Winter Comes To Vermont, Or At Least A Foretaste, In Very Active Weather Pattern

A blustery November day yesterday in St. Albans,
Vermont with shafts of bright sun and dark clouds,
and a day long chilly, gusty wind. More
wind, cold rain and even snow is in the 
Vermont forecast for the next several days. 

Yesterday afternoon was actually a shade warmer than average, but it really didn't feel like it. 

Temperatures were within a few degrees of 50, and the sun was in and out, at least in the valleys. 

However, a blustery west wind made it feel much colder, especially when the sun went behind a cloud. Those clouds looked dark over the mountains. On the summits of the northern Green Mountains, those clouds were depositing snow showers. 

The sunny, mild first half of autumn is over. Winter is here, or more precisely, pre-winter.

It's that time of year when snow becomes almost a fixture in the forecast, even if the snow that does eventually come doesn't really affect the valleys all that much.   The gusty winds keep howling, the sky is usually gray. And much of the time, when it's not snowing, a cold rain is falling.

That's our fate here in northern New England for at least the next week, probably more as a fast-paced weather pattern keeps spraying us with storms. 

None of the storms will be especially strong. But they will all keep conditions such that it will not be pleasant outside. 

Let's do the details, as it's a very busy forecast:

TODAY

The next in a series of these storms was on our doorstep this morning. Clouds quickly covered the sky by the time the sun rose, and rain is coming. Snow, too. And wind. Especially wind. 

Light rain was on our doorstep as of 7:30 a.m. Some high elevations might start out with a few snowflakes before it goes over to rain.  This initial bit of rain is sort of a warm front, but it's not all that warm of a front. Highs today will stay in the 40s, with a few low 50s south. 

That band of light rain will probably won't last long in any one place come through. It won't rain all day where you are, but it will stay overcast and breezy and dank. Typical November.

Then the core of the storm, and its cold front arrives overnight. The story with this storm will be wind, especially in the few hours when and just after the cold front passes through. 

A wind advisory for gusts of up to 50 mph is in effect for Vermont along and south of Route 2. The highest gusts overnight will be mostly on the eastern slopes of the Green Mountains. 

In far southern Vermont, a more serious high wind warning is in effect for gusts as high as 60 mph. It looks like a blast of wind will move down New York's Mohawk Valley, then rush through central and southern New England. Areas along Route 9 from Bennington to Brattleboro look like they will be caught up in this.

Far northern Vermont won't escape the wind. But the expected gusts as high as 45 mph don't quite trigger a wind advisory. 

This storm won't be particularly wet, but anything helps due to the lingering drought. 

Rainfall will be light in the southern valleys with this one, maybe amounting to only a tenth of an inch there. Precipitation amounts will range up to about a half inch in the north. 

Precipitation will be heavier in the mountains, and some of it will come down as snow, especially at the summits. Rain and melted snow along the west slopes of the Green Mountains could range up to an inch. 

By mid-morning Thursday, that snow might accumulate to a slushy coating at elevations as low as 1,500 feet or so. The National Weather Service is going with one to four inches between 2,000 and 3,000 feet, and as much as four to eight inches at the summits of the northern Green Mountains. 

Mount Mansfield already had seven inches of snow at the summit as of late yesterday afternoon, so they're off to a fast start. 

As precipitation ends, winds will remain gusty from the northwest all day. Thursday will be much like yesterday, except colder, with highs only within a few degrees either side of 40. That will be the coldest day so far this year. 

BEYOND THURSDAY

Even colder weather is on its way, though.  But it will wait until Sunday night or Monday to get here. 

Before that, another, smaller storm will blow through Friday and Friday night with light rain and maybe a bit more mountain snow. 

The rapid fire spray of storms continues after that.  A somewhat stronger storm than the one Friday is forecast to blow in on Sunday with more light to perhaps moderate rain, and a some more mountain snow. 

A blast of wintry air should come in behind Sunday's storm. By Monday and Tuesday, high temperatures will only be in the 30s, and some towns in the north and hills might not get above freezing either day.