As Expected, Line of Heavy Snow Disrupted Morning Commute; Big Chill Roaring In

Interstate 89 in Colchester as the heavy snow
showers passed through this morning. If you 
look closely in upper left corner, it looks like
a car is off the road and in a ditch. 

It's another blustery, snowy morning in at least parts of Vermont this morning, as expected. Our Arctic front is coming though, and with it, some heavy snow showers. 

As of 7:30 a.m. a narrow band of heavy snow was in a southwest to northeast oriented band over Chittenden County and northern Vermont near the Green Mountains.

 It was heading southeastward, ,continuing to head down Interstate 89 toward Montpelier. The burst of heavy snow was approaching Waterbury as of 8:30 a.m. 

It wasn't quite considered a snow squall as of this writing, but it was close. Underneath this burst of snow, visibility is really bad and the roads got from clear to snowy in a flash.  

Traffic cams showed Interstate 89 going from near-perfect to snow covered and pretty gnarly within minutes when the heavy snow band arrives 

The snow doesn't stop after the almost-snow squall goes through. More snow showers continue after it, so road crews won't immediately be able to get road conditions pristine. It was still snowing at a decent clip here in St. Albans an hour and a half after that initial band of heavier snow came through. 

In fact, it looks like a second heavy band of snow was setting up over Franklin County, and that could cause more trouble across northwest and north-central Vermont between 8:30 am. and mid-morning. 

Bottom line, if it has already snowed where you are in northern Vermont, the road conditions won't get better fast. If it hasn't snowed yet where you are, you'll see a quick shift to those icy roads. 

The line of snow will reach southern and eastern Vermont later this morning, maybe very early in the afternoon down toward the southeast corner.

THE ARCTIC BLAST

Traffic cam image from this morning after the worst
of the sow had passed shows traffic backed up
on northbound Interstate 89 between South Burlington
and Colchester, due to reported crashes. 

After most of the snow clears, today will not be a nice one.  Gusty north winds up to 30 mph will blow the snow around, and the temperatures will crash. High temperatures near 30 this morning will be falling through the teens this afternoon. 

The forecast for tonight is unchanged. The winds will diminish a little, but still be strong enough to get wind chills as low as the teens below zero.  

Actual temperatures are still going to bottom out tomorrow morning within a few degrees either side of zero. 

This is going to be a particularly brutal cold snap up in the mountains. I'd forget the back country skiing this afternoon and tonight. 

If you want extremes, the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire is expecting lows overnight that could threaten the record low of 21 below.  Add in Mount Washington's usual extreme winds and that makes things outdoors unsurvivable up there.   

It stays cold tomorrow, then it'll marginally warm up Saturday, just in time for the next Arctic front. The worst of the next cold snap, with highs in the teens and lows in the single numbers above or below zero, will run from Sunday night through Tuesday morning. 

At this point, unless something changes that I don't yet know about, it should stay generally colder than normal most days around here at least through about December 20.

Snow Squalls To Screw Up Thursday Morning Vermont Commute, Long Cold Spell Still On Tap

Inside a St. Albans, Vermont snow squall in 2021.
At least some places in Vermont will have scenes
like this tomorrow morning 

The snow squall risk for Thursday we've been talking about all week still looks to be on schedule for tomorrow morning. 

That Arctic cold front  is expected to collide with a lake affect snow band that will be oriented southwest to northwest over northwest New York. This will at least temporarily add oomph to an already strong cold front. 

That means there's an excellent chance of snow showers and - very likely - snow squalls tomorrow morning. 

The timing of this is everything, since a lot of people will be headed to work or school when this blast of snow comes through. 

Sometime during the morning commute, this expected line of snow squalls will basically travel down Interstate 89 to Montpelier and beyond. The squalls will affect most of the rest of Vermont as well, but I'm highlighting the Interstate as it's the main travel corridor in Vermont. 

Plus, since Interstate 89 is a high speed highway, a sudden blast of near-whiteout conditions hitting fairly fast moving cars is a recipe for trouble. 

The goal might be to get to work or school before the squalls hit, or postpone travel until an hour or two after they pass. But pinning down the exact timing is tough. 

We have a general idea. As of late this afternoon, the guess is the line would hit St. Albans around 5 or 6 a.m., then make it down to Burlington and surrounding communities a little after 6 to around 7 a.m., give or take. By 9 or 10 a.m., the squalls might be somewhere in central Vermont, maybe Montpelier. 

Different computer models have different timing for the band of snow squalls. Two of the models I checked out late this afternoon has the line of snow squalls up by St. Albans at 6 a.m. Another has it between St.Albans and Burlington at that hour. Another computer model is fastest with the line, bringing it through Burlington and a little past Burlington by 6 a.m.

You'll want to listen for snow squall warnings from the National Weather Service tomorrow morning to get an idea of where they are. Snow squall warnings are very much like severe thunderstorm warnings in the summer. Each warning covers a relatively small area, like one county or parts of adjacent counties. 

Even after the potential squalls go by, we're not out of the woods. There will still be some more snow showers for awhile. Though not as intense as snow squalls, they'll still cut visibility, and strong northwest winds will blow the snow around. 

PLUNGING TEMPERATURES

NOAA's 6 to10 day outlook, issued today,
places the greatest chance of colder 
than normal temperatures right over us. 

It feels too early for this, but forget about it getting above freezing for long while. 

Perhaps even in the banana belt towns in southern Vermont and the Champlain Valley. Normal highs in Burlington are in the mid to perhaps upper 30s this time of year. 

We won't see anything like that for at least 10 days, maybe more, I think. 

The initial temperature plunge coming up tomorrow and tomorrow night will arguably be the worst of the lot. 

It'll he near 30 degrees early tomorrow before the Arctic front hits. Temperatures will plunged through the 20s and teens during the days as blustery northwest winds drop the wind chill below zero for most of us. 

It still looks like Friday morning will dawn with temperatures within a few degrees either side of zero. 

This sounds like a load of fun, doesn't it?

After a cold Friday, it'll actually warm up a little Saturday. Compared to Friday, it will be tropical heat, as we might make it into the low 30s.

Then, it's another Arctic blast for early next week. And it looks like it wants to stay nippy at least into the middle of the month. NOAA's longer range forecasts indicate the spot in the nation with the greatest chance of below normal temperatures is right here in New England.   

I'm only bringing this up to jinx it. Maybe if I tout a long range forecast like this, we'll get some unexpected warmth. Just don't bet your next paycheck,on that. 

There will be occasional chances of snow, and whatever falls would obviously stick. But unless there's some sort of surprise, I don't see any big dumps on the horizon. 

Ice Barbie Exults Glorious Leader Trump For PreventIng U.S. Hurricanes Landfalls In 2025,

Kristi "Ice Barbie" Noem praised Donald Trump 
yesterday for keeping hurricanes away from the U.S.
My guess is he used a Sharpie to do that. 

