Let's Have A Little Sympathy For People Struggling In Winter Storm Zone. It Really Was That Bad. Here's Why

In this image from Live Storms Media, the ice on the ground
was so thick and stubborn that a man resorted to using
a circular saw to cut and pry the ice from his driveway, 
The ice within the storm, and the long deep freeze
after it, has made cleanup for the storm especially
difficult and tedious in many places in the
Midwest and eastern United States. 

I'm seeing on social media a lot of snickering about people in the South, Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic States not being able to handle the aftermath of the big winter storm last weekend. 

I'm also seeing a lot of frustration among people who live in cities hit by the storm because ice isn't cleared from streets and sidewalks. There's still huge snow mounds, and pathways in business districts are just excruciatingly narrow divots between piles of snow and ice.

The frustration is more than understandable. Who wants to deal with all that ice and snow and difficulty in getting around day after day? It can be downright dangerous. 

Much of the ire is directed at city officials. And in some cases, some town and city DPWs really dropped the ball with this storm. 

But overall, a couple aspects of this storm made the whole thing a long-lasting nightmare for millions of people who are not in Vermont or other parts of northern New England. 

Sure, up to 20 inches of snow fell on Vermont last Sunday and Monday. But this stuff was as light as feathers. We were able to clear all this stuff off our driveways and sidewalks without a problem. The snow was so filled with air that it settled a lot, Burlington, Vermont had 15.6 inches of snow in the storm. By Friday, the snow depth on the ground was down to eight inches.

Us northerns were smug about our snow clearing abilities, not understanding the difference between the fluff in Vermont and the cement-like crust of ice further south. 

In a broad zone from northern Texas and in Oklahoma all the way to the Mid-Atlantic States, the storm started as snow. Then a ton of sleet and freezing rain on top of it. 

Ever try to shovel three or four inches of sleet? You'd better be a bodybuilder if you try. Then throw in some freezing rain. The layers of snow and sleet get frozen into a solid, glacial mass that's almost impossible to hack away. 

The ice is so thick and stubborn in some places that a man in Lexington, Kentucky was seen using a circular saw in an attempt to cut and pry the ice from his driveway. 

South of the Great Lakes, northern New York and northern New England, snow and ice usually start to melt almost right after a winter storm ends. At least that's been the case in recent decades, as climate change has made extended periods of frigid weather increasingly rare,

But not impossible. The cold air has hung on relentlessly since that storm. A reinforcing shot of frigid air arrived yesterday, and will plunge temperatures to record lows in the Southeast tonight. 

Mississippi highways were still sheets of ice, with hundreds of stuck tractor trailers and other vehicles just sitting there. Cars were still sliding down hilly streets in Richmond, Virginia five days after the storm ended. 

In Washington DC, people are expected, under city ordinance, to clear the driveway in front of their homes within eight hours of daylight after a storm ends. Commercial properties face a $150 fine for not clear the walks and homeowners get $25 fines.

However, because the ice is so thick in DC, and it's been so cold, the city has temporarily suspended that rule. You still need to clear a path on the sidewalk, but if there's some snow and ice left that people can't hack away, the fines have been suspended for now. 

The temperature in Washington DC fell below freezing on January 23 and has been that way since. Temperatures are expected to remain below freezing in DC at least through next Saturday, except for a couple brief excursion into the mid 30s Tuesday and Friday. This in a city where the normal high temperature this time of year is 44 degrees. 

Also, snow that has a lot of sleet in it, like what's in Washington DC has now, doesn't melt nearly as fast as just powdery snow. 

New York City residents are grumbling about the snow, too, even though the Big Apple got very little sleet. The headline in The Gothamist Saturday was "New Yorkers begin to lose hope as freeze sets in and snow turns gray."

Garbage bags are beginning to pile up atop the snowbanks because the sanitation department has been more focused on snow removal than garbage. At least for the moment. The problem in New York is the same as elsewhere: There's been no thaw to remove the snow and no above freezing temperatures are in the forecast.  

It won't get above freezing in New York until at least next Saturday, and probably beyond that. 

As we head into February, millions of people will remain locked up in the ice and snow for many more days. A thaw will hit eventually, but it seems like forever before we'll see it. 

The winter of '26 is tough in so many respects. And that includes the weather.  

Frigid Weather Drags On; Lakes Freezing Up

Screen grab from the WCAX Echo Center web cam from
this morning. There's a lot of ice on Lake Champlain now.
If you look carefully you can still see open water far offshore 

 It's frigid again today here in Vermont and through the rest of the eastern United States as the worst siege of winter weather in years, maybe decades rolls on with little sign of a break. 

A historic nor'easter and cold wave in the Southeast was just cranking up toward full speed this morning. 

Up here in Vermont, nothing exciting. Just unrelenting, tiring cold. 

LAKE CHAMPLAIN

Lake Champlain is rapidly freezing up. This week, the huge expanse of open water we saw at the start o the week is now a relatively small hole of open water way out in the middle. 

On Wednesday, the lake was pretty much frozen just to the Burlington breakwater, which is about 1,000 feet offshore. By Thursday, the ice went all the way out to Juniper Island, which is three miles offshore from Burlington.  

Shelburne Bay had some open water Wednesday. By Thursday the bay was entirely iced over. 

The cold weather yesterday and today obviously manufactured even more ice. Still, it will take awhile for the middle of the lake to freeze over because it's more exposed to the wind. Also, it's the deepest part of the lake, so relatively warmer water would upwell from below, which would at least delay a freeze over. 

WCAX noted that in all but one winter with a January weather like this year's the lake froze over completely if February's temperatures were below normal.

Spoiler: February's temperatures will be below normal as we see no real sign of a let up in the cold through the middle of the month. Sure, some days will be only a little cooler than average. But other days will be bitterly cold, at least as forecast look now.

It Lake Champlain entirely freezes over this winter, it would be the first time since 2019 that it's happened. The lake has only frozen over eight times since 2000. 

GREAT LAKES

The Great Lakes are freezing over, too, Lake Erie was 95 percent frozen as of yesterday. That will mostly shut down the lake effect snows in and south of Buffalo for the season. (Even when Lake Erie is frozen, some moisture gets through the ice, so there could still be some light lake effect in towns south Buffalo, like Dunkirk and Hamburg.

