Chilly, Unsettled Weather To Continue In Vermont For At Least A Week

Photo taken near the summit of Killington Mountain
Thursday morning. Yep, it's that time of year when
Vermont's mountains start to see snow. 

 As anticipated, reality has finally hit Vermont as much more average autumn weather has hit in a year that has so far been mostly oddly warm. 

Although we don't anticipate any weirdly cold weather, the chill will probably be the most sustained spell of such weather we've seen in many, many months.

It started in earnest yesterday, as Vermont's summits started the day with a fresh, light coat of snow, and many parts of the state stayed in the 40s all day.

Thursday's high temperature of 52 degrees in Burlington was the nippiest high temperature since April 25.

The cloudiness that contributed to those chilly Thursday temperatures lingered in most of Vermont all night, mostly robbing us of the chance to see a spectacular northern lights display that was viewed as far south as North Carolina and probably even below that. 

A few places in Vermont caught glimpses of the display within small breaks in the clouds, but that's about it. There were some good views in a couple spots in low elevations of southern Vermont as skies partly cleared there. 

Those of you who missed out on the northern lights and are still hankering for some nice photos should probably head toward the Green Mountains today.  As skies clear, the fall foliage will look especially lovely with snow capped mountains in the background. 

That snow up there will melt today as we get a quick squirt of mild air.  It'll probably get into the 60s in many valleys.  The leaf peeping tourists will be happy. Enjoy it, as it won't last. 

A long spell of chilly, often rainy, locally snowy and windy conditions are in store. That will probably pretty much end foliage season in the Northeast Kingdom and higher elevations. Warmer, lower elevations will probably manage to hang on to the colors. 

SATURDAY COLD FRONT

A strong but relatively dry cold front should come through early Saturday. Most of us should only get a tenth of an inch of rain or less. Some places, especially south, might get nothing. 

But the front will hold Saturday's temperatures in the 50s, and gusty northwest winds will make it feel colder, and blow some of the leaves off the trees. It'll get cold Saturday night. Many places in Vermont have still not gotten their first frost of the season, which is oddly late away from the Champlain Valley.

I think frost might well be fairly widespread Saturday night and early Sunday, especially away from the Champlain Valley, so you'll want to bring in your sensitive plants. And probably call it a season for your gardens. 

STRONG, COLD STORM

No rest for the weary after Saturday's cool weather.  A fairly vigorous, cold storm seems to be in the works later Sunday and Monday.  Now is about the time of year when storms tend to be larger, stronger, windier and more organized than they are in the summer and early autumn. So it's pretty much no surprise this is happening. 

This storm won't be a blockbuster, but it will be noticeable for sure. 

Clouds should increase Sunday and as it stands now, rain will break out later in the day.  Well will probably have a soaking rain Sunday night and at least a chunk of Monday. That could be mixed with sleet and snow in the high elevations, as it could get cold enough for that. 

Although this won't exactly be a winter storm, forecasters are still unsure how cold it will get, so I don't yet know the extent of any snow or sleet Sunday night and Monday. Stay tuned!

Next week, after the storm, we'll have a chilly, northwest flow. It'll be a familiar wintertime pattern actually, that we see very often in the colder half of the year 

Cold, wet northwest winds will wrap around storminess to our northeast in the Canadian Maritimes. That means we could have plenty of rain and snow showers around. Maybe, just maybe if things work out right, that could mean some real accumulating snows along the upper western slopes and summits of the Green Mountains. 

Then, once and if skies clear, we could get into some real frost and freezes toward the end of next week. 

This type of cold spell is actually pretty typical for mid-October, so this chill won't exactly re-write the history books. 

Also, these cool spells in October are very often followed by a nice spell of Indian Summer. There's actually some signs that kind of thing might happen starting in about maybe in a week or 8 or so days from now.