Hurricane season ended last Sunday, and with that, we can rejoice that the United States was not hit by a hurricane this year for the first time since 2015. 

And to whom do we owe that great fortune? President Trump himself! 

We learned this via one of Trump's cabinet meetings, this one held on Tuesday. .You know the ones, where each cabinet secretary praise glorious leader to an extreme that would make North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jung-Un blush.  

Meanwhile, Trump snoozes. 

Which gets me to the hurricane story. None other that Homeland Secretary Kristi "Ice Barbie" Noem, said to "daddy" this gem. "Sir, you made it through hurricane season without a hurricane....Even you kept the hurricanes away. We appreciate that."

Well, I for one definitely appreciate that the U.S. was not hit by a hurricane this year. Gawd knows we have enough problems with adding hurricanes to the mix. 

Ice Barbie did not disclose how Trump kept the hurricanes away. My guess is with a Sharpie, but I don't know how exactly he pulled that off.   

I do see a scandal brewing Trump's Great Hurricane Accomplishment, though. Trump somehow failed to prevent that big flood during the July 4 weekend, the one that killed 135 people, several of whom were girls at a Christian summer camp. 

Christian summer camp? You would have thought the god-like Trump would have intervened, since he and his MAGA follows tell us they're such good Christians. 

There was, of course, trouble with hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean this year. Hurricane Melissa devastated parts of Jamaica in late October.  I don't think Trump had any influence on that storm, but what does he care? It's not as if he's into helping other nations anyway. 

Other hurricanes that did not hit the United States still caused trouble, like stirring up waves that washed seaside homes on the Outer Banks of North Carolina into the ocean. I guess Trump should have nudged those storms further out to sea, or made the go away with his Big Beautiful Bill, or some damn thing. 

Meanwhile, I'm not really happy with the weather here in Vermont. We're expecting snow squalls and bitterly cold air. Can't Trump push that away from us?

Oh, wait, we're a blue state. He's probably pulling that wintry weather our way as punishment. Even if he has to import it from Canada. What is the tariff rate on cold fronts? 

Quick Wednesday Morning Update: Snow Totals From Tuesday, Squalls Thursday, Then Bitter Cold

Traffic cam shot of snowy Route 7 in Shaftsbury 
Vermont Tuesday. That part of Vermont generally
got the most snow out of yesterday's storm. 

 I've got some very early appointments today, so just a brief update to start the day on yesterday's snow, and what's coming next. 

The snowfall yesterday pretty much matched the forecast with the most falling in southern Vermont. The Northeast Kingdom did well, too.

The highest totals I've seen so far are 10.6 inches in Manchester Center; 8.7 inches in Arlington; 8.5 inches in Landgrave, and 8 inches in Pawlet.

Northeast Kingdom totals included 8.6 inches in Lyndonville and several reports in the 6.5 to 7.3 inch range. 

In the Champlain Valley, it was mostly three to six inches, about as expected. Central Vermont generally had five or six inches. Again, that's pretty close to what the National Weather Service had forecast 

It stopped snowing hours ago, but it's cold out there this morning - mostly in the teens. I'm sure there are some slick spots on the roads. I can hear the scraping outside of state plow trucks trying to finish cleaning up. 

Today will be the calm before the next storm. It will be winter cold today, with everyone except maybe a few people in southern Vermont valleys staying below freezing

ARCTIC FRONT

We're still looking at that terrible cold front coming at us tomorrow morning with its band of snow squalls. The National Weather Service in South Burlington remains worried about tomorrow morning's commute in the Champlain Valley. 

It was bad enough with the gentle snow we had yesterday. There's a good chance this front will barrel in with a band of snow squalls.  These would cause abrupt, almost whiteout conditions, a quick one to two inches of snow and gusts to 30 mph. 

Yeah, I'm staying put at home tomorrow morning. I'll just huddle under blankets with Henry the Weather Dog. 

We're still looking at the timing of these, but so far, it looks like these might come through the Champlain Valley at between 7 and 9 a.m. or so.  The rest of Vermont might get these squalls, too, but at least they would come through between mid-morning and early afternoon, when the roads are a bit less busy. 

Winter is here with a vengeance, and it's not easing up anytime soon. I would say at least half of Vermont will be below zero by early Friday morning, and the rest of us will be damn close to it. 

I don't see any big storms on the horizon at this point. But I do see repeated cold fronts with reinforcing shots of nasty cold air at least through most of next week, if to beyond that. 

Snowstorm In Vermont Ending This Evening, Snow On Ground To Remain For Long Time

Vermont State Police posted this photo to Facebook
today. It was one of dozens of crashes they've dealt
with amid our day-long snowstorm. Roads remain
iffy through this evening, and probably 
into tomorrow morning. 

A few last narrow bands of fairly heavy snow were moving through Vermont as of 5 p.m. today, which will be the last harrah of our snowstorm. 

I see that there has been widespread four to five inches snow reports as of late this afternoon across Vermont. 

My place in St. Albans is lagging behind with 2.9 inches, as the drier air coming in from the northwest made an early appearance midafternoon. Burlington had 3.7 inches of snow as of 4:30 p.m. 

The snow had really tapered off by around 3:30 or so in most of northwest Vermont, which raised hopes of an easier commute this evening. But radar shows a final burst of moderate snow moving in, which is complicating the trip home. 

A more substantial band of heavier snow was extending across southern Vermont, running from Bennington County and going up toward White River Junction.

This area of somewhat heavier snow will probably help ensure the southeast half of Vermont will get the five to 10 inches of snow that had been forecast. 

This snow will keep the roads crappy for awhile yet.  As we mentioned early this afternoon, there had already been a bunch of wrecks. Vermont State Police provided the following update at around 4 p.m. today:

"Troopers have been busy keeping up with crashes, responding to 27 weather-related wrecks in the northern half of Vermont and 23 in the souther half from midnight to 2 p.m. Tuesday. Of the crashes, 17 took places on interstate highways, one with a reported injury, and 33 occurred on secondary roads, three with injuries."

I guarantee additional crashes this evening, unfortunately. Keep it slow and steady out there on the roads, folks. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Going forward through this evening, the remains snow that is falling in the northwest half of Vermont will quickly come to an end, shutting down northwest to southeast like we've been anticipating. It'll take longer to stop snowing in southeast Vermont. 

The northwest half of the state should be done with this between 6 to 8 p.m. or so. Central Vermont might have to wait until as late as 9 p.m. or so to see the snow stop. Southeastern Vermont will keep it going until around 11 p.m., give or take.

When you get up to go to work or school early tomorrow, you'll unfortunately still need to be a little careful on the roads. Yeah, I'm already sick of it, too. .It won't be snowing, but with temperatures falling into the teens to around 20, things will have frozen up pretty well. .

