Wednesday Was Odd Weather Day Here In Vermont While Tornadoes Continue To Pummel Elsewhere

 It was quite a hit and miss day in Vermont Wednesday when, as expected, a few strong or at least strong-ish storms passed through a few areas.  

Storm clouds over St. Albans, Vermont Wednesday 
afternoon were all bark and no bite, but some areas
of the state had gusty thunderstorms with small hail.

During the afternoon, a front was draped across far northern Vermont. I noticed the temperature popped into the upper 60s in Burlington, while it stayed in the low to mid 50s less than 30 miles to the north in St. Albans.

That contrast, along with some pretty good instability in the air, helped create a couple waves of strong thunderstorms across northern Vermont, immediately to the south of the colder air dammed up along the Canadian border. 

The storms prompted the National Weather Service office in South Burlington to issue some special weather statements in Vermont and one severe thunderstorm warning in the Northeast Kingdom.

I don't see any damage reports but I'm sure some places saw some gusty winds and at least small hail.

Another storm crossed south central Vermont, again probably with gusty winds and small hail.  

As you'd expect, rainfall was hit and miss. The storms skirted just north of Burlington, so they only had a total of 0.08 inches of rain Wednesday. I'm sure towns other towns that got the storms closed in on a half inch of rain at least 

The afternoon started sunnier and warmer in southern New England so some storms there were indeed severe.  I saw several reports of quarter sized hail in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 

LOOKING AHEAD

The forecast over the next few days in Vermont have trended somewhat drier, but there will be a chance of showers probably daily through next Tuesday at least.

However, none of these days look like a washout. Earlier forecasts has steady rain for most of the day Friday and possibly Sunday. Now it looks showery. 

It will all be hit and miss, but I doubt we'll have the kind of local downpours we saw Wednesday. It'll be on the cool side through the weekend, but nothing extreme for this time of year.  Highs will reach the 50s to near 60 daily today through Sunday, then trend somewhat warmer next week.  I don't see any frost in the forecast for the next week at least. 

TORNADOES CONTINUE 

At least 13 more tornadoes touched down Wednesday, mostly in Tennessee and Missouri, and I think more will be added to the list as National Weather Service meteorologists analyze damage swaths in the coming days.  

The tornado and severe storm threat rolls on today,
mostly in the south. Areas in yellow and 
especially orange are most at risk. 

This brings the total number of tornadoes in the United States to 89 since Monday. Through Tuesday, some 639 tornadoes had been reported in the U.S. so far this year, so we're ahead of normal. 

Sadly, three more deaths were reported in Wednesday's storms, though it's unclear whether all of victims died in tornadoes or severe thunderstorms. Seriously flash flooding also hit parts of Tennessee.

The southern storms continue to roll on this morning, 

Already, severe storms and likely tornadoes have been reported in and around Huntsville, Alabama overnight. People were being advised to avoid downtown Huntsville early this morning due to storm damage. 

Today, the tornado and severe thunderstorm threat will extend along a broad band from central Texas, across the Gulf Coast states all the way to the Carolinas. Already, as of 8 a.m. tornado watches were up for northern sections of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, including the Atlanta metro area.