Trump Administration To Retaliate Against Nations That Fight Climate Change

The Trump administration opposes efforts within the'
shipping industry for a net-zero plan The Trumpster
think it will raise costs, and the administraiton
falsely says climate change is a 'hoax.'

The Trump administration doesn't want anybody to fight climate change it seems.

They are now going as far as to punish nations that do take up the cause. This latest bit of bad news originates from an obscure shipping group.    

Per Reuters from last week:

"The U.S. on Tuesday rejected the 'Net-Zero Framework' proposal by the International Maritime Organization, which is aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions from the international shipping sector, and threatened measures against countries that support it."

So, we've gone beyond the Trump administration sitting out any climate policy. It's a matter of course that Trump and his minions won't lift a finger to combat climate change. 

After all, Trump famously keeps saying it's a hoax, despite all evidence to the contrary.They're now going after anybody who does anything about the climate policy. 

Although the Reuters article doesn't specify exactly what the Trump people will do, but they love tariffs, so that's probably where they will try to go. 

The Trumpsters are portraying they're position as an attempt to save consumers money, saying that the proposed Net Zero idea is carbon tax on Americans levied by an unaccountable UN organization.

 "The Trump Administration unequivocally rejects the proposal before the IMO and will not tolerate any action that increases costs for our citizens, energy providers, shipping companies and their customers, or tourists," according to a statement released by U.S. government leaders, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 

Coming in October the 108 member states in this organization will vote on whether to ratify the measure to diminish carbon emissions from shipping. 

Ocean vessels transport around 80 percent of world trade and account for nearly 3 percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, according to Reuters. 

 

Beneficial Rains In A Corner Of Vermont, But Dry Conditions Carry On Elsewhere In State

The swirl in the clouds in this satellite photo 
clearly indicates an upper level low centered
just about over Montreal Saturday afternoon.
This arrangement sent bands of welcome
showers into northern Vermont, but
breaks of sun kept southern areas dry. 

Well, some of us got some badly needed rain, anyway.

We had a nice, rainy couple days in far northern Vermont, and I think that actually must have dented the building drought in that part of the state. 

The cold upper low that was parked near Montreal Saturday gave northern Vermont an extra dose of decent rains.  We were only expecting a few hundredths of an inch of rain. We got a quarter inch up north. A small bonus for once!   

That upper low kept us cold, but it was worth the price because of the rain. 

The high temperature Saturday in Burlington was just  64 degrees - which is normal for about October 4, and about 15 degrees chillier than normal for the end of August. Southern areas like Springfield, which got some sun, made it to a reasonable 73 degrees

Over the past week, the northern Champlain Valley did the best of anybody with rain.   Burlington had only 0.4 inches of rain during the month through August 23. But then, in the past week, another 1.26 inches of rain poured down on Burlington. 

That's not a huge amount, but for a change it was more or less normal for a week. Here in St. Albans, we've had 1.4 inches in the past week. So my garden plants have definitely perked up.  

Elsewhere, in Vermont, the latest chance at drought relief over the past couple of days was a bit of a whiff, especially in southern Vermont. Very little rain fell down in that neck of the woods. The area around Springfield has had only a trace of rain in the past week  

Burlington will not have one of its driest Augusts on record due to rain in the past week, but other Vermont communities definitely will.   Montpelier has had only 0.62 inches of rain so far this month. St. Johnsbury just 0.94 inches.

FORECAST

It was chilly this morning, but now that skies have cleared up statewide, the sun will go right to work today. Everybody will be well into the 70s by mid afternoon. A nice day to do anything outdoors, for sure. 

Labor Day looks nice, too. We might have some extra clouds in the afternoon, but it will still be warm and partly sunny after another chilly early morning. Continued low humidity should keep things quite comfortable. 

We do have another shot at some decent rain - maybe - at the end of the week.

Before we get there, we have a slight change to what had been a wall to wall sunshine forecast that would have lasted until Wednesday evening

A weak disturbance on Tuesday might kick off a few showers. Not many, and probably most places will stay dry. But those scattered showers might dampen a few places, especially over the mountains. 

Even though it will be seasonably warm all week, the overall weather pattern still features odd early cold blasts coming into the eastern half of the U.S.

The next such chilly outbreak is nippier than the last, and promises frost in northern Minnesota and maybe even snowflakes up near Lake Superior.

Since the core of the cold blast is coming down into the western Great Lakes, that opens up the possibility of a nice flow of humid air coming up from the south ahead of a cold front that will be approaching us Thursday and Friday. 

If things work out right, that could give us a decent dump of rain here in Vermont. 

A lot of things might still go wrong. Perhaps the core of the heaviest rain might pass just to our west. Or the cold front could speed up, and whisk its way through here without having a chance to dump much rain. 

We'll need to wait  until we get closer to the event to see what's really going on. 

But if we get lucky, that end of week cold front just might wet the entire state down, not just a few places. We'll keep an eye on it. 

If You Need A Heartwarming Weather Story, Here's Two: Baby In A Hurricane And Wedding In A Haboob

Dr. Juan Gershanik rescuing little
baby Christian Stewart from
Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago.
The two have kept in touch 
ever since. 

Christian Stewart of Houston, Texas just celebrated his 20th birthday. 

That shouldn't at first glance be a big deal. Plenty of people celebrate birthdays and you probably don't know Christian Stewart.  

But he's alive today against long odds.  Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina almost killed him. Except a kind, brave doctor saved him.

Stewart was born in New Orleans, nearly three months premature in July, 2005.  He weighed just one pound, 12 ounces at birth. He was still in the NICU at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans when hurricane Katrina hit on August 28, 2005. 

The hospital was swamped with water. The emergency generators clicked on, but the water began to go after those, too. If the backup generators failed, Stewart's mechanical ventilator would stop, and he would die.

Enter Dr. Juan Gershanik, who rescued Stewart via a harrowing helicopter ride to Baton Rouge. 