Be especially careful on bridges and overpasses. The ground is still kind of warm. That, and road salt, might make the overall road conditions not too bad. But the bridges won't have the benefit of the warm-ish ground underneath, so they'll have some black ice. Zipping along at 60 to 70 mph and then hitting the black ice at the bridges is not fun, let me tell you. 

Under partly sunny, chilly skies, the snow cleanup should finish up pretty well, even on the back roads. It'll be a fantastic day for winter sports statewide. 

THURSDAY TROUBLE

The next problem comes Thursday, with that Arctic cold front we've been talking about. That front still looks like it will come through during the morning, maybe early afternoon in southeastern Vermont. 

It should have a band of snow showers and snow squalls with it. That band of potential squalls could dump a quick inch of snow in a half hour to an hour. That means horrible visibility on the roads, which will quickly ice over.

Then, during the day, temperatures will crash amid frigid northwest gusts to over 30 mph. Look out for blowing snow, and keep your thickest winter coats ready, as wind chills will sink well below zero why nightfall.

Temperatures overnight will drop to within a few degrees either side of zero. That kind of weather is a bit earlier than usual in the season. Not record breaking, but still. 

The sharp contrast between the still relatively warm waters of Lake Champlain and the frigid air might create a few cold air funnels over the lake Thursday night and Friday. If you can brave the cold, you might want to get up very early Friday and check it out if you live nearby. 

It'll stay colder than we're used to at least into mid-month. 

I won't have a full report early tomorrow morning on the storm because I've got some appointments to take care of.  But I will do that later in the day and provide any update to the frigid weather that's going to blast down on us. 

Midway Through Snowstorm, Roads Are A Mess, Crashes Increasing In Vermont

Interstate 89 near Exit 16 in Colchester definitely
looked worse at noon today than it did when I '
posted a photo of the same location at around
7 a.m. this morning. There's been quite a few
crashes. Let's be careful out there! 

It's early afternoon now, and we're midway through our Vermont snowstorm. 

The snow isn't just hitting us, of course. Roads have been a mess from the Midwest to the central Appalachians and on into New England.  

One dramatic crash was down in West Virginia where a tractor trailer crashed and was left hanging off a bridge in Mason County. The driver was rescued. 

So far the storm has caused one death, out in Missouri yesterday when the beginnings of the storms snarled traffic around St. Louis. One meteorologists there said it was the worst weather-related traffic snarl he's seen in decades.

Now the storm is in New England, and causing its own traffic trouble here. There's plenty of examples here in Vermont. 

Up here in St Albans, the city police department said one its cruisers was hit by another car on a snowy road while responding to another crash. 

Some of the various examples I've seen in Vermont at different times this morning included a crash that dropped northbound Interstate 89 in Williston down to one lane for a time. Route 7 in Ferrisburgh was closed for awhile due to a crash; Route 103 in Chester was also closed for a time due to a snow-related crash, and Route 11 in Londonderry was reduced to one lane, also due to a crash. 

Shelburne Road near the on ramp to Interstate 189 was closed due to a crash around noon, too, so that must have been a real mess. 

All the traffic cams I've seen in Vermont over the past hour show snow covered roads. In other words, be careful out there folks. 

As of 12:30 p.m., it was snowing at a pretty good clip statewide. So far, as of noon, most places had maybe two to three inches of snow. It seems like there was a zone of heavier snow near and north of the Worcester range in north central Vermont. 

Total accumulation is still forecast to be the same as forecast this morning. Although far northwest Vermont might get a bit more than originally forecast. For instance, older forecasts had St. Albans receiving three inches, but now that's been bumped up to four inches. 

The snow will continue coming down at a good pace well into the afternoon.  The snow will start to diminish after 3 p.m. in far northwest Vermont.  That snow shut down will steadily move southeastward across Vermont in the very late afternoon and evening. 

It'll finally conk out in far southeast Vermont before midnight. 

Flurries might linger, but once the steady snow shuts down where you live, you'll hardly get any additional accumulation. You can start shoveling at that point. 

Even after the snow ends, it will take time to clean up the roads, so be careful driving back home tonight. In the Champlain Valley, where snow will be tapering off as darkness falls, I don't anticipate any kind of traffic nightmare like we had during that big snow on November 10. But, expect delays and be patient. 

Since it will still be snowing in southern and eastern Vermont late this afternoon and evening, roads remain lousy down there   

Snowy Vermont Day Has Begun, Decent Snowfall Almost Statewide

This morning's National Weather Service snow prediction
map is little changed from yesterday. Still looking at
roughly 6 to 9 inches in the southeastern half of
Vermont and somewhat lesser amounts northwest. 

 As of 6:30 this morning the snow was beginning, launching us into our snowy start to December.

For such an unpredictable type of weather system, the forecast has remained remarkably consistent for the past few days. This morning, we have only small changes in the forecast compared to last night. 

The most important one is the slightly earlier than forecast onset of snow than we originally thought. The original idea was it coming in around 7 a.m., but at least for western Vermont and New York, it was around 6 a.m. or so.

The first bits of snow were light, but it will increase in intensity, especially in the southern half of Vermont. 

As for this morning, you know the drill.  If you haven't left for school or work yet, you should, or should have built in extra time to get to where you need to go. As of 7 a.m. traffic cameras showed roads getting increasingly snow covered, pretty fast across much of the state.

Before you head out, check your local listings for school closings. There's a ton of them. 

By 7 a.m., I haven't heard much yet about cars sliding off the roads or hitting each other, but that will come soon enough today. The saving grace with this storm is the heaviest snow is coming after most people are at work.

ACCUMULATIONS

Not much has changed in terms of how much snow we'll get. The bottom line: This is a midsized snowfall, by Vermont standards. 

The new forecast map issued this morning from the National Weather Service in South Burlington only has subtle changes, compared to the one they gave us Monday afternoon. Maybe a tiny bit more than yesterday's forecast in northwestern Vermont. That reflects a predicted storm track that has nudged just a bit north from yesterday. 

The winter storm warning is still in effect for basically the southern  half of Vermont and the winter weather advisory is up for everyone except people in Franklin and Grand Isle counties. But even there, the road conditions are already going downhill.

There will be some nuances with the accumulations in the area covered by warning and advisories. Three to 10 inches of new snow is a good bet today, depending on whether you're in the warning or the advisory. 

Traffic cam grab of Exit 16, Interstate 89 in Colchester
at around 7:30 this morning. The heaviest snow
hadn't arrived yet, so road conditions weren't as
bad as they could have been. 

But there will be nuances. This type of storm tends to set up narrow southwest to northeast oriented bands of heavier snow. You can't easily tell in advance where they will set up. 

This means you might get into a situation where you'll have a Vermont town that gets 10 inches of snow, then a community just a dozen or two miles north gets four or five inches, then another town a couple dozen miles north of that second town gets eight, nine, ten inches. 

It's the luck of the draw. 