Lake Erie is much shallower than the other Great Lakes, which is why it freezes over so readily. 

Deep Lake Ontario had the least ice, but it was still 23 percent frozen over. About a quarter of both Lake Michigan and Lake Superior had iced over. A little more than half of Lake Huron was frozen.

The ice on those lakes will continue to expand, as no thaws are headed toward the Great Lakes. 

VERMONT FORECAST

No thaws are coming to Vermont, either. 

Oh sure, today will be hotter than yesterday. But not by much. The high temperature in Burlington yesterday was 7 degrees. The forecast high today is 12. After another subzero night tonight, Sunday's temperatures will be similar to today's 

Vermont is still set up for a "heat wave" this coming week. It now looks like every day for most places in the Green Mountain State should reach the low to mid 20s. Overnight lows will be within a few degrees either side of zero. That's just a little colder than average.

But signs point toward the deep chill returning by next weekend. Lo ng range forecast have us below zero again for at least a few days starting about a week from now.

Between now and next weekend, we'll have very little if any snow. Cold waves like this are dry, so it's hard to get any substantial snowfalls in this weather pattern.  

Oh, sure, we'll have some flurries from time to time, but it'll never amount to much. We had some flurries this morning. That was actually produced by moisture from all the way up in the Labrador Sea. The air flow has been coming from that direction overnight and this morning. 

Those flurries could continue here and there for the rest of the day.  

Winter Weather: The South Is Doing It Again With Near-Blizzard, Intense Cold

This house in Rodanthe, North Carolina was one
of at least 15 Outer Banks houses that fell into
the ocean in 2025. A fierce nor'easter packing
winds of up to 75 mph, battering waves and
blizzard conditions is threatening more houses.

For the second time in a week, a wild blast of winter weather is brewing in the South, this time setting its sights on the Carolinas, and part of Georgia and Virginia. 

It might even snow a little in Florida again as that state, and much of the Southeast is once again facing bitter cold temperatures. 

This one, much like the Gulf Coast snowstorm a year ago, will be one for the history books. 

The main story is the nor'easter about to develop near North Carolina. It's the same one we were wondering a few days ago whether would see anything from it here in Vermont. We won't.

Eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia could get eight to 12 inches of snow. The heaviest weather would come through Saturday night and early Sunday with strong winds and whiteout conditions - basically a blizzard.

The real scary spot will be out on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which will be close to the center of the fast-intensifying and powerful nor'easter. This barrier island chain should see four to eight inches of snow with winds gusting to as high as 75 mph. So again, a blizzard.

In fact, it's possible the National Weather Service will ultimately issue a blizzard warning for the Outer Banks.  If that happens it will be the first time such a warning was issued for the area.

If a foot of snow falls near the coast, it'll be the first time since 1980 or 1989, depending on where you are near the North Carolina shore.   

Coastal flooding is a given, since forecasters predict a two to four foot storm surge and large, breaking waves of up to 12 feet.

At least 15 shoreline homes have fallen into the sea in 2025 in the Outer Banks, especially in and near the town of Rodanthe and Buxton. Those collapses occurred during only moderate-sized storms or due to hurricanes far offshore. 

It's a little frightening to think what might happen with an intense nor'easter scoring a direct hit on this area.  

Officials have declared a shelter-in-place emergency in the Outer Banks, meaning anyone who is safe from coastal flooding needs to stay indoors during the storm. 

Much of central and western North and South Carolina is expecting at least three to seven inches of snow out of this. What's known as a "deformation band" might set up somewhere in the region, giving some places in the central parts of the Carolinas up to a foot of snow. Exactly where that happens is still open to debate.

For the second time in a week due to a winter storm, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has declared a state of emergency for his state. 

Further south, Wilmington, North Carolina and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina are expecting about six or seven inches of snow, mostly Saturday night and early Sunday.  The area around Charleston, South Carolina can expect three to six inches of new snow .

The storm will extend into eastern Georgia, where places like Athens will see three to five inches of snow with winds or 35 mph. There could even be a little snow in northeast Florida. 

This snow will also be more unusual than most. In the rare times it does snow along the Southeast coast, it's wet and heavy. This snow will mostly be powdery. That means it'll blow around a lot, reducing visibility. On the bright side, there won't be many power outages. Especially since little if any freezing rain will hit anywhere with this storm. 

The nor'easter will largely avoid the rest of the East Coast. It will probably clip far southeastern New England with strong winds, a few inches of snow and the risk of coastal flooding on Sunday. It could give a nasty blow to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in Canada early next week.

EXTREME SOUTHERN COLD

As the storm begins to depart from North Carolina Sunday, it will pull extremely cold air into the Southeast from more northern parts of the U.S.

Meteorologist expect many record lows to be set with this cold wave. That, in addition to the dozens of record lows this week in the wake of last weekend's winter storm. 

Extreme cold warnings are in effect throughout the Southeast. Places in northern Mississippi that still do not have electricity after last weekend's ice storm can expect temperatures near 10 degrees this weekend.  

The cold wave in Florida is going to be odd. Usually, frost and freezes in Florida have relatively little wind. 

This time, the frigid temperatures Saturday night will be accompanied by winds of up to 40 mph or even more in a few spots. That'll bring wind chills well into the single digits and teens to a state that's not prepared for that kind of weather. Officials are worried about the homeless population around the state. 

On Saturday night, strong northwest winds coming off the Gulf of Mexico into the deep cold in Florida could produce snow flurries as far south as Tampa. There's a very slight chance Tampa could receive measurable snow, even if it's a quarter inch or less. If that happens, it'll be only the third time history the city has gotten measurable snow. The other times were in 1899 and 1977.

The Tampa area saw flurries that did not accumulate in December, 1989 and January, 2010.

Many areas of Florida will have their hardest freeze in years. 

A freeze watch is in effect as far south as Miami-Dade and Broward counties away from the coast. Temperatures in Miami are forecast to fall into the mid-30s Saturday night with wind chills in the 20s. 

