There's Something About May 9 In Vermont That Makes The Weather Turn Weird

Snow dusts a daffodil in St. Albans, Vermont on 
May 9, 2020.  May 9 has a reputation of having
weird weather in Vermont, so the fact that today
is so cold and rainy is par for the course

 It seems like if you're going to get an odd weather day in Vermont in May, it'll hit on May 9.

 Not every May 9 is out of the ordinary, of course. But there's been enough over the years to be wary of this date. 

The current May 9 weather in Vermont isn't all that extreme, I admit. But it's unusually cold out there today, as temperatures in many areas this afternoon are staying locked in the 40s. It should be in the 60s this time of year. 

Today's soaking rain that in some spots might end up being the rainiest day of the year so far.  Burlington has had a half inch of rain so far through 2 p.m. today. We've got a lot more rain to get through, too. 

SNOWY MAY 9s

Past May 9s in Vermont have been even weirder.  The biggest May snowstorm in modern records for Burlington hit on this day in 1966.  Burlington had 3.5 inches of snow. Newport clocked in with 5.2 inches.  It snowed for three days from May 8 to 10, 1966 in Peru, Vermont, leaving them with 11 inches of snow.

I guess if it's going to be cold and snowy during May in Vermont, it would hit on the 9th.  Another snowstorm on May 9, 1977 it mostly high elevations and southern Vermont and New England. 

Some high elevations of central and southern Vermont reported six to eight inches of snow.  Snow dusted valley floors, too. 

It was even worse that day in 1977 in southern New England. A foot of snow fell on Worcester, Massachusetts. 

It snowed again on May 9, 1983.  Burlington had 0.7 inches of snow and the high temperature that day was only 39 degrees. And you thought today was chilly!  South Lincoln, Vermont on that day in 1983 reported 6.8 inches of snow.

Once again snow hit on May 9, 2020. It was a doozy in some spots.  Shaftesbury had 10 inches of snow, Arlington, Vermont eight inches, Concord, Vermont had seven inches and Cabot 6.5 inches. The cold was impressive on May 9, 2020 as well. It was 29 degrees at 4 p.m. that day in Montpelier. 

By the way, Vermont just missed a snowfall on May 9. 1945. Instead, it came on May 10 and 11 that year, with several towns reporting a few inches of snow.   

It IS cold and rainy today, but at least there's no snow!

May 9 had a weird reputation in other ways, at least in some years. It got to 92 degrees on May 9, 1979 in Burlington, which is still easily the hottest for so early in the season. 

On May 9, 2000, 1.91 inches of rain fell, part of a two day storm that dropped three inches of rain.  There was some flooding around that year. 

The weird May 9s tend to end quickly. In almost every case I cited above, the weather was near normal with a couple days after the weirdness of May 9