In so many recent winters, we've had these awful "wet cement" heavy snowstorms, uncharacteristic for us, really. This one is more old-fashioned. Powdery. Not light insignificant feathers, but it won't be heart-attack snow, either. 

It still looks like the wind will be fairly light with this storm, so the snow will be pretty piling up on tree branches. It is surprisingly blustery outside here in St. Albans, but that seems to be some sort of local effects. Most places in Vermont were reporting calm winds, or winds at or under 10 mph. 

ROCKET STORM

Forecasts that this storm would move wicked fast are coming true. The storm was near southeastern North Carolina early this morning and will be near Cape Cod by this evening. 

That leaves us with a short window for heavier snow. That should come roughly between 10 a.m.  and 3 p.m. today. By late this afternoon or very early evening, the storm will basically be over in the northwest half of Vermont, and it will end before midnight in extreme southeastern parts of the state.

Usually, at least light snow lingers for many hours after a storm passes Cape Cod as northeast winds throw moisture back into our neck of the woods. This storm, though, is pretty compact, so once it's over, it's pretty much over.

Still, I expect roads to be in not great shape as we go into this evening, especially in southern and eastern Vermont. 

OUTLOOK

The roughest start to winter since at least 2019 and probably before that will continue to slap us in the face as we go through the week. Tomorrow will be fairly calm, but kinda cold for this time of year, with highs in the low 30s. 

That Arctic cold front is still looming for Thursday morning with its batch of snow showers and snow squalls. We're watching the timing of this one, because the snow squalls might enter the Champlain Valley around the morning commute. We're hoping they hold off until a little later in the morning, but we don't know for sure yet

Temperatures will crash into the teens by Thursday afternoon and to near 0 by Friday morning. It'll sort of warm up over the weekend and into next week, but barely. It'll still be much colder than average for this time of year well into next week. 

I'll have more details on that after we get past this storm, but it looks like we'll have a few shots of Arctic air through mid-month at least. 

Monday Evening Storm Update: Pretty Vermont Snowstorm Tomorrow, But Road Will Make People Grumble

Updated snow forecast for tomorrow, from the National
Weather Service office in South Burlington 
Predicted totals are up a little bit in eastern
Vermont, about the same west. 

 I noticed high, thin clouds creeping in late this afternoon here in St. Albans, the first harbinger of our expected New England snowstorm. 

As expected, we have some change and upgrades to the watches that were up earlier. 

This fast-moving storm is covering a lot of real estate. Winter weather advisories with this thing extend from Kansas and Arkansas all the way to Maine. 

The winter storm warnings, for the heaviest snow as of these evening run through the Catskills and Capitol District of New York, on through central New England.

In general, predicted snow amounts are similar to what we had this morning, with predictions ticking up from this morning east of the Green Mountains from Brattleboro all the way up to the Northeast Kingdom. 

There's still time for the storm's projected path to shift, so by tomorrow morning, there might be some further changes in the forecast. You know the drill. 

VERMONT'S WINTER STORM WARNING

For us here in Vermont, the upgrade to winter storm warning covers pretty much the same ground the earlier winter storm watch occupied

That warning goes through the southern four counties of Vermont, Orange County, and the hilly and mountainous terrain in Addison County east of Route 7. The warning, in effect from 7 a.m. tomorrow to 1 a.m. Wednesday, calls for 5 to 9 inches of snow.

In their forecast discussion this afternoon, the National Weather Service office in South Burlington said there could easily be pockets of 10 inches or a little more snow in mostly far southern and eastern Vermont, maybe as far north as Orange County. 

That's barely with the winter storm warning criteria. But remember, this storm is rocketing through, so the snow will mostly come down in a big thump lasting just during the day, with a peak probably mid-morning to mid afternoon.

Snow could come down at a rate of an inch per hour in southern and central Vermont, which is hard for the snow plows to keep up with. If you have unnecessary travel plans in southern Vermont tomorrow, just postpone until Wednesday. It'll be easier. 

On the bright side, this will be a pretty snowstorm, The snow's consistency will be somewhat on the fluffy side - not exactly feathers, but definitely not wet cement, either. There won't be a lot of wind, either, so the snow will pile up nicely on branches and such. 

Great for the Christmas spirit if you're into that, or if you're looking for a photo opportunity to include on Christmas cards and gifts. 

FURTHER NORTH

A winter weather advisory is up for all of Vermont north of the winter storm warning, except Franklin and Grand Isle counties where the snow will be even lighter.

In the areas under the advisory, it looks like three to seven inches of new snow is in the cards. Up in Franklin and Grand Isle counties, expect maybe just two to four inches, and maybe even a notch below that in the extreme northwest up by Alburgh. 

TIMING

As mentioned this morning, it looks like the snow will start just in time for the evening commute. The start of this will be a little unusual. There might be flurries before dawn, but statewide, this will begin around 7 a.m. give or take. 

And instead of the snow creeping south to north like it usually does under this type of storm, it'll start snowing within the same hour or two window statewide. 

If you can get to your office or school before 7 a.m. that would be helpful. Or, if you can work remotely, even better. 

Even though the snow and its timing has already been blasted all over the media, people on the roads will be "surprised" by the suddenly poor visibility and slick roads on the highways. 

For the love of God, take it easy on the road. Your mistake can cause problems for hundreds of people, maybe thousands. That's because you wreck on, say Interstate 89 and traffic backs up for miles as a result. 

All those people are late for work, maybe in trouble with their bosses. They miss doctor and dentist appointments, even things like critical cancer treatments. Everybody has to just sit there, wasting gas, because of you and your wreck. 

The speed demons who cause these kinds of situations surely don't care about anyone else, so I doubt I'm getting through to them.  But I'm mentioning it because I do believe there's such a thing as karma. 

The snow, as mentioned, should continue all day. It'll start to taper off in the late afternoon and evening from northwest to southeast across the state. The roads won't be in great shape on the way home, either, so keep that in mind. 

We're still looking at a sharp cold front with possible snow squalls Thursday, followed by Arctic air Thursday night and Friday. I'll have more details in subsequent posts. 

I'll update this tomorrow morning, of course! Enjoy the snow! 

November In Vermont Was Cold, Gloomy, But Historically, It Was Actually Kinda Average

A gloomy sky over St. Albans, Vermont on November 6.
The month was chilly by modern standards, but kind
of middle of the road by 20th century comparisons. 

 The final climate totals are in for the Vermont November, 2025 and it paints a chilly picture. But it was only chilly compared to recent years, not the pre-climate change 20th century average. 

The average temperature in Burlington for November was 37.3 degrees, or three degrees chillier than what is considered normal.

 Remember, this is the new, warmer normal, influenced by climate change. Had the same November weather occurred a generation or two ago, it wouldn't have been considered all that cold. 

Out of the past 134 years, this November was pretty much right in the middle of the pack in terms of temperatures. 

