Tuesday Evening Vermont Snow Update: Pretty Decent Dump In Mountains As Wide Temperature Swings Continue

This isn't saying much, but Wednesday could bring
Vermont and many surrounding areas the biggest
snow in weeks. Don't get too excited, as valleys should
see two to five inches, with up to eight inches up
in the Green Mountains. Western Adirondacks could
see up to a foot of new snow. 

Vermont and surrounding areas are about to get hit by the biggest snowfall in weeks, but don't worry this won't be a mega storm by any stretch of the imagination. But it does deserve a Tuesday evening update. 

The Alberta Clipper doesn't have huge amounts of moisture to work with, but it will be pretty damn efficient at grabbing what water it can from the atmosphere and dumping it on us as snow.

Roads will be iffy tomorrow and there could also be some problems with blowing snow and - once again - a few heavier snow squalls. 

THE DETAILS

In general, valleys can expect two to five inches of new snow, with locally more. Mountains will see several inches of new snow. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see many ski resorts in the Green Mountain State clock in with a good six inches of fresh fluff by later Wednesday night. 

The National Weather Service has posted a winter weather advisory for the entire length of the Green Mountains, with three to six inches expected. The advisory runs from later tonight into Wednesday evening. 

In the far southern Green Mountains in eastern Bennington and western Windham counties, there's a full fledged winter storm warning for an expected six to nine inches of snow, mainly above 1,500 feet in elevation. Gusty winds would blow the snow around too. 

The central and western Adirondacks and to an extent the White Mountains of New Hampshire look like they will be the big winners with this storm. Both those areas should see at least eight inches of snow, with some totals going over a foot in the western Adirondacks.

The water content of the snow will be low, so expect fluff. Melt the snow down, and you'll get the equivalent of a quarter to a half inch of rain for most of us, with a little less than that in the Champlain Valley.

The snow should start for most of us before dawn.  It'll be a light, steady snow for the first half of the day as temperatures climb into the 20s for most of us in the north, with 30s in the low elevations south. 

But during the afternoon, another sharp cold front comes in. That means more scattered heavier snow showers, maybe a snow squall here and there, blowing snow and temperatures once again heading toward the cellar.

So, you're going to deal with messy roads during the morning commute and afternoon one as well. The morning mess will be more widespread. Toward evening, most of the snow showers will be focused on the  Green Mountains and across much of northern Vermont. 

TEMPERATURE SWINGS

I'll get into more details in tomorrow mornings post, but the big up and down swings in temperature are going to keep going for at least the next week. 

If you like variety every day will be different for awhile. 

Thursday looks cold and blustery.  Friday looks warm enough at this point to get above freezing in some places, with rain drops mixing with snow showers. Then Saturday and Saturday night look damn cold, with highs near 10 and lows below zero. Sunday and Monday warm right back up again at least into the low 30s, then it's back to the icebox next Tuesday.