Vermont Snow Tapering Off In Lowlands, Keeps Cranking In The Mountains

The snowy view through the windshield on 
Dorset Street in South Burlington this afternoon. 

Our daylong snowfall in Vermont has left us with a good two or four inches, locally more of snow. As of 4 p.m. here in St. Albans, we had 3.4 inches of new snow. 

Roads statewide have been tricky all day with the steady snow. I notice on Interstate 89 by mid-afternoon, visibility occasionally got really poor in areas near pine trees. The wind was picking up and blowing around the snow that collected on those branches

As usual, there were a number of crashes and slide offs, though I noticed people on Interstate 89 between St. Albans and Burlington were behaving pretty well. Though I learned later, as of around 3:50 p.m. traffic was backed up on the Interstate  northbound near Milton due to a three-car  crash. 

I also see that a school bus slid into a ditch and landed on its side on Route 12 in Middlesex

 A well anticipated "dry slot" - a tongue of dry air drawn into the storm -  was moving into western Vermont as of 3:30.  It'll keep spreading eastward into Vermont to at least mostly and temporarily shut off the snow. Views from Burlington at 4 p.m. showed a small ribbon of sunshine trying to peak through the clouds as it set. 

The wind is stronger in that dry slot, so blowing snow will continue to be a problem this evening.  With the snow getting lighter, but might not entirely stop. Road conditions might improve a little this evening, but won't be perfect. Expect slushy and snow covered roads, and maybe some visibility problems from blowing snow from time to time. 

The dry slot also contains a little bit of warmer air, so temperatures in the Champlain Valley could sneak up to near or a bit above freezing for several hours this evening. That will help improve road conditions somewhat.

The bottom line is your drive home this afternoon and evening won't be great. Many roads are snow packed, or at best, slushy.  To take it easy out there. 

A noticeable cold front barging in toward midnight will quickly drop temperatures into the 20s. Depending on where you are, the drive into work tomorrow morning won't be that great. The Champlain Valley, the Route 7 valley floor in southwest Vermont and the  lower Connecticut Valley should have nothing more than a few icy patches and some nuisances snow showers.

There might also be some trouble once again with blowing and drifting snow in open areas. 

However, the Green Mountains should stay in the snow pretty much all day as wet northwest winds will continually be forced to ride up and over those mountains. The rising air over the mountains means plenty of snow. 

Some summits might see six or more inches of snow. The Jay Peak cloud in the far north seems like it wants to work overtime and has the potential to dump a foot of snow up there.