The weather is generating weird headlines like this one in the Miami Herald: "Will Insurance Cover Frozen Iguana Damage In Miami?"

Iguanas get stunned by the cold and fall from trees. They can be heavy enough to damage cars and lightweight buildings.  The answer to the Miami Heralds question is yes, depending on whether you have comprehensive coverage or not. 

Temperatures across the Southeast are forecast to warm up somewhat by early next week. But temperatures will remain well below at least through the week. 

AI Images For Weather Disasters Now Prevailant, Risks Misinformation And Misrepresenting Victims' Needs

An AI image of Nashville's recent
ice storm. It doesn't look like this
and this image has been used to
"show" what it's like in the ice
storm south. Fake images like
this can foster mistrust in 
disaster news, and potentially
direct aid to the wrong places. 

 Each big disaster has just an iconic image or two, ones that capture the breadth and emotion and tragedy of the event. 

The big Lost Angeles wildfires in January, 2025 has the vintage blue Volkswagen bus gleaming seemingly unscathed in a large, completely leveled, blackened neighborhood. Or the resort towns in western North Carolina wiped out by Hurricane Helene. Or, here in Vermont, downtown Montpelier inundated by the summer floods of 2023. 

Now, we have that horrible ice storm in the south. I've seen so many dramatic photos and videos of collapsed trees, tangled, destroyed electrical systems, damaged houses and highways that resemble miles long skating rinks, 

But the photos that arguably circulating the most on social media do not at all capture the real tragedy, scariness and power of the ice storm. 

The photos I see the most are AI generated. Definitely not the real deal. 

One account on Facebook called Meanwhile in Delco posts a lot of AI generated images of bad weather, and really went to town with the southern Ice Storm. Sometimes images from this account and others get a community note explaining that it's a fake image. 

But most of the time, when I see the AI images the comments are all, "OMG the destruction!" and "Pray for Nashville."

I'm 100 percent in favor of praying for Nashville and anybody else affected by the winter storm. However, I don't think AI helps. 

One person posted this genuinely thoughtful comment under one of Delco's  AI-generated Nashville ice storm images. She wrote: "For those saying this is AI... Does it really matter since this is scary close to what Nashville and the surrounding areas are surviving through the week? 

My answer is a respectful yes. It does matter. 

DANGERS OF AI PICS

Fake images breed distrust.  If it gets hard to tell which images of a disaster are fake and which are real, you start to lose trust in everything. Some people might wonder if the whole ice storm disaster is fake. AI, used incorrectly, can hurt, rather than help recovery efforts after disasters.

I'm picking on Meanwhile in Delco, but that Facebook account holder doesn't' seem intent on causing harm. The text parts of their posts seem accurate when they discuss power outages, recovery efforts or storms elsewhere. So overall, they're probably doing a little more good than harm. Or at least they're not adding much to the chaos. I've seen a LOT worse on Facebook.

But other people on social media can use AI to be misleading. Here's a theoretical: The winter storm was huge and caused misery and danger really from New Mexico to Maine, right?

I can envision efforts to use AI to exaggerate the effects of a particular storm in one area, while saying other areas that were hit hard are fine. For example, somebody could post AI images of New Orleans just obliterated by an ice storm, even though they're fine, while posting AI images of Nashville looking just ducky.  

Imagine this was being done by a crook who wants to use the sympathy of social media viewers to steer donations toward New Orleans (really the crook's pocket) and away from Nashville, which really needs the help. 

I know in the real world under my scenario, Nashville would still be getting help. But a little bit of that potential aid could get diverted from Nashville, or other areas of the South that were blasted by the ice storm. And the crook with the AI account would pocket the money.

My dream is to require all AI images to clearly state they are in fact AI.  I'd like to see that rule in social media terms and conditions. But, their algorithms are so bad that such a rule would probably ban real, unadulterated photos, or legitimate AI art that is not pretending to be news.

So yea, a solution to this isn't easy. 

Don't get me wrong. There's a place for AI on social media and elsewhere. It can be entertaining, even illuminating at times. 

But if there's some weather event or disaster somewhere, I, and I think most people, want to know what really happened. Not just some AI representation that at best is a guess, and at worst, a scam. 

 

The Vermont Deep Chill Stays Deep; Subtle, Weak Signs Of Eventual Relief

Some days this time of year I don't want to go beyond
my front door to take a photo. Just too cold. Today
was one of those days. Can't imagine I'll be 
gardening out in this yard anytime soon. 

This has really been a long winter in Vermont. 

The snowy,  chilly weather started early, in the first half of November. We've had some sort of mild spells, but most of the time, it's been cold, snowy or both. 

The current cold wave is the most disheartening yet because it's lasting longer than any spell of Arctic air since January, 2005. 

We have gotten a bit soft, and not used to this. 

This morning, it was below zero across Vermont again.  On the plus side, winds keep temperatures from completely bottoming out. 

Pretty much everybody stayed in the single numbers below zero. But the northwest breeze has dropped our wind chills into the 20s below zero. 

It could have been worse. Conditions over in New York shows what can happen when winds go calm on a clear Arctic night. In Watertown, New York, just after winds went calm, the temperature fell from minus 2 to minus 17 within an hour late last evening, on its way down to a ridiculous low of 33 below early this morning. Not wind chill. Actual temperature. Down in Glens Falls, New York, it was 21 below this morning. 

I'm not anticipating anything that ridiculous in Vermont coming up. But it'll stay cold. Everyone in Vermont except maybe the warmest southern valleys should stay in the single numbers today. 

Through Sunday, highs will be in the teens and lows will go into the single numbers. The overall cold pattern still looks like it will continue into mid-February. 

I know many people love this. A true Vermont winter made for winter sports, ice fishing or just the fresh white scenery. 

There's a bunch of us, though who are so ready for a change. For spring. That's not coming anytime soon. But we have several glimmers of positivity to hang on to for dear life. They're not much, but we'll take anything we can get:

Nor'easter: Definitely a whiff. Winter storm warnings are up for the Carolinas and parts of Georgia. North Carolina's Outer Banks will endure a full-blown blizzard with 65 wind gusts and dangerous coastal flooding. This storm will also knick Cape Cod and the islands. 