The obvious spoiler is that Gershanik saved Stewart's life.  The good doctor has been attending Stewart's birthday ever since. 

For the full story in a video, click on this link, or if you see the image below, click on that. Then, below the video, Story #2 starts. 

THE WEDDING HABOOB

Things can get a little dusty with events this time of year in Arizona. Just ask a particular pair of newly weds

As ABC 15 Arizona reports:

Bekka and Jamie Ham just married amid a haboob
near Phoenix Arizona. Photo by Madisen Ruehle

"After a decade together, Bekka and Jamie Ham finally decided to tie the knot. They planned nothing too fancy - just a courthouse ceremony followed by some photos with their photographer and friend Madisen Ruehle to remember the day."

The courthouse ceremony in Chandler, Arizona, just southeast of Phoenix, was quick and flawless. It was the photography afterward that got tricky. 

"'We leave the courthouse and we just see a wall of dust coming. I didn't realize how fast it was coming - we were right in the middle of the dust storm,'" Ruehle said. 

The dust slammed into the couple and the photographer, but a rescuer was nearby.  Paul Roupas was getting ready for the grand opening of his new Aristocrat Coffee Roasters shop in downtown Chandler when he saw the couple in distress.

He hustled them into his shop and made sure they had a memorable if off the cuff wedding reception. Roupas brewed up some heart-shaped lattes, and had the couple pick out music for their first dance on a vintage vinyl record player. He didn't have Champagne, so their first toast to their married life was in the form of his and her ice cream cones. 

Outside, the dust turned into a muddy rain, then a cleaner, but gusty torrential downpour. But the newlyweds were safe inside to start their married life. 

Ruehle put the event on social media, where of course it went viral. She said her favorite comment on her post was:  "If a wet knot is harder to untie, then let it rain."

Here's the news video: Click on this link to watch, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

 

Trump Hatred Of Wind Power Comes To New England: He Stopped A Nearly Completed Offshore Wind Project

The Trump administration has unwisely paused
a nearly complete offshore wind project off
the coast of Rhode Island. 

Donald Trump is continuing his war on wind power, doubling down since my August 22 report on the issue.   

An almost completed wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island is almost complete, but Trump pulled the plug on it anyway. 

Per ABC News:

"Danish wind farm developer Orsted says the Revolution Wind project is about 80 percent complete, with 45 out of 65 turbines already installed. 

Despite that progress - and the fact that the project had cleared years of federal and state reviews - the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued the order Friday, saying the federal government needs to review the project and 'address concerns related to the protection of national security interest of the United States.'"

The Trump administration didn't say what those security issues are. My guess is there aren't any, it's just that our Dear Orange Leader just hates wind power, and that makes him feel insecure?

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont decried the stop-work order and will do everything they can to reverse the Trump decision. 

Revolution Wind is evaluating the financial effects of stopping construction. They are also considering legal options, as you would expect. 

Of course, we live in a new, rough era now. Even if judges rule against Trump, as they probably will, Trump will just ignore any rulings. 

Workers who have been building the work farm are perplexed and angry.

Union members are hoping to get back to work, somehow. The construction jobs required skilled labor, and payed six figures. Trump killed some really good jobs. 

Per USA Today:

"'A lot of building trades workers, a lot of union workers, voted for Donald Trump and his team. But they didn't vote to have union jobs shut down,' said Patrick Crowley, the president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, which represents the contractors. 'It shouldn't work like this.'"

Not everyone opposes Trump's move against the Revolution Wind Farm. For instance, the fishing industry in Rhode Island is generally against the wind farm, saying it would damage fishing grounds and negatively impact the ocean. 

 The wind farm is fairly far offshore, located about 15 miles south of the Rhode Island shore; 32 miles southeast of Connecticut and 12 miles southwest of Martha's Vineyard. 

This project was going to be Rhode Island and Connecticut's first offshore wind farm, and would be able to power more than 350,000 homes.  

By the way, this affects us here in Vermont, since we're part of the New England electrical grid. 

Per offshorewind.biz:

"Katie Dykes, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) pointed out that ISO New England, the regional grid operator, said it was counting on that supply to keep the grid stable.

In a statement on August 25, ISO New England said it was expecting the project to come online and that the project was included in its analyses of near-term and future trip reliability. "Delaying the project will increase risks to reliability,' ISO New England stated."

Trump's move against Revolution Wind has other left companies wondering if their in-progress green energy projects will get the axe. Environmental groups are wondering the same thing. USA Today again: 

"'Pulling the plug sends a chilling signal to investors and developers that the U.S. cannot be relied upon to honor it commitments, even when project are 80 percent built  While China outspends us four-to-one one energy and transmission infrastructure to power its AI driven economy, the U.S. is stopping a fully permitted, privately, capitalized project that would strengthen our energy security. That is a dangerous path. Investors, workers, and ratepayers deserve better," the American Council on Renewable Energy said a statement. 

The wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island that Trump and this minions are stopping ongoing construction. Or at last trying to get something transactional about it. 

As Axios notes. Earlier this year the Trump Interior Department halted the Empire Wind project off New York's coast, which crews had already 

 Earlier this year, according to Axios, Interior temporarily halted Equinor's Empire Wind project off New York's coast, which had recently begun construction. We don't know what will happen with that, but did say that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled to him some willingness to move forward on a gas pipeline project. 

Elsewhere, court documents released about a week ago say that the Trump administration is reconsidering prior approval for the Maryland Offshore Wind Project. That one is a planned $6 billion wind project offshore of Ocean City, Maryland. 

This fight over turbines, as mentioned, is just part of Trump's personal hatred of wind farms. The speculation is he considers wind turbines built off the coast of his Scottish golf course ugly, so as revenge he's going to fightable wind project. 

But who knows?

Here's one of the latest things he's had to say about the, per the Washington Post. 

