A Classic, Perfect Vermont Autumn Day To Be Followed By More Fall Greatness

A snowy Mount Mansfield on Thursday as viewed
from Underhill, Vermont. 

I really have to rate Thursday probably among the top five most perfect autumn weather days in Vermont that I can remember. 

Which is impressive, since I've lived in this state for a mere 62 years. 

The day started with a very traditional October frost, which left the lawn looking oddly clean thanks to  the sparkling ice crystals as the sun rose into a clear sky.

What followed was perfectly blue skies from dawn to dusk. The northern Green Mountains were topped with dazzling cold white snow, which contrasted fantastically with the warm orange, red and yellow tones of the fall foliage. This was all under the most brilliant of blue skies. 

Temperatures were perfect. The air had that clean crispness of autumn. Speaking of clean, the air quality couldn't have been better.  I checked the air quality index and for most of us, it hovered around 10. Anything between 0 and 50 is good, and it's rare to get the index down to 10.

Breathing the air Thursday was almost like pure oxygen therapy. I'm sure my lungs are cleaner now than they were 24 hours ago. 

The day ended with a view of a comet after sunset, followed by the October hunter super moon rising in the east and illuminating the night sky.  They're calling it a super moon because it's a little closer to Earth than usual, making the moon appear a bit bigger and shine more brilliantly. 

In other words, Thursday it was classic, old fashioned kind of Vermont autumn day. Which felt oddly reassuring.  

In this age of climate change and its associated scary weather moments, it felt good to have an October day, the kind I remember as a kid. It was nice to experience gorgeous "normal" weather. Granted the fall foliage is later in the season than I can recall decades ago, but let's just ignore that for now.  

MORE FANTASTIC WEATHER

If you missed the perfection of Thursday's Vermont weather, you're in luck.  I've issued a Gorgeous Weather Warning that's in effect today through Sunday. And I might need to extend that warning into early next week as well.  

Another view of Mount Mansfield as seen from
Underhill, Vermont on Thursday.

Today is pretty much rinse and repeat of Thursday.  Temperatures were just a couple degrees warmer at dawn today than yesterday, but many of us still have frost on the pumpkin, so to speak. 

It'll be another day of wall to wall sunshine, blue skies and clean air. It will be a little warmer than Thursday, with highs in several areas topping out in the low to mid 60s. 

The only thing making today and the next few days "worse" than Thursday is the snow on top of the mountains will be gradually fading as it melts in the late season sun.

 But it will take a little while. The foot of snow measured atop Mount Mansfield on Wednesday was the deepest for so early in the season. 

The weekend will feature plenty of sunshine as well, as well as temperatures getting even milder. A few places will probably at least flirt with 70 degrees on Sunday. 

By early next week, Indian Summer should be in full swing with afternoon highs at least into the low 70s. 

The next chance of rain - and it won't be much - will probably come along with a cold front Wednesday night or Thursday which would knock temperature back down to seasonable late October readings.