Latest Vermont Snowfall Ends, Except In Northern Green Mountains

Heavy snow falling along Route 242 in Westfield
not far From Jay Peak around 8 a.m. today. More than
a foot of snow will fall in that area today, but 
most areas in Vermont will see very little 
snow today. But it will be wintry. 

The snow is pretty deep for this time of year in Vermont, thanks to a remarkably early winter. 

Both the cold and the snow are pretty impressive. Right now, there's about 10 inches of snow on the ground here in St. Albans.  

So far, some of the highest snow totals I've found from yesterday are 8.7 inches in a higher elevation in Waterbury, 7.5 inches in Maidstone, and 6.5 inches in Ludlow and Albany (that's Vermont, not New York).

It actually got warm last night, as Burlington reached 36 degrees around and just after midnight. That's the first time we've had a normal high temperature since November 27. It's been colder than average since then. 

TODAY

That 36 will be the high temperature for today. We've got a wintry day in store, once again. For the rest of your Thursday, the temperature will slowly fall through the 20s. Northwest winds will increase, with gusts for many of us going up over 30 mph. Which means the wind chill will get worse, too. 

Some areas, especially the southern Champlain Valley might see some breaks of sun today, but it won't be an impressively sunny day for most of us. The lower Connecticut Valley in southeast Vermont will probably be rather sunny, so head down there if your Seasonal Affective Disorder is really acting up. 

It won't be a nice day, if you'll allow me to be Captain Obvious once again. 

For most of us, we're pretty much done with the snow.  There will be some flurries and snow showers around, and some blowing snow. A few places in northern and central Vermont could get an inch or so of snow.  Which means roads conditions will be fair to middlin,' as they say. 

Not much snow in Vermont today, except a patch of 6 to as
much as 18 inches in the northern Green Mountains

The exception is the northern Green Mountains. The upslope snows will keep going. From about Sugarbush north to Stowe and Smugglers' Notch, we're probably talking four to as much as eight inches. 

But the real story is up by Jay Peak, once again. They always get a lot of snow, but this year is insane. And today will remain part of that insanity. 

The upslope snow near the Canadian border will be so persistent that the National Weather Service in South Burlington is saying that between shortly after midnight this morning (a few hours ago as of this writing) and Friday morning, Jay Peak could see 18 inches of new snow. 

That's on top of the eight inches or so they received Wednesday. True, the snow coming down on Jay Peak today is super fluffy and will compact down a lot. But still!  

A winter weather advisory is up for the northern Green Mountains, as you might imagine. Right around Jay Peak, you'll see some near blizzard conditions with all that snow and wind. 

LOOKING AHEAD

We've got a few more days of wintery weather to look forward to.  Tomorrow will be a little warmer as south winds temporarily take hold. Some of the warmer towns will get to near 30 degrees. 

The six to 10 day outlook from NOAA covering
the days between December 16 and 20 has warmer
air spreading across the U.S. We in Vermont
will stay near the edge of the warm air
so we'll have probably flip-flopping 
conditions between cold and mild. 

Another well-advertised shot of cold air is due to come in Sunday, with another spate of snow showers, especially in the mountains.  

Highs in the 20s on Sunday will drop to the teens on Monday. It looks like clouds and wind might prevent temperatures from going way below zero like they did on Tuesday morning. 

Then - here's something interesting - we have a huge shift in the weather pattern coming up. 

Instead of intrusions of frigid air from Canada, a strong west-to-east jet stream will flood most of the Lower 48 with warmer air starting toward the middle and end of next week. 

It looks like we'll be near the northern fringe of that balmy air, with frigid air lurking not far to our north in Canada. 

That arrangement pattern probably means we'll flip flop pretty quickly and often between fairly mild days and chilly ones. The rapid fire parade of small to mid-sized storms will probably continue, but we'll have to deal with mixed precipitation, ice and even rain from time to time, in addition to modest snowfalls. 

It's way too early to tease out exactly how these storms will affect us starting toward the end of next week. But expect surprises, and occasional breaks from the midwinter cold we've had to deal with.