"'They're ugly, they don't work, they kill your birds,' Trump said. 'They're bad for the environment. And if you look at them from a house, your house is worth less than 50 percent. So I'm trying to have people learn about wind real fast.'"

All of what he said is not true, or, at the very least, exaggerated. Unless you're taking about matters of taste. If you think they're ugly, then to you, they are.  

As for birds, cats kill a staggering 2.4 billion with a "b" birds annually. Glass windows are the demise of almost 600 million birds each year. Collisions with vehicles kill about 214 million birds. And wind turbines kill about 230,000 birds annually. So it's an unfortunate, but small percentage. 

I'm not sure how wind turbines are bad for the environment, at least compared to the fossil fuels that are changing the climate so radically that they could become an existential threat to humanity if we keep burning oil and gas and coal the way we are now. 

 

Odd, But Welcome Quiet Labor Day Weekend Nationwide, Including Here In Vermont. Plus Welcome Rain

Shower clouds seen bubbling up in St. Albans, 
Vermont Friday. The rainfall wasn't much, about
a third of an inch, but we'll take anything we can get.

It's Labor Day weekend, and you want to get outside one last time for summer fun.

Nationwide, it's easy to do this year, as the weather is unusually quiet.  It's rather cool in parts of the eastern half of the nation. I don't know how beach time would work under these chilly breezes.  

But there's not much in the way of big storms or extreme heat waves, or anything like that. 

First of all, there's no hurricanes to be found anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean. That's strange for the Labor Day weekend. We're nearing the peak of hurricane season, and there's almost always something lurking out there this time of year. 

On many Labor Day weekends, some part of the U.S. coast is getting hit by a hurricane, is being threatened by one or is just beginning to recover from a hit. Not this year. 

The only thing out there is a disturbance coming off the west coast of Africa. There is some chance it could develop into a tropical storm in a few days. But this thing won't become a threat to anybody for several days, and might not amount to anything at all.

Also, no big outbreaks of severe thunderstorms are in the works this weekend anywhere in the U.S. There could be a few bad storms here and there in the Plains states through the weekend, but any strong storms would be few and far between. 

We do have one weather problem going on, though. This has been the summer of flash floods in the United States, and that is continuing into the Labor Day weekend. 

There has been flash flooding over the past day or two in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, and in parts of New Mexico, Kansas and Arkansas. 

More flash flooding could occur in Texas, New Mexico and the central Plains today and tomorrow.

A heat wave that broke record high temperatures in the West has faded for now, though the heat is continuing in British Columbia, Canada. 

The eastern half of the U.S. is mostly cool for the season today, but a warming trend is starting so the it will be pleasant enough in most places in the East through the weekend

VERMONT WEEKEND

Some places in Vermont got some needed rain Friday. A few spots received as much or even more rain yesterday than they'd gotten all month. 

Through Thursday, Montpelier had only 0.34 inches of rain in August. Friday, they got 0.28, almost doubling the meager amount so far this month. 

A few places in western Vermont and over in New York received over a half inch of rain. But most places, like Burlington and here in St. Albans, had only about a third of an inch of precipitation Friday. 

Southern Vermont missed out again.  Bennington reported just 0.12 inches rain. Springfield logged just 0.02

For places south of Route 4, those sprinkles were the last rain they'll see until at least Thursday. So the drought will keep worsening there as we have another spell of dry, warm weather. 

In the north, a large area of mostly light showers, with some embedded spots of moderate rain, was moving into northern Vermont this morning as activity rotates around a pool of upper level cool air just to our north over southern Quebec.  

The rain won't amount to much. Maybe most towns north of Route 2 could see a few hundredth of an inch of rain. The clouds and rain will keep things cool across the north, as highs only reach the 60s. 

Southern Vermont should stay at least partly sunny, with highs near 70.

For the rest of the weekend, both Sunday and Monday, we'll see sunshine and comfortable temperatures both days to bring summer to an unofficial close. 

My Favorite Vermont Summer Storm Photos, 2025

A thunderstorm begins to loom over Lake Champlain
boaters near Alburgh, Vermont on May 16.

 Overall, this wasn't a big year for summer storms here in Vermont. 

They didn't happen all that frequently and there were only a couple of really damaging outbreaks, one one May 17, the other on July 10.   

As you'll see by the photos, July 10 was my favorite storm day of 2025. The only thing I hated was the resulting flash flood in the Northeast Kingdom.

I love to go out and storm chase. That might seem a little silly in Vermont, given our relative lack of dramatic storms. 

It also didn't help that wildfire smoke sometimes obscured some of the best summertime storm clouds this year. 

It also didn't help that the August drought meant there were precious few thunderstorms to photograph.

Being in Vermont, it's highly unlikely I'll ever get much in the way of striking images that show tornadoes, gorilla hail or high speed winds raking the landscape.  

Georgia, Vermont, June 18

When I hunt for Vermont summer storms, I'm just looking for pretty pictures. An unstable summer sky in the Green Mountains is probably the prettiest you can get. 

Vermont thunderstorms are usually gorgeous, no matter how dark the clouds. 

Sure, they are dangerous sometimes. But you can't escape their allure. 

 I sometimes make YouTube videos of them, too, complete with those pretty clouds, thunder, rain, and sometimes wind. 

 Some examples of this year's videos are here, here, here and here. 

I think the summer thunderstorm season is over. Though sometimes we can get September surprises, so I'll keep my eyes out. 

All the photos in this post had no or zero editing. 

Scroll down through this post and let me know which photos in this post you like the most. 

Charlotte, Vermont, June 24

Jeffersonville, Vermont, July 10

St. Albans, Vermont, July 10

St. Albans, Vermont, July 10

Georgia, Vermont, July 13

Georgia, Vermont, July 13

 Swanton, Vermont, July 17

St. Albans, Vermont, August 29

Feds Arrests Firefighters Battling Washington State Wildfire As Immigration Crackdown Goes Wild

Federal law enforcement detains firefighters trying
to battle a Washington State wildfire. They
ended up arresting two of them. 