Seventy Novembers were as chillier or chillier than 2025 and 64 of them were warmer.  From a historical perspective, and from the perspective of your parents or grandparents, it was actually a pretty normal November. 

Other weather stations in Vermont were also about a degree or two colder than the average of the past 30 years, but more or less in line with historical averages. 

Precipitation was close to normal, too. Burlington had 2.87 inches of rain in November, just 0.17 inches above normal. That made it the 53rd wettest out of the past 134 years. Nothing extreme there. 

Elsewhere in Vermont, rain and melted snow came out more or less average, trending slightly on wet side west, and a little drier east. 

Temperatures were strangely consistent in November. The month can feature almost summer like warmth near 70 in the early part of the month, and then hitting bitterly cols, wintry lows near the end. 

There are some wacky extremes in the history of November. In 1938 the highest temperature for the month in Burlington was 74 and the low as 3 below. In November, 1996, temperatures ranged from 74 to 9. As recently as 2022, we had a November with a high of 76, an all-time record for the month, with a low of 15 toward the end of that month. 

November, 2025 in Burlington ranged between 58 and 21. I've seen a few individual days with that kind of range, never mind a whole month.  Digging further, I've found that only six Novembers had a low as warm or warmer than 21 degrees. Usually, the low for the month is in the upper single numbers and teens. 

On the opposite end, only 25 Novembers, have had highs as cool or cooler than this year. Additionally, if you love statistical quirks, the lowest high temperature this month was 34 degrees. Only 11 Novembers had a "lowest high" that warm or warmer. 

Snowfall, by the way, was heavy, at least in the north. Burlington's snowfall was only 2.1 inches above normal, and St Johnsbury's was 2.9 inches on the heavy side. 

As the month closed, there was still a healthy 10 inches of snow on the ground in Westfield and eight inches in Montgomery. Most towns in Vermont had no snow cover or just a few inches. 

But the Green Mountains killed it in terms of snow, especially the central and northern mountains. 

Jay Peak reported an incredible 119 inches of snow during November, obviously their snowiest on record.  On a few days during November, Mount Mansfield set records for the deepest snow for the date. On the final day of the month, there was 40 inches on the ground near the top of Mount Mansfield, the second highest for the date.

LOOKING AHEAD

Incredibly, each of the past four years in Burlington were among the top ten warmest on record. It looks like 2025 might finally break that streak. 

If December temperatures this year come out around the "new normal" of 28.2 degrees, 2025 would  once again be in the top 10 list of warmest years. 

But early indications are this December has a better than even chance of being solidly on the cold side. No guarantees of course. Long range forecasts are notoriously tricky.  But we are entrenched in a shivery weather pattern that shows little sign of breaking. 

We have a decent chance of seeing the coldest December in a quarter century, but that would be nowhere near the coldest on record. That honor goes to December, 1989, that awful month that featured an average temperature of 7.5 degrees which was 20.7 degrees colder than our current "new normal." December, 1989 also featured 19 days in Burlington that got below zero.

I'm quite sure that December, 1989 cold record is safe, despite this year's chilly forecast. 

Report: Heat Waves Now Killing One Person Every Minute Around Globe

A report in the medical journal The Lancet said that
with climate change, heat waves on average are killing
one person per minute. 

As we head into winter, we don't think about heat waves all that much, but they're still making the news. 

Mostly because of their increasing intensity and increasing risk of death associated with these events, all due to climate change. 

As Grist tells us: 

"Extreme heat now kills one person every minute, according to the report, noting that the rate of heat-related deaths has risen 23 percent since the 1990s - a trend the authors attribute in large part to planetary warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels. The vast majority of the heatwave days endured worldwide between 2020 and 2024 would not have occurred in the absence of climate change."

The news is from "Countdown On Health and Climate Change" which is compiled by researchers around the world and has been published yearly since 2015 in British medical journal Lancet. 

These annual reports always seem to have bad news. Grist notes that the 2020 report said that climate change threatened to undermine the past 50 years of gains in public health. This year's report said that loss has already begun, thanks in large part to the increasing heat deaths. 

But it's not just the heat. Hot weather worsens drought, which can in turn worsen forest fires. Deaths might well be increasing due to tiny particles these fires emit.

One for-instance is last January's horrible wildfires around Los Angeles. The official death toll is around 30. But, as we noted in September, studies indicate the actual death toll might have been closer to 440, based on a review of death records around the time of the fires. 

Heat waves and droughts contribute to food insecurity, which in turn can fire up political instability. Tropical diseases are spreading away from the equator, as insects that can spread them find they can increase their range as the planet warms. 

Climbing global temperatures and heat waves are also sapping productivity and the economy. 

The 2025 Lancet report puts all these factors in stark relief. The World Health Organization, citing the report, motes that 640 billion potential labor hours were lost in 2024, with productivity losses amounting to $1.09 trillion in U.S. dollars.  

Battling climate change appears to have economic benefits, according to the report. An estimated 160,000 premature deaths are now being avoided yearly because coal-powered plants have shut down. Renewable energy now accounts for 123 percent of global electricity, and that has created about 16 million jobs worldwide. 

We have a lot of statistics here, but remember, there are real people behind all those numbers. We, as a global population have to decide: Are we going to let more and more people die in a increasingly hostile climate world, or are we going to build up a cleaner, safer future and create a higher standard of living in the process?

Most of the 1% don't care whether people live or die in a climate-ravaged world. They just want to hang on to their billions. But there's far more of us than them. Let's hope, in a peaceful way, we can overwhelm that 1% and find our way to a cleaner, cooler future. 

The cynic in mean is skeptical. But you gotta hang on to hope, too. 

Winter Storm Watches Remain In Vermont/Northeast As Snow Forecast Stays Consistent (For Now)

Latest snow prediction map from the National Weather
Service in South Burlington. In Vermont, it still
generally looks like the further south you go 
tomorrow, the more snow you'll get. 

 Overnight the forecast for our upcoming snow hasn't changed all that much in the the Northeast. 

To catch you up, a storm is forecast to rocket northeastward from the Gulf Coast this evening to near or offshore of Cape Cod tomorrow evening. 

Even if the storm had the perfect track to give the region heavy snow, the accumulations wouldn't be extreme, just because the storm wouldn't hang around long enough to dump much fluff.

So far, the Tuesday forecast has a track that would dump the heaviest snow in a band from northeast Pennsylvania, through central New York, central New England and on to southern Maine. 

So far, it looks like most people in this winter storm watch band would receive a quick six to ten inches of snow, more or less.

That's not a spectacular storm, but a sufficient enough thump to get winter started in places that haven't yet seen that much snow so far this winter.

For us in Vermont, southern parts of the state still seem to be in that band of heaviest snow. The winter storm watch is still in effect for the southern half of the state. 