But for us in Vermont, it will only throw some high clouds our way and maybe increase the north winds slightly on Sunday. 

A "Warm-up":  The cold should temporarily relax for a good part of next week with highs on several days making it to near 20 or even the low to mid 20s. That's still a few degrees colder than average, but it's not as cold as we're experiencing now. However, there are signs that "heat wave" might only last a few days. Still, it's something

No Records: We've gotten wimpy. We're not even close to setting much in the way of winter extreme records. Maybe it feels like things are off the charts but they aren't. Sure, snow depth atop Mount Mansfield earlier this winter was at record highs are are above normal now. The 81 inches of snow cover measured yesterday up there was the third highest for the dates

But here in the valleys, as measured in Burlington, as of yesterday, they were only 10 inches ahead of normal for seasonal snowfall for the date. Very little, if any snow will fall for at least the next week. 

And as we head into February, we absolutely won't break our record for the coldest temperature of the moth, which is 30 below in 1979 for Burlington. 

Turn Of The Clock: On average, the coldest days of the year in Burlington just ended today. From January 17 through 28, the normal average temperature in Burlington is 20 degrees. Today, that average increases to 20.5. The average will very gradually, grudgingly go up in February, then that pace will get faster starting in March. 

Also, the sunset in Burlington will come at 5 p.m. tomorrow.  That'll be the first 5 p.m. sunset of the year. 

Pattern Change Hint? For the first time in weeks, the people at the National Weather Service who put together the daily 8 to 14 day outlooks yesterday suggested a pattern change might be in the offing during the second half of February. 

They don't say exactly what that pattern change would be, but chances are it would the warmer for us. I'm still skeptical because what is known as the Arctic Oscillation is still negative and should stay that way at least into mid-February. 

A negative Arctic Oscillation, means high pressure in the Arctic with relatively warm, for them temperatures. This pattern squashes the cold air that is supposed to be up in northern Canada down into our faces south of the border in the eastern United States.

There are tentative, uncertain signs the negative Arctic Oscillation could start to weaken after the middle of February. 

This is a thin strand of hope, but some of us will take anything. 

weak signs of improvemet'

ave temp up 

first 5 p.m. sunset tomorrow. 

hints at pattern change

some days in 20s not teens next wee 

It Rained Rocks In Hawaii

Tephra or light weight volcanic rock and ash,
covers this car in Hawaii after a Kilauea 
eruption sent debris into populated areas.

 OK, this isn't really a weather or climate story, but close enough. It involves rain, but not the type of rain made up of water, frozen or otherwise. 

This rain, in Hawaii, was rocks. 

The uber-active Kilauea erupted again last Saturday, pushing fountains of lava 1,000 feet into the air. 

But what goes up must come down. And people around the park ended up enduring a tephra storm. 

Tephra is rocks and ash ejected from a volcano. Kilauea regularly discharges both lava and tephra, but the material usually lands on areas that are too dangerous for people. Saturday, unusually light winds made the tephra fall in populated areas near the volcano.

The debris fell on summit overlooks, trails, roads and even some residential areas. A section of Route 11 was closed. 

According to Hawaii News Now

'Some debris close to the size of a grapefruit was reported in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, including at Uekahuna, the Steam Vents, Volcano House and Keanakako'i, where the rocks were reported to be still hot when they fell.

'I haven't seen this one yet. This is uncharted territory for the Volcano Village,' said Eli Schonbrod, general manager for the Lanikai Brewing Company. 

Colleen Gifford, a cashier at the Kilauea General Store, has lived on Hawaii Island for 40 years, and she she has 'never, ever seen it like this.'"

Some very small tephra - basically bits of ash - was spotted as far away as Hilo, more than 25 miles away. 

Video showed what looked like a black hailstorm, thunking down on car roofs, and littering roadways, parking lots, lawn and roofs with what looked like millions of pieces of crumbled black paper.

Tephra is more light weight than rocks, so it wasn't smashing cars and roofs. It was kind of remotely a storm of falling Brillo pads. But tepha can be sharp, pointy enough to scratch paint. A few people who were out in the tephra storm were scratched enough to bleed slightly. 

Of course, the tephra made a big mess. The day after the eruption, people were seen sweeping and shoveling piles of it away. Plows had to clear one section of a road as if there were a tropical snowstorm. Many roofs remained littered with the stuff. It'll probably come down from the roofs the next time it gets windy or it rains. 

Although more Kilauea eruptions are inevitable, the tephra is unlikely to be a problem again. Almost always, trade winds veer this stuff away from people, as mentioned. This was basically just a one-off. 

Videos

News report of what it all looked and sounded like. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that.

Cleanup from the eruption looked like it was quite a chore. Again, click on this link or if you see the image below, click on that. 

 

 

Hundreds Of Trucks And Cars Stuck On Ice-Locked Mississippi Interstate Amid Widespread Southern Ice Storm Power Outages

Missouri Department of Transportation traffic cam image
from this afternoon shows I-269 in the northern part of
the state still covered in ice and truck traffic
still backed up of miles. This nearly four days
after the freezing rain stopped falling. 

The Great Ice Storm  of 2026 in the southern United States continues to wreak havoc, days after the icy rains and snow ended. 

There's been dozens of deaths associated by the storm. By one count, 111 people have perished from either direct or indirect effects of the storm and cold wave. causes directly and directly connected to the storm and cold weather.  

The trouble now is it so far not warmed up after freezing rain stopped falling. Though some of the ice has melted from all those sagging trees, many road and highways contain thick, stubborn layers of ice. 

This includes major routes like Interstate 22 and Interstate 55, along with other main roads across northern Mississippi.

The freezing rain might have ended by this past Sunday night. But on Wednesday, the highways in northern Mississippi and parts of Tennessee and Louisiana were still thick sheets of ice. Sunshine that tried to thaw the ice and truck tires left ruts and holes in the highway ice.  

