tornadoes were especially destructive around Tallahassee, Florida and in parts of Alabama.

Fresh waves of intense storms again hit the zone from the Texas Gulf Coast to Florida again Monday, hitting Louisiana especially hard. A tornado touched down in Sulfur, Louisiana, and winds gusted to 80 mph in Lafayette. At least two people died in Monday's storms. 

Flash flooding was pretty widespread, too.

No rest for the weary down there, either. A new outbreak of severe storms and tornadoes seems likely Thursday and Friday. 

In areas hit by the most intense flooding, including parts of Texas and Louisiana where some rivers are still at major flood stage, torrential rains are set to hit by Thursday. Up to 10 inches of rain, locally more, are in the forecast there over the next seven days.  

Though severe storms and flooding often hit the Gulf Coast this time of year, it's very odd for the storms to be so persistent.