 The biggest wildfire now burning in Washington State is now short two firefighters for an infuriating reason.   

That reason is the Trump administration will go to any length to arrest and deport anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally. 

Even if it disrupts heroic battles against dangerous wildfires. .

Per the New Republic

"On Wednesday morning, two different crews of firefighters were cutting wood while waiting for their superior to arrive when Customs and Border Patrol agents showed up in 'Police' vests. The federal agents made the entire crew line up and show ID, eventually detaining the two firefighters without giving them a chance to say goodbye to their fellow crew members and loved ones."

The Seattle Times broke the story, which spurred a fair amount of outrage among residents and lawmakers from Washington.  

The Times spoke to multiple firefighters anonymously. They did so for the sad reason so many are resorting to that type of anonymity. In likely violation of the First Amendment, the Trump administration retaliates against anyone who doesn't praise the Orange God to the high heavens. 

A lot of things were unusual and alarming about this whole thing, not just the fear of retribution. For one, why were agents heading out to an active wildfire, in a remote location like Bear Gulch to make arrests?

One of the firefighters told the newspaper that members of the crew were told not to take video of the incident. To their credit and bravery, some took video and photos anyway. 

Video and photos supplied to the Seattle Times by the firefighters show them in their gear sitting on logs, with federal officers watching them. Also in these images, ".... a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle is parked nearby. Officers wearing 'Police' vests are seen arresting a firefighter, while another appears to be restrained."

One firefighter was quoted:  'I asked them if his (family) can say goodbye to him because they're family, and they're just ripping them way,' another firefighter told the Times. 'And this is what he said: 'You need to get the (expletive) out of here. I'm gonna make you leave."

Government agencies were as vague as they usually are under the Trump administration when it came to explaining the arrests. 

According to The Guardian, the U.S. Border Patrol said it assisted the Bureau of Land Management after that agency asked for help after ending contracts with two companies following a criminal investigation. 

No information was provided on the details of that criminal investigation. Federal agents said they identified two people "present in the United States illegally," according to a Border Patrol statement. 

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington condemned the arrests at the wildfire site. "We count on our brave firefighters, who put their lives on the line, to keep our communities safe - this new Republican policy to detain firefighters on the job is as immoral as it is dangerous," she said. "What's next? Will Trump start detaining immigrant service members? Or will he just maintain his current policy of deporting Purple Heart veterans?"

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, who also condemned the arrests,  posted on social media that one of the arrested firefighters was from Oregon, The man is represented by lawyers from the non-profit Innovation Law Lab, who said the firefighter was unlawfully detained, the Associated Press reported. 

True to form the U.S. government has "disappeared" the firefighter, at least for now. Lawyer from Innovation Law Lab can't find him even though he should be entitled to legal representation. "We demand that they allow him to access counsel as is his right afforded by the U.S. Constitution," lawyer Rodrigo Fernandez-Ortega said in an email

Good luck with that. The only part of the Constitution the Trump administration seems willing to obey is the Second, the one involving guns. 

The Bear Gulch Fire, as this blaze is called, has burned about 14 square miles in the Olympic National Forest. Oddly hot, dry weather in the region has allowed the fire to rage for days.  It was about 13 percent contained as of Thursday afternoon.

No thanks to the Trumpers as to whatever level of containment has been managed so far.   

Stick A Fork In It; Vermont Summer Is Over (I Think)

The summer of 2025 has been hot, but cooler,
more autumnal weather has arrived earlier than
in recent years. 

I'm going to declare it: Summer in Vermont is over. 

Sure, we're still going to have summer-like days. We'll still probably have a few afternoons that get into the 80s. Maybe we'll have a couple humid days or stuffy night or two, but I think summer is done.  

Fingers crossed, we might be done with the big heat waves, and the sometimes week long series of nights in which it's almost impossible to sleep without air conditioning. 

This is all subjective, of course. Just because I decide summer is over doesn't mean it is. 

The widely accepted unofficial end of summer is this weekend - Labor Day. Astronomically, summer doesn't end here until 2:19 p.m. eastern time September 22.

But we all have our own sense of when summer is over. The recent cool days, a rather chilly forecast, and an long term expected weather pattern that doesn't scream heat waves has me sticking a fork in summer. 

It's not just me. Down in the nation's capital, the folks at the Washington Post Capital Weather Gang have also declared that summer is over in DC. 

"By our meteorological definition, summer ends when there's no longer a realistic chance of three straight days of 90 degrees or higher. This year, we think we've reached that point," the Weather Gang announced on Wednesday. . 

I don't have a distinct measure for Vermont. Maybe it's when I think another 90 degree day won't hit until next summer.  

That's OK, we've had enough of 'em this year. With 17 such days as measured in Burlington, we're in the top ten list of most 90 degree days in a single year.  Plus, there's always the chance I'm wrong.  A few (but not all!) computer models bring us back to 90 degrees around September 10. You never know.

I usually figure a season has begun or ended through the lens of hindsight. The second half of this August in Vermont has been chilly, at least compared to recent Augusts.  Ever since a strong, autumn-like cold front sliced through the Green Mountain State on August 17, the consistent warmth of this summer disappeared. 

Eight of the last 11 days have been below normal. At least below the "new normal" that has arrived. This "new normal" is toastier than the 20th century average, thanks to climate change. The kind of late August we're having this year would have been typical, even a tad on the warm side if the same series of days had happened, say, in 1960 or 1970 or even 1980.

LONGER CLIMATE CHANGED SUMMERS

Still, this August is also breaking the trend of longer summers. In most recent years, summer weather - and my unofficial definition of the season - has usually lasted into September. 

There's data to back this up. Summers almost everywhere are longer than they were three decades ago, including here in Vermont. 

Per the Washington Post:

"Climatologist Brian Brettschneider examined the hottest 90 days of the year from 1965 to 1994 and compared their frequency over 1995 to 2024. He found that the temperature that used to kick off the hottest three months of the year expanded beyond the calendar definition of summer."