Then it froze again at night, making things even worse than before. For some reason, the Mississippi Department of Transportation did not close the highways until Wednesday afternoon. By then, it was too late. Tractor trailers and some cars were backed up for miles. People were stranded out there for as much as 24 hours. Sometimes more. All in temperatures far below freezing at night. 

 "I've been here since yesterday (Tuesday) about 4:30 p.m.  I haven't moved an inch," truck driver Lee Roy Thomas told ABC24 in Memphis Wednesday afternoon. 

A man from Wisconsin who was stranded on Interstate 22 in Mississippi told WREG: "I tried calling the Mississippi State Patrol all they would do is, there would be a bushy signal and they would hang up after four rings. I must have made half a dozen attempts at that. We were always waiting for someone to come by and check on us but nobody came by. Nobody checked on us."

One truck driver said that when trucks begin to inch forward, they slide sideways because it is so slippery. 

Drone video showed mile after mile of tractor trailer trucks just sitting there, not moving on Wednesday along Interstate 55.

I'm wondering why they didn't shut down these jammed up Interstate highways last weekend and kept them closed until the ice melted, or it could be bulldozed from the roads.  That would have caused huge disruptions, but probably not something as severe as those hundreds of people stuck out there in their vehicles. 

On Wednesday, Mississippi Department of Transportation finally did close down parts of Interstate 55 and Interstate 22 so ice could be cleared from the roads. Hopefully enough so that vehicles could get through reasonably enough.

MDOT also sent in plows Wednesday afternoon, but warned that any ice the sun melted during the day would freeze again at night. The National Guard and more MDOT trucks have been brought in to help clear the highways. However, as the sun set Wednesday, the two major interstates remained at a near-standstill. 

A special weather statement from the National Weather Service office in Memphis this morning urging no travel yet. The statement said main highways remain quite dangerous and most secondary roads across much of Mississippi and Tennessee are pretty much impassable still.

Some thawing was going on in northern Mississippi today as temperatures rise into the mid-40s, but that will not be enough to melt all the ice. An intense new cold snap will drop temperatures back below freezing tonight, and no real thawing is expected until at least Monday. 

Meanwhile, troubles kept popping up in hard-hit Tennessee as well.  

Ten people have died in Tennessee so far as a result of the storm. Residents are worried about more deaths as power remains out in many areas. Those fears are heightened by the prospect of a new cold snap coming in. Temperatures are forecast to drop into the single digits Saturday night after highs only near 20 degrees. 

As of this afternoon, more than 300,000 homes and businesses in the South remain without power. That includes nearly 100,000 customers each in Tennessee and Mississippi and more than 50,000 in Louisiana. 

In Nashville, elderly and disabled residents in a 12 story apartment building have had no heat or elevators for days and are running out of food. Fire crews evacuated some of the residents from the building on Wednesday. 

Videos:

News report on the highway situation in Mississippi from ABC2  in Memphis. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Drone video shows mile and mile after mile of tractor trailer trucks just sitting on the ice along Interstate 55 in northern Mississippi. Again, click on this link, or click on the link below if it is visible.

 

 

Vermont Frigid Weather To Go On Endlessly, But Nor'easter Will Be A Whiff

Sun began to poke through the trees this morning in
St. Albans, Vermont after some light snow earlier.
It will stay cold for the foreseeable future. 

 Yesterday was the day that this month officially turned colder than average. At least as measured in Burlington. 

A fairly warm start to the month meant temperatures overall were averaging above the 1990-2020 mean That is until the big cold wave hit last Friday. 

The Arctic air has been offsetting that warmth earlier in the month. So as of yesterday, Burlington was a fraction of a degree colder than that average for January. 

Today and the next two days will drive January's average to a level decidedly below average. And February looks like it will turn out to be a frigid month. 

At least yesterday "warmed" up. Burlington got up to 19 degrees, the hottest it's been since late afternoon last Friday. I hope you enjoyed yesterday's heat wave, because the temperature is plunging once again.

A weak disturbance is coming through today, which explains the patchy light snow parts of Vermont have been seeing this morning. It won't amount to much, with pretty much everybody getting less than an inch. Some places in southern Vermont won't get anything at all. 

NEW COLD WAVE

But everybody is going to share in the reinforced cold air. By "everybody" I mean all of us here in Vermont, and practically everyone east of the Mississippi River. 

The core of the cold air is still plunging almost due south, from Ontario, Canada today, to the Ohio Valley tomorrow,  then to the Southeast, in and around Georgia by Saturday. 

There's already been dozens of record low temperatures set over the past few days in the South. This push of frigid air will mean more record lows.

The air temperature of this blob of Arctic air isn't all that unusual as it passes through places like Marquette, Michigan and Gary, Indiana. Sure, it's much colder than normal for them, but the upper Midwest sees this kind of thing almost every winter. 

The fact that the air is plunging so far south, all the way to Florida, really, is what makes this special.  Northern and central Alabama and Georgia could see readings in the low to mid teens Friday and Saturday nights. That's not including the windchill. 

In Orlando, Florida, it could get as cold as the low 20s Saturday night. Usually, winds are pretty calm when Florida gets a freeze like this. But Orlando's winds could be howling up to 35 mph late Saturday and early Sunday. That'll bring wind chills into the single digits.

In Miami, actual temperatures will probably fall into the mid-30s. If Miami gets down to 36 degrees, it would be the coldest in 15 years. If it gets to 34, it'll be the coldest since 1989.

For us in Vermont, we're in the frigid-but-we've-seen-it-all-before crowd.

A cold weather advisory goes up for all of Vermont except the Champlain Valley. this evening and lasts through late morning Friday. Wind chills should be in the 20 to 30 below range. In the Champlain Valley, wind chills should reach the teens.

Temperatures in the teens today will go well below zero tonight and rise only to the single numbers tomorrow around Vermont. It'll stay cold like that through Sunday, though highs Saturday and Sunday should be back up in the teens. That's not an impressive warmup, that's for sure. 

THE NOR'EASTER AND BEYOND 

The cold punch of air in the southeast will stir up that nor'easter we've been advertising for days. The nor'easter will get quite strong by early Sunday near the North Carolina coast. A winter storm watch is up for the Carolinas and northeastern Georgia, as they might get several inches of snow. 