Later today, I'm guessing at least the southern part of that watch zone might turn into a winter storm warning. I'm suspecting central Vermont might end up with a winter weather advisory, since some places north of Route 4 might not get quite to six inches of snow with this. (Usually, a snowfall of over six inches triggers a winter storm warning, while a winter weather advisory goes up for less than that.)

First guesses -based on subject-to-change National Weather Service forecasts - are for six to eight inches along and south of a line roughly from Rutland to Wells River.  The rest of central Vermont should get three to six inches. Northwest portions of Vermont look to be in the two or three inch range at the moment. 

No promises here, but if the snow predictions are adjusted between now and tomorrow, I think the adjustment might be toward slightly lower amounts. 

The timing of this snow is problematic. It'll start to snow probably around the time of the Tuesday morning commute. That makes me nervous because people leave home when it's not really snowing much but then quickly encounter snow and icy roads.

But they're "late" for work, so it's pedal to the metal despite the road conditions. Which leads to crashes and traffic jams. Which makes everyone late for work - or worse. 

The snow will start to taper off at about the time people are heading home from work or just afterwards.  You can see in the timing how quick this thing is.

AFTER THE SNOW

While Wednesday looks pretty quiet and a kind of on the cold side, we're still seeing trouble on Thursday. That Arctic front we've been talking about still looks to be on schedule. We still think it might come through in the morning. 

The timing might be bad again, as there might be dangerous snow squalls for your morning commute. We'll update you on that. 

We're still sure it will turn terribly cold during the day Thursday and that will last well into Friday. Strong northwest winds and crashing temperatures will make Thursday afternoon and evening miserable. By Friday morning, most of us will probably be with a few degrees of zero. Which is a little earlier in the season than we're used to. 

The cold will let up by the weekend, but temperatures will still remain below normal.

Winter is here. 

Winter Storm Watches Now Up In the Northeast, Including Parts of Vermont

That dark blue area from northeastern Pennsylvania to
Maine is a winter storm watch as heavy snow might
fall in that band on Tuesday. That sort of off-purple
patch in north central New York is for some lake-
enhanced snow tonight. 

We've got a quick little update since this morning:

A wide band of winter storm watches as of late this afternoon have popped up from northeastern Pennsylvania, through central New York, central New England on into central Maine. 

Before we even get into the updates, today's bits and pieces of snow caused some real headaches. Both northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate 89 near Sharon had multiple crashes due to icy conditions this afternoon. Traffic, as you would imagine, was seriously gummed up in that area.

The closest traffic cam to the crash site I could find was along Interstate 89 in Bethel which didn't look too bad late this afternoon. It appears a half inch or so of snow has fallen in the area. That proves it doesn't take much to cause some danger on the roads. 

We've got some chances of snow overnight, so look out for more icy spots, including on your way in to work tomorrow after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Now, the storm. This will be the third of three storms that affected parts of the U.S. this week. The first sent blizzard conditions through parts of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes last week. The second came yesterday with widespread snows from South Dakota to Michigan. Now we have this thing in the Northeast. 

Here in Vermont, basically draw a west to east line across the middle of the state, and south of that is your winter storm watch. 

It's in effect from early Tuesday morning to late Tuesday night. Somewhere in middle of that time frame, maybe in the afternoon and early evening, there might be a few quick hours where the snow comes down hard.

That is, if the storm goes according to plan. There's still a lot of hemming and hawing among the computer models as to how close to us it will come. 

The storm could blast right over southeastern New England, which would throw the big burst of snow into interior New England, including southern Vermont.  Or, it could race across the waters off the New England, coast, which would reduce how much snow the Green Mountain state catches.

Northern Vermont - at this point anyway - seems to be on the hook for just light snow. There's still even a chance of nothing up by the Canadian border, we'll see.

The more detailed computer models come out during the day tomorrow. Those might be able to better pin down how much everybody gets.  

I'll have an update for you tomorrow morning. 

October Was World's Third Warmest, Continuing This Year's Trend

Once again it was hard to find many cool spots around
the world. It was the third hottest October on record
according to NOAA. 

The National Centers for Environmental Information is finally catching up after this fall's 43-day government shutdown and we now have the global and national climate data for October, 

It turns out that, according to the report released on Tuesday, once again last month, we had the third warmest October on record. If that sounds familiar, it's because it is. 

Says Yale Climate Connections:

"This is the fifth time in a  row that a calendar month has placed third for all time warmth behind 2023 and  2024. While 'third warmest' may not sound eye-poppingly impressive, this comes on the heels of an astoundingly warm couple of years that were fueled by a strong El Nino dent atop long-term human-caused warming."

If you are under the age of 50, you've never seen an October in which the world saw a cooler than average global October. 

Very much like September, though October was the third warmest, it was much balmier than the fourth warmest, according to NCEI.  Together, 2023 through 2025 has been ridiculously warm, compared to past centuries.  

The warmest places, relative to average, were in the Arctic and Antarctica, northern North America, southeast Asia, the northern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean. In fact North America as a whole had their warmest October on reared. So did the Arctic and Antarctica. Antarctica's record was set by a wide margin.  

As usual, it was hard to find places in the world that were cooler than the 20th century average. An areas around Mongolia and south-central Russia were on the chilly side. Small pockets in southern Africa and South America also came in on the cool side. It looks like a remote spot in the far southern Pacific Ocean were chilly, too. 

So far, January through October, 2025 is running as second warmest on record says NCEI, mostly because of a hotter start to the year. Only 2024 was hotter.  I have my suspicions that this year might end up as third hottest, behind 2023 and 2024, but of course, who knows for sure. 

The bottom line is it's been insanely warm the last three years.

UNITED STATES

As for the United States, the Lower 48 had its eighth warmest out of the past 131 years, NCEI said. The warmest area was through pretty much the entirety of the Great Plains. Most states there had one of their top 10 warmest Octobers on record. 

Northern and eastern New England had a much warmer than average October, too. That was mostly driven by an early month heat wave that shattered previous records for the highest October temperatures on record. 

No region in the United States was particularly cool, though the Pacific Northwest and pockets of the southeast were slightly on chilly side for October. 

Precipitation was just slightly above average for the month in the United States. The northwestern Plains were on the wet side, but overall, rainfall wasn't all that extreme across the nation. 

 

Blustery Snow Today To Introduce A Very Wintry Vermont Week

This the National Weather Service's initial attempt
at a snow forecast for the week. It includes the light
snows today and the potentially heavier dump
Tuesday. While this map shows more than 
six inches in southern and central Vermont, this
is a SUPER uncertain forecast. Definitely
expect adjustments up or down as we get
closer to the event. 

With December starting tomorrow, the Vermont forecast is right on cue: This will be the first hardcore wintry week of the season. 

True, we won't be setting new record low temperature or breaking snowfall records. But if you like snow, bitter temperatures and biting winds, this will be your week. 

TODAY

As we get into the bulk of today, it will probably be the "warmest" day of the week, but it surely won't feel balmy.