Brettschneider looked at a whole bunch of cities, including Burlington, Vermont.  From 1965 to 1994, the hottest 90 days of summer - when the average temperature was 64 degrees or warmer - ran from June 6 to September 3 in Burlington.

From 1994 to 2004, the average length of summer - the time it was 64 degrees or warmer - increased by 13 days and ran from June 1 to September 11.

Climate change is lengthening our summers and making them hotter. Despite the cool end of this August, the summer of 2025 in Burlington is very likely to be among the top ten hottest on record. 

There are actually 15 summers in Burlington's top ten warmest summer list due to ties. Not including this summer, eight of those top 15 hottest summers have occurred since 2005, and four of them have happened since 2020. So there's a real warming trend here. 

Even though this summer is likely among the hottest on record in Vermont, it is turning into an exception to Brettschneider's longer summer trend. 

You're always going to have exceptions to the rules. Even if those are new rules. Lately, a persistent weather pattern is bringing cool air from Canada. 

Temperatures will continue below normal today through Sunday, then they should rise to near or slightly above normal most of next week. After that, trends indicate another big cool spell starting about a week from today. 

Despite that, who knows?   Summer could unexpectedly come roaring back. Under our climate changed weather patterns, weird surprises happen. 

For instance, in 2017, summer seemed definitely over in late August and early September with consistently cool weather, with even some frost in the cold hollows on September 2. Then, from September 24 to 27, Burlington had an unprecedented four days in a row with temperatures reaching 90 degrees, by far the latest in the season 90 degree temperatures on record. 

Given the track record of recent warm autumn, we might do something weird like that this year.   

VIdeo: How The Drought Is Affecting Vermont

The falls in Enosburg Falls, Vermont aren't exactly falling
due to the drought and low water levels along
the Missisquoi River. 

Earlier today, I posted about the expanding drought in Vermont. 

I relied on official, scientific sources, like the U.S. Drought Monitor. But the dry weather is obvious to anyone even glancing at what Vermont looks like this month. Dry, wilted trees, a low lake level, rivers you can suddenly walk across instead of being swept away. 

I did a little video, I don't know I guess for posterity, on how things look in the now slightly less green, Green Mountain State due to the lack of rain, 

Maybe the video is a little rain dance to inspire the skies to let loose with some water. We can only hope.  

As always click on this link to view. Or, if you see the image below, click on that. 

Vermont Drought Expanded Over The Past Week, To Nobody's Surprise

Drought (orange shading) covers mostly central
and eastern Vermont as of this week. The
rest of Vermont in yellow is regarded
as abnormally dry.

The latest weekly U.S. Drought Monitor, issued this morning, shows drought expanding here in Vermont, with those drought conditions more or less holding steady in the rest of the Northeast. 

Last week, 35 percent of Vermont was categorized as being under moderate drought, covering mostly the Connecticut River Valley and central Vermont.  

This week, 54 percent of the Green Mountain State is in drought. It has expanded into the central and southern Champlain Valley and a greater portion of the Northeast Kingdom than last week.

As of this morning, about 324,000 of Vermont's 648,000 or so residents are living in drought conditions.

All areas of Vermont not officially in drought are listed as "abnormally dry" which means they are on the verge of drought.

There's plenty of other evidence of drought in Vermont.  The top one meter layer of soil in much of Vermont is among the driest on record for this time of year. 

Lake Champlain is at its lowest level in decades for this time of year. The low level can increase algae blooms. But on the plus side, the low water can expose invasive aquatic plants and kill them, which would help the overall ecosystem. 

River levels across the state are remarkably, low, too. 

ELSEWHERE

Rivers in Vermont are quiet low due to drought, like
in the Missisquoi River shown here in Enosburg
Falls, Vermont this past Sunday. 

In New Hampshire, moderate drought conditions were about the same as last week, says the U.S. Drought Monitor,  covering all of that state except the extreme south.

 In New York, a new drought area appeared this week in parts of the eastern Adirondacks and St. Lawrence Valley. 

The moderate drought grew more extensive in Maine, now extending much further inland from the coast. 

It now covers all of central and southern Maine, or just under two thirds of the state. Severe drought continues along much of the seacoast. 

FORECAST

As I mentioned this morning, the best rains for the next couple of days should hit northwest New York and sections of Maine. Both areas should receive at least three quarters of an inch of rain.

Here in Vermont, total rainfall for the next week should only be about 0.1 south to 0.3 inches north, with locally slightly higher amounts northwest and in the northern Green Mountains. That's well short of the inch of rain per week we'd like in normal times, and 1 to 2 inches per week we'd need to start getting out of the drought 

Almost all of the meager rain we're expecting in Vermont will come Friday and Friday night, with maybe a tiny bit more on Saturday.

Long range forecasts into the middle of September lean slightly toward a bit higher than normal rainfall around Vermont, but I'll believe it when I see it.  

Another Close Miss For Needed Vermont Rainfall. At Least We'll Get Some Though

NOAA rainfall map for the next seven days. 
In northwest New York and in Maine, the lighter
shades of blue indicate generally 0.75 to 1 inch
of rain. Vermont is in a gap (green shading)
with predictions of only at most a half inch
 of rain with less than a quarter inch south.

Meteorologists are still watching that strong cold front that's slowly approaching us in Vermont with its needed rainfall.  

And we'll get some. But the forecast is infuriating. For us in the Green Mountain State, anyway. 

The front is forecast to dump up to an inch of rain on northern and northwestern New York tonight and early Friday. 

Then the rainfall will weaken, giving us just a third of an inch of rain (give or take) north, and less than a quarter inch south.

Once the front gets past us, it will get its act together again and dump more than three quarters of an inch of rain in parts of Maine tomorrow. 

Yes, New York and Maine desperately need the rain, so this weather front will be nice. But what are we in Vermont? Chopped liver?  Don't answer that. 