The nor'easter still looks like it could brush far eastern New England, but Vermont still looks safe from the storm. We might get clouds and a stiff, cold north wind, but that's about it. 

It looks like we might get a break of sorts early next week, when high temperatures could rise into the low and mid 20s, and overnight lows would rise into the single numbers. Those figures are only a little colder than average.

But after that, signs point toward more Arctic air arriving and lasting quite a while. The only hope here is that forecasts that far out - a week from now - are often inaccurate.  In this case, I'd very much like to be wrong about the newly cold air later next week. 

Videos Show Severity, Destructive Power And Incredible Snows From Recent Winter Storm

The wild images kept coming out of the South today.
This is Interstate 55 in Mississippi about 40 miles
south of Memphis this morning. Freezing fog,
and the highway turned horribly rutted along with
frozen over tied up people trying to drive and
return to a sense of normalcy Trees are still sagging'
under the ice, too. Photo by Mark Shadlow/Facebook

Everybody has a camera in their pocket nowadays, and there's also a ton of professional videographers out now.  Technology has made the process easier and faster.  

In the past decade or so, we've really seen incredible amount of wild images and video of weather disasters. The widespread winter storm this week brought us a lot of impressive scenes.

One big problem that has cropped up in the past couple years is AI. Many videos are fake, generated by AI.  A lot of it is garbage and you can tell right away it's manufactured slop. But some of it fools even the most skeptical eye. 

That said, I've collected some of the more impressive videos of the ice and snow that have no AI in them. 

So enjoy the real videos below. 

Here's Live Storms Media patrolling Alcom County, Mississippi. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on the arrow with the red background. 

Live Storms Media found even more destruction around Burnsville, Mississippi, with collapsed buildings, trees ahah utilities. As a repeat, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below click on that. 

Another look at Oxford Mississippi. This stretch of road proved too much for some people who tried to venture out despite the fact their community was entirely encased in ice. Hat tip to Storm Chaser Aaron Rigby. The broken record strikes again. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below click on that. 

Further north, it was of course a ridiculous amount of snow. StormChasingVideo brought us the scenes from in and around Dayton, Ohio. As always, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on the arrow.

It looked even rougher in New York City.  The following video by Scott McPartland shows strong winds funneling between the buildings during the height of the storm. Slippery underfoot, too, judging by how many people fell. You can also hear in the video sleet mixing with the snow. My critique: Many people in the video had dodgy footwear for such a storm, and how are umbrellas going to help in that weather?

In any event, click on this link to watch McPartland's wild Manhattan video, or if you see the image below click on the arrow. 

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration got generally high marks for snow removal in the city, but they had to put the snow somewhere. The snowbanks have really walled in cars and snowbanks. CBS New York has the scoop if you click on this link, or if you see the image below, click on the arrow

Don't want to brave the cold to clear the snow? Well, a brave new world is coming in the world of driveway snow removal. Check out this guy's robot who did all the work for him. Note that the robot owner says it does take an incredible amount of patience to set up the snow blowing robot. Once again click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on the arrow

 

New York Mayor Gets High Marks For Handling Snowstorm; Politicians In History, Not So Much

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, right
seen shoveling snow during this week's winter
storm. Many mayors have gotten in trouble
through inept handling of such storms, but
Mamdani got high marks in how he managed
his first big winter storm as mayor. 

 New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani hasn't been in office for quite a month yet. And he's already faced down a problem that has quickly ended or at least trashed the careers of many big city mayors: A winter storm. 

John Lindsay, Michael Bloomberg, and Bill DeBlasio all caught heat, so to speak, for their handling of New York City snowstorms. Mayors of other cities have flailed in the snow, too.     

This weekend's storm dumped nearly a foot of snow and sleet on the Big Apple 

It looks like the brand new mayor of the Big Apple survived his first test. 

Mamdani is a master of communication, judging for a video he released to social media on Saturday, the day before the storm. 

There he was in a sanitation department garage, with all the garbage trucks all retrofitted to become snow trucks. The video was professional produced, complete with optimistic background music, and skillful editing. 

The city deployed 2,000 workers on 12 hours shifts. The city sent out 700 salt spreaders and over 2,000 plows 

Mamdani also made sure he was seen in public monitoring the storm, even helping people shovel out on occasion. He held press conferences to provide updates. He made sure he was the public face of the New York storm, and messaged that he was on top of it. 

Stateandcityny.com tells us

"From the early hours of Sunday morning to well into the evening, Mamdani traversed the city, shoveling snow, greeting and thanking sanitation workers, posing for photo ops, providing updates via television interviews and hosting a news conference."

The New York Times headline was "Mamdani Clears Early Hurdles as Storm Bears Down On New York."

Even Republicans admitted Mamdami did a good job. "The city did well. There was an abnormal amount of snow and the markets opened up the trains are running, ad the DSNY is rocking and rolling," former Republic City Council Member Joe Borelli said. 

It wasn't perfect. The storm was even colder than most that hit New York City. Temperatures were in the teens to around 20 during the storm, with gusty winds. That made things especially dangerous, especially for people who are unhoused. 

About 170 people were taken off the streets and into shelter prior to and during the storm. However, seven people in New York City died, some of whom had been in homeless shelters in the past. However, it wasn't immediately clear whether the deaths were caused by the cold weather. 

Another less serious issue that had some New Yorkers disliking Mamdani's actions during the storm. They were school children. Instead of canceling school on Monday, the mayor said there would be remote learning from home. 

He said kids could throw snowballs at him if they wanted. 

Another criticism Mamdani received: He was not wearing a hat like he should have in such weather.

So no playing in the snow. But, then again, the snow is still on the ground and will be for quite awhile, as more frigid weather is in the New York City forecast. 

MAYORS SINK IN SNOW

Other mayors saw their careers set back or even destroyed by how they dealt with a winter storm. 

John Lindsay dealt with a February, 1969 storm that was supposed to be mostly rain, but turned into 15 inches of snow. An unprepared and disorganized Lindsay administration couldn't even get major highways open, the subways running and schools open for two days. The storm killed 42 New Yorkers. 