Light snow had spread into most of Vermont as of 8 a.m. this morning.  This is part of the same storm that created a huge dump of snow across the Midwest yesterday. 

No huge dumps for us today, but we'll still feel the storm's effects. We won't have much precipitation, but it will be a dark, blustery, raw day.  South winds were picking up this morning, especially in the Champlain Valley and the narrow valleys along Route 7 in southern Vermont. 

Even though the snow is falling lightly, the gusts will blow it around, so there will be some visibility.  The winds will continue to pick up through the day, especially in the central and northern Champlain Valley. There, a wind advisory for gusts as high as 45 mph is in effect until 7 p.m. this evening. The wind advisory is also up for northeastern New York. 

The rest of Vermont will stay gusty, but not quite as bad as in the Champlain Valley. The south winds will transport in some warmer air, so many valleys will go over to light rain this afternoon.

Tonight, the storm's cold front comes through, throwing some more snow showers at us. 

For us, this is a small storm. Most of us will get an inch or less of snow. The combination of rain and melted snow should be around a tenth of an inch or less. No biggy, just a raw, blustery, yucky day, the kind you stay indoors for watching NFL games or Netflix. 

MONDAY

The calm before the next storm. It'll be colder than normal, as that is the trend of the week. As chilly as it's been lately, Burlington has surprisingly not had a high temperature yet this season that is below freezing. That could change tomorrow as most of us should stay in the 25 to 32 degree range during the day. 

TUESDAY

Here's where it gets interesting. 

A storm will start to get going somewhere near New Orleans Monday night. It will rocket northeastward to off the southeast New England coast Tuesday night, strengthening along the way. 

We still don't know if this means a dump of snow in Vermont or not. The exact track of the storm isn't nailed down yet. Somebody in New England will get a bunch of snow out of this, but we don't quite know who yet. 

If it goes right over the New England coast, all of Vermont will see at least a couple to several inches of snow. If it goes further east, it'll be mostly a southern Vermont thing. 

The weather models have been wonky, so I'm not trusting anything until we get closer to the event. Just know there will probably be snow for many if not all of us on Tuesday. For some of us, especially in southern and eastern Vermont, it could be quite a lot. 

We do know this storm will race by, so very few, if any people will get more than a foot of snow in New England, But the storm will be big enough to have real impacts on somebody, somewhere.. 

Adjust your plans accordingly and keep an eye out for updates. 

LATE WEEK

Wednesday will be calmer, ahead of the next system. Some sun should break out, and temperatures will rise into the 28-36 degree range for most of us. That's still a little cooler than average, but you ain't seen nothin' yet. 

The forecast for Thursday is actually more certain than it is for Tuesday, which is weird. An Arctic cold front will blast through with a band of snow showers and maybe snow squalls. The snow accumulation with the front won't be the biggest problem, but abrupt snow showers and gusty winds probably Thursday morning will make the roads a bit tricky.

The real issue is temperatures will crash amid howling northwest winds Thursday. Depending on the front's timing, we might make it into the 30s early in the day, then temperatures will fall through the 20s and teens through the day. 

Thursday night will be awful, with continued strong winds and temperatures falling to within a few degrees of zero for most of us. Wind chills should be well below zero.  I'm already planning on hiding under a pile of blankets at home that night. 

After Thursday night, temperatures will sort of warm up a little for the end of the week, but remain well below normal.  

Winter Storm Making Travel Weekend Miserable In U.S., Especially Midwest

A must-vehicle crash amid on Interstate 70 in western
Indiana on Saturday. A huge swath of the Midwest
is under winter storm warnings today as heavy
snow delays travel for many. 

While we here in Vermont await a minor bout of winter weather tomorrow, the same storm is spreading snow over a huge area of the Midwest. 

Since so many people are traveling this holiday weekend, the Scrooge mood has hit early for many. 

The winter storm warnings Saturday stretched from eastern South Dakota to Michigan. 

The relative center of this winter weather zone is Chicago, The windy city serves as a hub for American, United, Frontier, Southwest and Spirit airlines. 

You can imagine the mess.

As of Saturday morning, more than 1,000 flights were canceled at Chicago airports, CBS News reported. I imagine things later got even worse for flights in and out of Chicago   as heavy snow with very poor visibility lasted all afternoon. 

As of 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, FlightAware said the number of flights today canceled at just O'Hare was 1,038.

For the U.S. as a whole, FlightAware said there had been 2,166 flight cancelations and 18,322 delays as of late this afternoon. So if someone you expected to arrive at your house today says it won't happen, they're probably not lying. It's nothing personal. Just the weather.  

Of course, highways are slow, too. As many as 30 vehicles crashed into each other on slick Interstate 70 in western Indiana. Social media is rife with images of cars in ditches and vehicles with smashed and dented fenders, or worse.   

The winter storm warning affected 32 million people and winter weather advisories along the storms edges covered another 20 million, USA Today reported. 

The snow is expected to dwindle off and end by late tonight in places from Chicago west, and during the morning in locations farther east, like northern Indiana and most of Michigan. 

A new winter storm is expected to hit a large swath of the Midwest and Northeast on Tuesday.  

Illinois Disaster Appeal Rejection Shows Once Again Trump Puts Loyalty Above All Else

Flooding in Chicago this past July. Donald Trump is
blocking disaster aid to Illinois, probably mostly
because he doesn't like the state's governor. 

Donald Trump is not liking the Illinois governor, and he's taking it out on flood victims in the state. 

The Trump administration turned down another request from Illinois to help the state recover from severe flash floods in July. That, according to the Washington Post, is despite a recent assessment detailing the the widespread damage and financial losses associated with the disaster. 

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in a statement tried to paint the Illinois detail as fiscal responsibility. "Gone are the days of rubber stamping FEMA recommendations," Jackson huffed, saying the Trump administration is "committed to empowering and working with State and federal governments to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged."

In other words, states must somehow looked into their crystal balls, determine when and what kind of disasters will strike in the future and cough up the millions of dollars they don't have to do these mythical resiliency projects.

Of course, few believe Trump is trying to help Illinois.

First of all, Illinois is a blue state. More importantly, Trump is feuding with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, because the governor objects to Trump's idea of sending  the National Guard deployment in and around Chicago and legally dubious ICE arrests (some would say kidnappings) of people in Illinois. 

Trump, ever the statesman, keeps insulting Pritzker over his weight  (calling the governor a big fat slob on Wednesday) rather than actually dealing with the governor in a rational way. If we're going to get into body shaming, Trump isn't exactly the most svelte character I've ever seen. 

Things have gotten so ridiculous in Illinois that, in early November, Illinois and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials had to remove personnel who were surveilling flood damage in Chicago neighborhoods.

Why? Because immigration agents were patrolling and conducting raids nearby, according to the Washington Post. 