We'll take any rain we can get, so the little bit we'll receive will put a smile on my face,  but come on!  The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor comes out later this morning, so we'll get an update on how things are trending in Vermont. My guess is not great.

I'l do an update post once we have that new Drought Monitor information later today.  

CHILLY

Cool weather is the other story. It got chillier than expected around much of Vermont early this morning, another sign that autumn is making inroads.

Readings bottomed out at 39 degrees at both Montpelier, and especially surprising, Bennington.  I wouldn't be surprised if some cold hollows made it into the mid-30s. 

South winds in the Champlain Valley kept temperatures there in the low 50s. It'll be briefly warmer today ahead of the front, but not exactly hot. Most of us will get into the 70s, with some upper 70s in warmer valleys. That's maybe around normal for this time of year. 

You'll probably need your hoodie both Friday and Saturday, which will decidedly not be classic Labor  Day weekend beach days. The bulk of whatever showers we get will lurk around Vermont Friday, and that will hold temperatures in the 60s for most of us. 

Saturday will be a classic autumn in August day with breezes from the west,  partly to mostly cloudy skies, with some light, inconsequential showers around.  

Sunday will bring more sun, though it won't necessarily be crystal clear out there.  The chances of showers diminish, but sprinkles are still possible over the northern mountains. The pick of the Labor Day weekend is Monday. It'll start cool, but under sunshine, temperatures should manage to get well into the 70s. Maybe even 80 degrees in the warmest, sunniest valleys. 

The drought will certainly continue. Most of next week looks dry and warm, with low humidity. Our next shot at any rain after tomorrow's cold front will be next Thursday night or Friday. It's still too soon to say whether that late week rain will amount to much.

Disaster Aid Request For July 10 Northeast Kingdom Vermont Flood

Damage in Sutton, Vermont after the July 10, 2025. 
Gov Phil Scott this week has asked for a federal
disaster designation for Caledonia and Essex counties.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott is asking for federal help for a July 10 flash flood that mostly affected the state's Northeast Kingdom. 

The request asks the Trump administration for a major disaster declaration in Caledonia and Essex counties. 

If the request is approved, the Federal Emergency Management Agency would reimburse towns and cities for 75 percent of the cost of debris removal, repairs to roads and public structures, staff overtime and other expenses associated with the flood. 

In a statement, Scott said, "The damage from last month's storm impacted small towns with limited financial resources..... Submitted this request is an important step in the process to bring FEMA funds to Vermont to help towns rebuild and recover."

 As Vermont Public reports: 

"In the tiny town of Sutton alone, the storm caused more than $1 million in damage, according to a press release from Scott's office. Total statewide damage surpassed $1.8 million." 

That total damage exceeded the minimum of $1.2 million needed for the state to qualify for a declaration. 

The July storm also caused some damage in Addison County, but the wind and water damage there appears not to have been enough to qualify for federal disaster assistance. 

President Trump will make the final decision on the disaster relief application. Given Trump's willingness to ignore disasters, especially in blue states, this might well not get approved. 

This was the third year in a row that a destructive flood struck Vermont on July 10. Though this one wasn't as bad or as widespread as the floods of 2023 and 2024, it still stung. 

Vermont is especially vulnerable to weather and climate disasters. Parts of the Green Mountain State have been declared federal disaster areas - mostly from floods - thirteen times since 2017.   

  

Something Else To Worry About: Droughts Can Make Tree Branches Break Off Spontaneously

Trees wilted by drought near Colchester, Vermont this
month. Another hazard was highlighted in
British Columbia: Repeated droughts can cause
trees and branches to spontaneously break off.

In British Columbia on July 31, a mother and her five month old son died when a tree fell on them while they visited a beach at Cumberland Lake Park campground on Vancouver Island. 

On August 10, also on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, a woman was injured when part of a large tree fell on her.  

In both cases, there were no storms, no strong winds. In both occasions, it was a gleaming, bright sunny day. 

So what happened?

It might have been drought. Per CTV News in Canada:

"A tree physiologist said that several years of repeated drought in British Columbia mixed with heat stress increased the likelihood of branches breaking off and this could even happen on a 'perfectly calm day' without any breeze."

Chances are the trees that caused the British Columbia tragedies had something else wrong with them besides drought. But the dry weather could have been a tipping point. Cumulative droughts tend to weaken trees more than one-offs, so that could have been a factor as well. 

Here in Vermont, the drought hasn't exactly been good for trees, especially those that turned brown, yellow or completely wilted in places where the soil has completely dried out. Examples include the now-sad, wilted, brown trees and bushes you see on the ledges along some of Vermont's Interstate highways. 

However, the risk of tree branches suddenly breaking off for no reason while you're at a state or local park are pretty low. But drought does appear to up the chances of that happening, at least a little. 

Vancouver Island has had repeated droughts in recent years, though the island is not currently especially dry for summer. 

Peter Constabel, a professor of biology at the University of Victoria, said he has seen branches of maple and oak trees just break off and fall on calm days during recent droughts.  

Per CTV News again: 

"It's just hot and dry for a long time, and the branch just breaks off. It's really kind of counterintuitive,' said Constabel, adding that the water in the cell walls in the old helps stabilize a weakened tree. 

Simon Fraser University biological sciences professor Jim Mattsson said he had recently witnessed big branches fall from a Douglas fir on Burnaby Mountain 'If some had been hit by that, that could be quite serious,' said Mattsson, adding that a prolonged period of drought can wear down even a Douglas fir, which is usually very drought-resistant."

Droughts reduce photosynthesis and growth, cut energy and sugar reserves and degrade defenses. All this creates a chain reaction that increases the risk of insect and fungal diseases, causing trees to rot inside.

That inside rot inside, increasing the risk of the tree or large branch breaking or falling over. 

Trees in urban settings are most at risk due to compacted soil, less access to water and hotter temperatures in a city's heat island. 