Lindsay lost the next Republican mayoral primary, but ran as a third party candidate and barely won. 

In 2010 Mayor Michael Bloomberg got in trouble for being in Bermuda during a big New York blizzard.  He also blithely said, "This city is going on. It's a day lie every other day," and suggested people go out and shop or enjoy a broadway show. 

This as highways were blocked, subways barely worked and more than 20 inches of snow piled into drifts several feet tall. 

Bloomberg did better with subsequent storms, though. And he wasn't the only politician who got in trouble for going to warming climes when the Arctic invaded the United States.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is still getting ribbed for fleeing to Cancun when a deadly winter storm and freeze hit Texas in 2021. During the storm last weekend, Cruz was seen on a flight bound for Laguna Beach. Cruz said it was a work trip and he's be back in time for the storm. No word if that can to pass. Cruz was also away in Greece when horrific floods hit Texas last July. 

Anyway, back to mayors. 

Sometimes, they can't win. A record deep snowstorm was predicted for New York in January, 2015. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city was bracing for a snowstorm "the likes of which we have never seen before." 

Instead the deep snow stayed on Long Island, and New York City got a measly six inches of new snow, and de Blasio was criticized for hyping things up too much.  He responded by humorously reading aloud for reporters a mocking Onion story with the headline "NYC Mayor: Reconcile Yourselves With Your Good, For All Will Perish In The Tempest."

Other cities have certainly seen mayors lose to snowstorms too. In January, 1979, Chicago Mayor Michael Bilandic botched the effort to clear streets after a 20-inch blizzard. Because of that, he later that month lost the Democratic primary election for mayor to Jane Byrne, who went to to become the first female mayor of major American city. 

Last winter, St. Louis officials came under fierce criticism after a January 5 snow and ice storm left the city's streets resembling skating rinks through the month. City leaders got some redemption with their competent handling of the aftermath of a large, deadly tornado that cut right through St. Louis. 

After this week's far-ranging snowstorm, some mayors are taking the kind of heat they wish could melt the snow instead. Residents of Providence, Rhode Island, Paterson, New Jersey and even to some extent Buffalo, New York are complaining about a slow cleanup.  

Long Lasting Cold Entrenched Here In Vermont: Nor'easter Threatens Eastern U.S.

A clear, cold, snow covered morning around my place
in St. Albans, Vermont today. Expect the cold weather
to last a long, long time. 

The cold weather continues, and so does either cursing at, or embracing the relatively deep cover of snow we have out there. 

We're stuck with the cold for quite awhile yet. In fact, toward the end of the week, the chill here in Vermont will deepen further. 

Prospects for more snow in Vermont are pretty low. We'll have the risk of snow showers and flurries from time to time this week, but accumulations should be an inch or less statewide between now and Saturday. 

Everybody's talking about a nor'easter coming up this weekend.  I'm now almost 100 percent sure that nor'easter will happen.  I'm not entirely sure on its exact path or strength yet but it really looks like we in Vermont will just be bystanders as the storm roars on by to our east.  

COLD WEATHER 

First, we'll get into the frosty mid-winter weather that has settled in. The temperature fell below 20 degrees last Friday afternoon in Burlington. 

The temperature in Burlington is not forecast to rise to 20 degrees again until maybe next Monday, which is Groundhog Day. If this forecast holds, it will be the most consecutive days Burlington has remained below 20 degrees since January, 2005, when Burlington spend 12 consecutive days under 20.

At least our current cold wave isn't as intense as the one in 2005. Back then, Burlington ended up with eight days where overnight lows were in the minus teens.   

This go around, if it does get to the minus teens in Burlington, it'll probably be only one night, either Friday or Saturday. Even that is iffy, as forecasts so far have the Champlain Valley in the single digits below zero.  However, people away from the banana belt Champlain Valley have a good shot at seeing readings in the teens below zero again later this week.  

A reinforcing shot of Arctic air will be responsible for the even colder air late this week.  Many of its will not even get past 10 above for highs Friday afternoon.

This core of this renewed shot of horribly cold air will pass by just to our west and head due south to about Tennessee, give or take, by Saturday.  That blob of frigid air will probably bring record cold air to the Southeast. More importantly, the frigid air - basically a broken off piece of the famed polar vortex - is a key ingredient that will create that nor'reaster

It'll be a so-called bomb cyclone, one that intensifies super fast.  Many meteorologists think this storm  might explode into existence near the North Carolina coast.  As it looks now, it could easily create a rare blizzard on North Carolina's Outer Banks and other spots in eastern North Carolina and Virginia Saturday night. 

If forecasts for the nor'easter turn out to be accurate, the nor'easter could blast Cape Cod and the islands Sunday before moving on to hammer Nova Scotia. 

The storm we had the other day passed far to our south, yet many Vermont towns saw a foot to a foot and a half of snow. That storm was fairly weak. but it had a lot of moisture to work with. The air flow with it enabled that moisture to go as far north as Montreal, dumping plenty of snow along the way. 

Big nor'easters like the one coming tend to hold their rain and snow closer to the storm's center.  That means if the projected track of this nor'easter verifies, the snow will miss Vermont.  

The only way we'd get snow is if future forecasts unexpectedly take the storm much further to the north and west than we're looking at now.  We probably have to wait until during the day Thursday to have a  really great handle on the exact path this nor'easter will take. 

People in eastern New England are holding their breath for this one. They got tremendous amounts of snow Sunday and Monday, so it'll be difficult to deal with another big dump. In cities like Providence, some streets as of Tuesday hadn't been plowed yet. 

Providence had just under 15 inches of snow in this week's storm.  Boston had 23.2 inches, its eighth largest snowstorm on record. 

There's so much snow in coastal Marblehead, Massachusetts that they're dumping some of the plowed snow into the harbor. That's usually a no-no, but the town selectboard declared an emergency so it could be done in this extreme instance.  

So, there's a lot riding on the nor'easter. A path close to the New England coast would absolutely bury eastern parts of the region even if Vermont escapes unscathed. 

We'll keep you posted. 

