A Brief Monday Evening Vermont (Snow!) Update

Most of tomorrow's snow will be in the mountains
But that inch or so of snow you see in this forecast
for places like the Champlain Valley will be timed
just perfectly to screw up the 
Tuesday morning commute

 Just figured I'd update you quickly so you can plan your Tuesday morning.

Because the roads are going to crappy, snowy and maybe icy for your morning commute. 

We're still not expecting much snow in most of Vermont late tonight and tomorrow, except in the mountains. 

The amount of snow isn't the problem. The real problem is the timing and intensity of the snow might well end up being the worst possible combination. 

If the timing in the forecast holds, the combination of a burst of heavy or at least heavy-ish precipitation,  a rain to snow scenario in many spots and a rapid drop in temperatures will hit just perfectly for the Tuesday morning commute.

The disturbance coming in will have a pretty potent cold front with it. As that cold front blusters in,  it will have a fairly narrow but heavy band of precipitation with it. In the Champlain Valley, it might start out as rain, but quick turn into a snow squall-like thing.

So, the roads will quickly get covered with a slush coating of snow. As this happens, temperatures will take a quick nosedive and go below freezing very quickly. So the slush will turn to ice on many surfaces. 

It doesn't take much snow to cause a scene. A half inch to an inch will do it. 

Add to this scenario the idiots driving 80 mph on the ice because they're "late" for work and it's a recipe for a mess on the roads. Of course, they don't consider that if they hit three other vehicles in the process, they'll really be late for work. Or worse. 

If you're planning on being anywhere on Interstate 89 and maybe Interstate 91 and some other Vermont highways tomorrow morning, plan on being stuck in a traffic jam as crashes gum up the works. 

The best guess is this will come into the Champlain Valley between 5 and 7 a.m. and then move west to east across the rest of Vermont between 7 and 11 a.m.

The rest of the day will not be nice.  There might be a lull after that main blast goes through during the morning commute in which the sun might even make an appearance and the wind will temporarily diminish slightly.

But the rest of the day will feature clouds, gusty winds, snow showers and temperatures that will hover right around the freezing mark. 

The snow showers won't add up to much in the valleys, but the Green Mountain are still looking at what amounts to a moderate-sized snowstorm. The ski areas in the central and northern Green Mountain should see a good four to eight inches of snow before things taper off later Tuesday night. 

All this really isn't that unusual for early April. It's just too bad we couldn't time this little late slap of winter to make it more convenient for us. But Vermont weather is seldom convenient.