Climate change can make droughts worse, long lasting or more frequent, so this is an issue that will always be there. And it might get more frequent. 

Trees also lose leaves during droughts. That's why you see a lot of leaves on the ground here in Vermont even though it's only August, not October.  Trees try to conserve water during droughts by dropping leaves.  The fewer leaves on a tree, the less water they need. 

It's too soon to tell whether all this will have any effect on our fall foliage season. 

Wednesday Morning Vermont Update: Drops Of Rain, But Little Drought Relief

A few sprinkles helped enhance the colors in the sky
over St. Albans, Vermont Tuesday evening. The 
showers only produced a trace of rain here. 

Tantalizing drops of rain have fallen here and there in Vermont over the past 24 hours, slightly wetting the ground in a few spots, but still doing almost nothing to relieve drought conditions.  

A very brief downpour blew through the Burlington area last evening, depositing 0.16 inches of rain. But that left Burlington easily among the wettest spot in Vermont Tuesday, which really isn't saying much. 

A little more rain is in the forecast which will keep the worsening drought slightly at bay, but there's still not much of a prospect of any super soaking rains soon.

A semi-decent area of showers was over parts of Addison and northwest Rutland counties as of 8 a.m. today. A few spot showers will continue today, especially in the southern half of Vermont, where a few lucky towns could get a little over a tenth of an inch of rain, while others say dry. Hit and miss again. 

Today should  be about as autumnal as yesterday, with highs within a few degrees either side of 70.

SLIGHTLY WET COLD FRONT

The cold front we've been talking about for the end of the week looks like it will graciously dampen Vermont a little, which is nice.  But once again, it will be a bit of a swing and a miss for heavier rains.

The last cold front this past Sunday and Monday was supposed to slow down and create extra rain over Vermont. Instead, most of that extra rain fell in northern New York and extreme northwest Vermont.

It looks like a somewhat similar rainfall pattern will strike again, with some key differences.  

The latest rain forecast from the National Weather 
Service. Only a quarter inch of rain is expected through
early Saturday in most places. 

It'll start off cool again tomorrow with dawn temperatures in the 40s for many of us. Some southwest breezes in the afternoon will bring temperatures into the mid-70s, which is just a smidge below normal,

Increasing clouds will promise rain but there's a catch. The approaching cold front will start out with great dynamics, dropping decent rains Thursday night in northern New York despite a "meh" moisture supply. 

Over in the St. Lawrence Valley, they could see a good 0.5 to 0,75 inches of rain Thursday night and Friday. 

As the front gets into Vermont Friday, it will start to weaken.  It will have enough oomph left to drop some rain, especially north, and that might even be a rumble or two of thunder. 

Expected rainfall amounts are subject to change, and the forecast could change a lot by the time we get to the event. 

But at this point it looks like rainfall with the actually front will only amount to a quarter inch, give or take. It'll be a little more to the northwest, where the northern Champlain Valley could see more than a third an inch with the front by Friday afternoon. The south and east loses again, with maybe a 0.1 to 0.2 inches.

After the cold front goes through, a chilly pool of air aloft - an upper level low - will probably basically sit and spin somewhere near the Vermont/Quebec border Friday night through Saturday night. 

That will keep light showers going over much of Vermont. They should be just inconsequential sprinkles in southern valleys, if that. More frequent light showers should hit central Vermont and the valleys of northern Vermont Friday night and Saturday, but they won't amount to all that much. 

The western slopes and ridgelines of the central and northern Green Mountains could get a decent dampening with this regime through Saturday. Those high elevation places could see a quarter inch of rain. 

Expect continued pre-fall weather Friday and Saturday as highs stay in the 60s, except lower 70s in warmer, sunnier southern valleys. 

BEYOND SATURDAY.

The dry times return after Saturday. There might be a few lingering sprinkles in the north and mountains Sunday. But that will be it for several days, as it looks now. Dry high pressure looks like it will stall nearby later Sunday through at least next Thursday morning. 

That'll bring low humidity, sunshine and somewhat of a warming trend, all bad news because that week of weather would dry out whatever meager rains we see through Saturday.  

Massive Haboob Slams Phoenix, And Other Arizona Communities. Quite The Spectacle

Image of yesterday's massive haboob taking over
the Phoenix metro area. 

 Gosh, this blog thingy is turning into all Phoenix, all the time. 

I went on and on about the extreme summer heat there the other day, but yesterday, things got really wild out there in Arizona. 

A haboob, or giant dust storm hit the area as monsoon thunderstorms raged over large parts of Arizona and adjacent southeast California. 

Outflow from the storms stirred up the massive, apocalyptic looking wall of dust that dropped visibility to zero when it hit.

The haboob hit during the evening commute and some motorists said they couldn't see past their car hoods. The National Weather Service warned everyone to "pull aside to stay alive."

Apparently, everyone did. So far, I haven't seen any reports of deaths or serious injuries. 

Winds were intense in this swirling dust storm. A gust to 94 mph was reported at Sun Tan Valley, in the southeastern outskirts of the Phoenix metro area. The wind at Sky Harbor International Airport gusted to 70 mph amid the clouds of dust. Visibility there was at zero from 5:35 to 5:51 p.m. 

The temperature at the airport fell from 100 to 79 degrees in just 17 minutes.

To the shock of nobody, the haboob delayed plenty of flights at the airport.  A ground stop there lasted a good hour. A connector bridge at the airport was shredded by the storm, and part of a roof at a terminal was damaged. 

Power lines and even utility poles snapped. Trees fell on houses, cars and carports. Photos and video from the Phoenix showed fallen trees, traffic signals and wires. The bottoms of countless swimming pools were covered in dirt.  

The haboob yesterday about to swallow the Phoeni
Sky Harbor airport. 

In Arizona Monday,  the haboob was followed in many areas by torrential rains from the parent thunderstorm. 

