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| Wednesday evening snow prediction map. Projected amounts have gone up some, but the high elevations of southern and central Vermont are in the sweet spot for heaviest snow. Looks like everyone in Vermont will get at least a little, though. |
The forecast track of the storm nudged just slightly northward compared to this morning's forecast.
That could well put a band of especially heavy snow into parts of southern and central Vermont for a few hours Thursday afternoon.
The slight adjustment to the forecast would also put central Vermont ski areas in play for several inches of snow. And unlike this morning's predictions, the Champlain Valley now looks like it will get a little snow. Not much, but a little.
The bottom line is depending on which part of Vermont you're in, the storm you experience will be far different than if you a Vermonter in another part of the state.
Details:
The sweet spot still looks like the high elevations of southern Vermont. There, heavy, wet snow will accumulate quickly, especially during the afternoon.
That means roads in that part of the state could become nearly impassable at times. Power outages look like a good bet, and some back roads might be blocked by snow, and fallen branches and trees.
Meanwhile, people in nearby low elevations like Bennington and Brattleboro might wonder what all the fuss is about.
The mid and high elevation heavy snow, or at least heavy-ish, now looks like it will extend to central Vermont. Yay! Sugarbush and Mad River Glen!
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| A classic November landscape in St. Albans on Wednesday with shafts of sun and dark clouds mingling with stick season. By tomorrow afternoon and evening, virtually all of Vermont will have some snow on the ground, and parts of central and southern Vermont will have a lot. |
This storm has a boatload of moisture with it, so that's one reason for the heavy snow potential. It's also a quick mover, so this will be in an out quickly.
Which is why the forecasts don't really call for one of those 20 inch blockbusters. But a foot of snow in some spot is not out of the question.
Things will go downhill in the morning, and start to clear up a few hours after dark Thanksgiving night.
For the record, a winter storm warning is up for the two southernmost counties Vermont, east of Route 7 in Rutland County, east of Route 116 in Addison County, along with all of Windsor, Orange and Washington counties.
Places under the winter storm warning can expect four to nine inches of snow, except locally more in higher elevations. Especially at places like Okemo and Mount Snow.
A winter weather advisory is up for the rest of Vermont except Franklin and Grand Isle counties, where no particular alerts are up. The advisory zone should get one to four inches of new snow.
The Champlain Valley still looks like it'll have a lot of rain mixed in, but there should be a complete changeover to some snow in the later afternoon or evening. So many areas there will see their first accumulations of the season. Though it won't be spectacular.
Bottom Line
Expect highly variable travel conditions in Vermont all day Thanksgiving, but it will be mostly bad on the roads. The higher you go up in elevation, the worse it will get. At times in central and southern Vermont, the snow will accumulate too quickly for road crews to really get on top of it.
The storm will probably peak from late morning to late afternoon or early evening.
If you don't have to travel Thanksgiving day, don't. If you want to get to your Thanksgiving destination safely, try to get there by 7 a.m. tomorrow.
If you want to leave, consider waiting until Friday morning to do so. By then, the storm will be out of our hair, and road crews will have had a chance to clean everything up.
Power outages are most likely in mid and high elevations of southern and central Vermont and are most likely in the afternoon.
For many in Vermont, this will be the biggest Thanksgiving snowstorm since the granddaddy of big humdinger Thanksgiving snows back in 1971.
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