WaPo goes on:

"The decision to halt the disaster assessment teams' work on Nov. 6 came amid an ongoing immigration crackdown in the city, leaving the coordinating state an agency officials worried that FEMA's efforts could put residents as well as surveyors at risk. 

The shift meant about 10 groups of federal, state, county and local workers had to stop work surveying hundreds of homes that sustained heavy water damage in parts of the city hit hard by recent storms - assessments that help the federal agency document disaster impacts, and ca make a case for why an area may need help paying for recovery." 

The whole thing seems suspicious.

Toward the end of October, FEMA's regional administrator told Homeland Security officials about upcoming surveys in the area, as a heads up to avoid conflicts with Homeland Security's immigration crackdowns in Chicago.

As WaPo explained, "It is unclear why immigration agents the ended up in the same place as emergency personnel. Multiple FEMA employees said there were discussions meant to prevent that from happening."

Instead, as FEMA workers set off into a flood-damaged neighborhood, they suddenly saw ICE vehicles and heard whistles - which is a warning people give when ICE comes into an area

So the assessments weren't done. Which might be part of the excuse as to why Trump keeps rejecting disaster aid for Illinois. 

As if the fine citizen of Illinois would suddenly turn MAGA to keep our Orange Cockwomble happy.   

Winter, Now Re-Established In Vermont, Will Keep Meteorologists On Their Toes

When winter winds returned on Friday, things got a little weird in parts of New England. It snowed in parts of the region, thanks of all things to Lake Huron. 

Satellite view this morning shows bands of snow cover
across southern Vermont and New Hampshire and 
parts of Massachusetts from Great Lakes effect
snows that made it all the way to the 
Atlantic Ocean yesterday. (The snow cover is
those faint streaks of lighter color you see in
the spots I referenced). Photo via Facebook.
National Weather Service/South Burlington

We know that there is always lake effect snows around the Great Lakes, especially this time of year when the relatively warm water contrasts with the cold Canadian air flowing in. 

This time of year, when that contrast is big, some of the snows can make it all the way into New England, but usually as decent snows in western New England mountains and just flurries in the valleys.

As mentioned yesterday, one particularly aggressive band of lake snow originated over Lake Huron, got an extra boost from Lake Ontario and made it all the way to Vermont.

By later yesterday morning, the band got more powerful on its trip into New England. Motorists reported poor visibility and dangerous road conditions along Route 30 in Dorset, Route 11 over the mountains between Manchester and Springfield, Interstate 89 near Sharon and other places.

The dangerous roads and snow squalls from this line continued on through a band across pretty much all of southern New Hampshire. The snow band shifted south during the afternoon, creating bursts of heavy snow across Massachusetts. One of these snow showers created wind gusts to 48 mph as they incredibly headed out to sea.

Snow accumulated to as much as 4 inches in southern New Hampshire and western Massachusetts and 2 inches in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Again, just wild for Great Lakes snow to do that in New England. I'm sure some energy in the atmosphere unrelated to the lakes sustained the snow band, but still!

Back here in Vermont, snow showers coasted the central and northern Green Mountains nicely. The state's perennial snowy spot, Jay Peak, hit the jackpot again. They received eight to ten inches of snow yesterday and last night. 

Jay Peak has had 113 inches of snow this month, which is a record for them. They are about to get more snow, and the rest of us will see some too. 

SNOWY, WINTRY OUTLOOK

Traffic camera image of Route 105 in Jay at about 9 a.m.
this morning. I'm not sure if the guy in the snow-swept
parking lot is getting ready for a backcountry ski
adventure or is discreetly peeing. In any event
this shot shows how wintry it has gotten in
some of Vermont's mountains. 

After a cold, but fairly bright day today, the next storm comes in tomorrow. 

It will be a classic light, but terribly raw and miserable late November/early December festival of snow, then occasional cold, light rain in the valleys, dank, dark skies and in some places, a gusty south wind that will chill you to the bone. 

If tomorrow's weather doesn't depress you, nothing will. There are bright sides to tomorrow's darkness, though. 

There won't be much precipitation of any kind. Rain and melted snow should amount to less than a quarter inch of rain equivalent, with maybe a little more than that. 

Snow accumulation should be less than an inch in the valleys before it changes over to rain. Areas above 2,000 feet in elevation likely won't see any rain at all. And if it does manage to rain on your ski slopes, it won't cause much damage, since the rain will be so light, and it will be barely and only briefly above freezing up there.

After that, another storm -  more of a nor'easter - will threaten on Tuesday. Early indications are the heaviest precipitation will go to our south, but most of Vermont should at least see some snow. And if the path of the storm goes a little further north, we could have a pretty decent snow dump on our hands. 

Then, the first true Arctic cold front of the season might come through Thursday with some snow squalls. And then maybe the first below zero temperatures of the season in Vermont. 

This winter is starting much stronger than most recent ones. That doesn't mean the entire winter will be rough. But the beginning of winter, 2025 kind of harkens back to the "real winters" we had back in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Also, I know long range forecasts beyond a few days are questionable, I still have to leave you with this note: NOAA's latest three to four week outlook calls for mostly below normal temperatures and leans toward above normal precipitation through about Christmas. 

Southeast Asia Floods Kill Hundreds In Another Big Flood Megadisaster

Image of the flooding in Indonesia via Reuters. 

 Deadly floods have encompassed much of Southeast Asia recently, leading to at least 450 deaths, and widespread destruction. 

It's another big event as what is amounting to the 2025 The Year Of The Flood.

As CBC reports:

"Large parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have been stricken by cyclone-fueled torrential rain for a week, with a rare tropical storm forming in the Malacca Straight.

Another 46 people were killed by a cyclone in the South Asian island nation of Sri Lanka, authorities said"

The Malacca straight is a narrow band of water between Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. 

In Sumatra, 174 people had been confirmed dead as of Friday morning, and 79 others were reported missing. The rain has stopped there, but thousands of families are displaced, the CBC report said. 

In Thailand, 145 people have been reported dead and 3.5 million people have been affected by the flooding. 

In southern and eastern Sri Lanka, a separate tropical storm caused those 56 deaths, mostly in rain-triggered landslides. Twenty-five of the deaths were due to landslides in the mountainous tea growing region of central Sri Lanka, Al Jazeera reported. 

In Vietnam, at least 91 people died in flooding there, as lemonde.fr  reported. The bad weather began on November 16 and continued for more than a week. While some of the water has receded. more rain is heading in. Ominously, a new tropical depression has formed near Vietnam, and that threatens to bring new downpours.  

Southeast Asia is nearing the end of its annual monsoon season.  Before this storm, everything was soggy and wet, and rivers were running high from previous downpours and floods. 

Monsoon season can be destructive any year, but climate change is probably giving things a tragic boost.  With climate change, rainfall is often heavier than it otherwise would be had global temperatures not warmed.  

Videos

News images of flooding Thailand. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Next video is a news account of the flooding in Indonesia. Again, click on this link to view or if you see image below click on that.