As the rain turned the dust to mud then washed it away, flash flood alerts blared in the Phoenix area, along with many other areas in southern Arizona and far southern California away from the coast. 

The haboob traveled quite a distance, too. It developed a little north to Tucson, then slammed through Casa Grande around 4:25 p.m. local time before slamming into Phoenix an hour later. Which means it traveled a good 60 miles at least. 

Haboobs are pretty common in arid areas, including in the U.S. Desert Southwest.  A similar serious haboob swept through the Burning Man festival in northwest Nevada last weekend, ripping up encampments and other temporary structures. 

Some observers say the Phoenix haboob on Monday was the most intense since July, 2011. 

Every weather emergency has its precautions, and haboobs have theirs.  Motorists who see a wall of dust coming should pull into a parking lot. Or, if none is available, pull as far off the side of the road as possible. 

People are told to shut off their car lights.  The visibility in haboobs is so bad that people have been known to smash into parked cars with lights on, thinking they were on the highway. Kind of like a blizzard here in Vermont. Except obviously with sand, not snow. 

More haboobs, big thunderstorms and flash floods are possible in the Desert Southwest for the rest of today and likely tomorrow. 

On a vaguely humorous note, spell check kept trying to make me say Phoenix was hit with either a "kabob" or a "baboon" either of which would have been more fun and probably less dangerous. 

Videos:

Storm chaser Aaron Rigsby got some amazing shots of the Arizona haboob. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that:

 
Another video from the Associated Press, shows what it was like to be in a car during the haboob, then a timelapse of the haboob, followed by torrential rain, sweeping into downtown Phoenix. Again, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that:

After Being Mostly Cheated On Monday Rain, Vermont Faces Autumnal Week In One Of Its Driest Augusts On Record

Last evening had a bit of an autumnal look and feel
to it here in St. Albans, Vermont, and this week
will definitely be pre-autumn in Vermont. But
rain faltered Monday, and not much is in the 
forecast. This will likely be one of the driest
Augusts on record in the Green Mountain State., 

As always with summer rains, there were winners and losers with showers on Monday.

Things usually even out, but with our Vermont drought deepening, the stakes are much higher now. Yesterday's misses make the situation for many much more dire for many of us. 

It turns out a small area around where I live in northwest Vermont was the big winner. 

The more than three quarters of an inch of rain that fell around St. Albans and Georgia early Monday was more than anyone else in the Green Mountain State received by a pretty large margin. 

A patch of showers that passed through early this morning slightly added to the wet bonus in the Champlain Valley. 

My place in St. Albans received another 0.1 inches of rain early this morning, for a three day total of 0.95.   That's better than almost all the rest of Vermont. 

So I'm damn lucky. And gloating,

Elsewhere,  most places received a third of an inch of rain or less. Widely scattered showers and thunderstorms Monday afternoon provided a bit of additional help in a handful of places, but most of us stayed dry.   

August now stands an excellent chance of becoming one of Vermont's top 10 driest Augusts. In some towns, it might well be the driest August on record. 

So far this month, Montpelier has only had 0.31 inches of rain. They should have receive about 3..2 inches by now.. St. Johnsbury has logged only a half inch of rain so far in August. By now 3.3 inches should  have accumulated this month.  

If no more rain falls in Burlington this month, it'll be the second driest August on record with just 0.93 inches. (The driest August was in 1957 with just 0.72 inches.) The tenth driest August in Burlington was 1.49 inches in 1894, so we should make the list.  

It would take a big surprise this coming weekend for this August to become one of the ten driest. 

RAIN PROSPECTS

We do have a remote, outside chance of a decent rain this weekend, but I'm to holding my breath. Still, it seems increasingly likely that at least some parts of Vermont will get a little bit of rain Thursday night and Friday. And maybe continuing a bit on Saturday. really doubting it. 

We're in what I would guess pre-autumn now, and weather conditions will be classic September. 

Last evening, I really did feel start to feel the cool autumnal aspect of autumn, even if in reality it really wasn't all that cool. Just seasonable, but it's been mostly a hot summer until now. 

For the rest of the week, we'll have a pretty typical regime for autumn or even winter. A northwest flow with embedded weak disturbances will continue today and tomorrow. 

That means cool air and party cloudy skies with a risk of a few light showers, mostly in the mountains. It'll be sunniest in the southeast with virtually no chance of showers down there. Which is bad, because that part of the state really missed out on the rain Sunday and Monday. 

Today's showers won't amount to much, so in general, we'll either start drying out, or continue drying out. The drought lives on.  

On Thursday night a stronger cold front will approach. It also looks like an upper level storm will want to get going overhead or nearby, with a small corresponding small storm down where we live.

The front itself will have some oomph to it. So we might briefly get some moderate intensity showers and maybe a little rumble of thunder with it toward Friday. 

The upper level low will have a pocket of pretty chilly air with it, so highs Friday and Saturday probably won't get out of the 60s. Or even 50s in some colder, higher northern spots. Burlington on Friday will probably have its first sub-70 high temperature since June 13. 

Showers, mostly along the west slopes of the northern Green Mountains should continue into Saturday. That's a very typical winter pattern. At least it's going to be rain, not snow, right?  

Some - but not all - forecasts have the chilly upper level low lingering through the Labor Day weekend, If that chill remains, it won't be much of a farewell to summer. Too cold for the beach, and possibly too showery to enjoy hiking to the mountain summits. 

The late week storm and cold front are coming in from the north, so it won't be able to scoop up a lot of humid air from the south. So even though the front and storm might have a lot of energy, it probably won't be able to generate a huge amount of rain. 

But, as I keep saying, we'll take anything. We'll have a better idea of how much rain as we draw closer to the event. 

Longer range forecasts have high pressure stalling over us starting around Monday and continuing much of the following week. That will keep us dry with a bit of a warming trend. 

After this thing we're getting at the start of Labor Day weekend, the next chance of decent rains wouldn't come along until around September 5 or 6, as it looks now.