While Vermont Mountains Bask In Snow For A Change, Valleys Continue To Struggle With Snow Cover

A snow squall manages to put down another 1.5 inches
of snow in St. Albans, Vermont Wednesday. Vermont
valleys continue to lack snow, while many mountain
areas have a decent snow cover for a change. 

It continues to be a winter of two very different Vermonts in one season.

Many mountain locations are basking in some of the best snow conditions in years for skiing and riding, while many valleys can't seem to hold on to their snow cover. 

A big part of the problem is a persistent weather pattern that has favored snowfalls in the central and  northern Green Mountains while valleys get cheated. 

Another issue is something we've dealt with frequently in the past couple of decades; Frequent winter thaws. As climate change has taken hold, it's gotten a lot easier for temperatures to get above freezing in Vermont even in what should be the coldest times of the year. 

Most recent winters have features spells where temperatures rise well into the 40s and 50s, sometimes near 60, melting snow even in the highest elevations. These warm spells have also lasted for several days in a row.

Hard to keep a snow cover under those conditions. 

This winter, the thaws have been brief and not all that warm, which is why the mountains have hung on to their snow cover.  The very thin snow cover in some valleys evaporates as we occasionally see days that get into the mid 30s and low 40s. Higher terrain has mostly stayed below freezing, with only brief excursions into the mid-30s.   . 

So far this winter, Burlington has not gone longer than eight days in a row with continuous subfreezing temperatures, so the bits of snow the city gets don't last long. (The record for longest stretch of continuously at or below freezing weather is 51 days from December 22, 1976 to February 10, 1977).

The result is there's never been more than five inches of snow on the ground in Burlington this winter, and then, only pretty briefly.  Meanwhile, the snow depth near the top of Mount Mansfield reached 66 inches by Wednesday, which is above the average of 50 inches for late January. 

THE LATEST SNOW AND OUTLOOK

Yesterday was yet another example of mountains rich in snow and valleys losing out.  Most valleys saw one to three inches of snow, while parts of the northern Green Mountains saw more than eight inches.

Valleys in central and southern Vermont also once again briefly got above freezing. Rutland, Springfield and Bennington all had highs Wednesday in the upper 30s.

I managed to eke out 3.2 inches of snow here in St. Albans, for a total snow depth of five inches, the most I've seen all winter. A snow squall in the late morning boosted my total. See video at the bottom of this post. 

A five inch snow depth is not exactly overwhelming, and forecasts indicate I shouldn't expect much more anytime soon. At least I haven't broken my back shoveling deep, soggy wet snowfalls like we've seen in recent winters, so I'm thankful for that. 

This state of affairs will our winter weather pattern will continue. 

Another fairly minor system zips through Friday and Friday night, bringing precipitation mostly to southern Vermont. But once again, after a cold Thursday, most valleys in Vermont will end up just above freezing again by Friday afternoon. Rain will probably actually mix with the snow in some parts of southern Vermont. 

After turning cold again Saturday, yet another relatively minor system will poke temperatures up in to the upper 30s and low 40s again on Monday, leading to valley thawing and perhaps a little rain mixed with snow, but probably another inch or two of snow up in the mountains.

VIDEO

A St. Albans, Vermont snow squall at least briefly makes things look pretty wintery. The squall deposited 1.5 inches of snow atop 1.7 inches that hit earlier in the morning.  At least it was pretty. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that.