Tuesday Was Even Snowier Than Expected, Winter Redux To End, But No Immediate Spring Warmth

A heavy snow shower shown here Tuesday afternoon
in St. Albans, Vermont flipped us right back to winter,
at least temporarily, 

 It wasn't just the morning burst of snow Tuesday that drove us nuts.

Turns out, it snowed pretty much all day for many of us in northern Vermont. And some of that snow came down really hard at times.  

Even here in fairly low elevation St. Albans, Vermont, we received just under three inches of snow. The 0.8 inches of snow we saw early in the morning largely melted by 1 p.m. But then some heavy snow showers swept through, dumping another two or so inches of snow.

I haven't seen a large number of reports of snow totals yet, but, East Brownington, Vermont and a high elevation spot in Underhill picked up 6.0 inches and 5.0 whitened Woodbury, Vermont.

It was partly the spring time sun that helped create the unexpectedly heavy and persistent snow showers Tuesday afternoon,

A pocket of very cold air aloft passed over Vermont Tuesday afternoon behind the cold front that produce the original burst of snow in the morning.

True, it was far from a warm day, but the contrast between the little bit of high angle sun getting through the clouds and that very frigid air aloft allowed clouds to grow taller and more able to dump some pretty substantial snow showers. 

I should have seen it coming.  Back on April 20-21 2021 we had an even more extreme example. On the 20th that year, a storm came by and dumped a few inches of snow. On April 21, 2021, the cold pool aloft that followed the storm helped create some of the most intense snow squalls I can remember.

That year, it quickly warmed up after the storm, reaching 70 degrees by April 24.

THIS YEAR

We're not going to get such a quick warmup this time. 

Temperatures will stay mostly in the 30s today, though there might be a few low 40s in southern valleys. That's ten to 15 degrees colder than average for this time of year. It will also ensure that not al the snow you might have on the ground will melt today.

Tonight should get down to the teens and low 20s, so again, pretty damn chilly for April. I wouldn't be surprised to see a reading near 10 above in the coldest hollows of the Northeast Kingdom and Adirondacks. 

Don't worry, I'd say the vast majority if not all the early plants that might be coming up in your perennial garden will survive this. The very early stuff is tough as nails when it comes to cold weather. 

We're still looking at cloudy, damp and cool weather late week and into the weekend.  The rain Thursday and Friday might turn out to be a bit spotty and scattered, with perhaps a steadier rain Saturday. We'll have to wait and see how all that works out. 

It also might be cold enough for some snow in the higher elevations during the late week and weekend, but most of us should just see a chilly rain.  

Yes, it will stay cool, but not nearly as bad as yesterday and today. Highs should make it into the 40s to near 50 Thursday through Saturday. 

There is hope that we might have a couple days early next week in which the temperature flirts with 60 degrees before chillier air arrives again. 

Spring is proving to be a bit reluctant in Vermont this April.