Italy Slammed By Ferocious Storm; Damage $Billions, Other Destructive Storms In France, Britain

A massive landslide left this Sicilian town hanging
on a big precpice. Heavy rains from what was likely
the severest storm the region's history contribute to
the landslide. 

While we in the United States have been distracted with its own mega storm, another intense storm has caused havoc and severe damage in Italy this month. 

The storm, named Harry by meteorologists swept Italy from January 18 to 21. 

The storm was likely the worst in the region's history. At the very least, it was the worst in recent memory. 

It hit hardest in Sicily and Calabria.  Huge waves towering to over 30 feet smacked into shorelines, blasting through beachside restaurants and other businesses.   

Waves off the coast of eastern Sicily reached to nearly 40 feet, which is said to be unprecedented for the Mediterranean Sea. Waves (10 meters) in height battered coastal buildings. 

"The force of the waters swept away protective barriers, debris, and large quantities of sand onto the public roads of Catania. The receding tide on the Sicilian coast only began to be observed around 3 a.m. Wednesday," Italianismo.com reported. 

 Surprisingly but happily, there's been no reported deaths so far. Officials said evacuation warnings ahead of the storm and rescue crews helped a great deal. 

There were some close calls. According to Italianismo.com, waves struck the mayors of two cities as they were jointly doing a live broadcast on social media to report on the bad weather.

 Locals and officials were stunned by the storm. 

"The Calabria regional director of the civil protection department, Domenico Costarella, described the cyclone as a 'once in a century event,'" according to WantedinRome.com, an English language Italian news site. 

Damage in Sicily alone was over 500 Euros, or about $590 million U.S. dollars. Total damage in Italy is estimated at $1.7 billion.  

On land, torrential rains caused extreme flooding and landslides. San Sostene in Calabria had more than 22 inches of rain in three days. 

A couple days after the storm tapered off, a huge landslide struck the town of Niscemi, Sicily. The slide is about two and half miles long and is carving out a drop of about 150 feet. The slide at last report was still active and additional houses have fallen in the past 24 hours and more will probably go. About 1,500 people have been evacuated.

Separately, Storm Ingrid hit hard in parts of the UK and France on Saturday. Huge waves damaged a sea wall on a main railway around Devon and Cornwall. A historic pier was washed away and coastal homes were heavily damaged when waves smashed into them. . 

Storm Ingrid hit less than a month after Storm Goretti left widespread wind damage in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. A new system, called Storm Chandra is now moving into the United Kingdom with strong winds, heavy rain and higher elevation snow. 

Storm Ingrid also caused damaging floods in parts of France. 

Videos:

Huge ways crash into the Italian Coast in last week's Storm Harry. Click on this link to view or if you see the image below, click on tbgat

 Waves crash through the window of a seaside restaurant in Italy. As always, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

You have to be careful these days about AI slop, but I believe the images of the storm are the real deal in this summary video. Again, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that.

One more: Destruction on the coast in Messina. Again, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Video shows houses and buildings teetering on the edge of a huge landslide in Sicily. Aerial view shows how huge slab of land sloughed away, leaving a huge cliff that is eating away at the hilltop town. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on the arrow within the image. 

 

Death Toll Rising From Winter Storm; Stubborn Deep Cold Raising The Stakes

The city of Oxford, Mississippi continues to post
photos of the ice storm destruction. Another example.

The death toll from the massive winter storm has risen to at least 34 in 14 states as the severe lingering effects of the snow and ice barrage continues to threaten more lives. 

As of mid-morning today, more than a half million homes and businesses remained without power, mainly in Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. This, as temperatures reached record cold levels in the region this morning. 

In devastated northern Mississippi, temperatures are forecast to rise into the still-colder than average low 40s. At least that will melt some of the us. But a new, intense cold snap is set to hit by the end of the week, sending overnight temperatures back down into the single digits. 

Ice storm damage in Mississippi was even worse than in a historic 1994 storm. In 1994, it took 23 days for power to be fully restored. Officials said modernization could somewhat shorten the repair timeline this time, but probably not by all that much. 

In Tennessee, Nashville residents were told some parts of the city could remain without power for a week. Outlying areas will probably wait even longer. 

While the electricity is off in and around Nashville, the frigid weather continues, which is bad news for the thousands of people shivering without heat. High temperatures in Nashville should only reach the 20s and 30s through next Monday. This is a city where afternoon temperatures are normally around 50 degrees this time of year. 

Later on, the question of where to put the debris from millions of shattered trees in hundreds of communities in the South.  Right now, mountains of tree debris lines roads and streets. In some of the hardest hit cities, it looked like nearly every tree sustained at least a little damage. A lot of those trees are entirely destroyed. 

Roads in northern Mississippi are still coated in
thick layers of ice and snow even
though the storm ended late Sunday. 
They're not equipped to remove snow and
the thaws that usually follow winter storms
in the region have failed to arrive.

North of the ice zone, people are still clearing snow from a massive area from New Mexico to Maine and Canada. 

On Monday. 56 percent of the Lower 48 of the United States was covered in snow. At least a foot of snow fell in 18 states, including here in Vermont. Toronto, Canada endured its largest single day snowfall with about 22 inches of new snow. 

Travel problems continue to reverberate even after the storm has passed. 

American Airlines said this was their most disruptive storm in the company's 100-year history. American canceled 9,000 flights in the storm.  More cancelations and delays are possible over the next couple of days. 

Flight Aware showed about 2,300 flight canceled today, even after the storm has passed. Lingering ice and snow on the ground, and the disarray caused by the tens of thousands of cancellations during the actual storm, are helping to cause the problem.

In much of the South, highways are today still covered by thick layers of snow and ice. They don't have the equipment down there to remove all that ice. Usually, southerners wait for it to melt. Normally the melt doesn't' take long. This time, it is. 

The weird, extended Arctic weather is affecting most places east of the Rockies. 

Usually - at least in recent years and decades -  a severe winter cold wave lasts only a few days, and then it's largely over.   

This time, the frigid air is staying put. 

In Minneapolis, all but one of the past 11 days have gotten below zero. The next above zero daily low temperature is not expected until this coming Sunday.   

The cold weather pattern is forecast to last well into February. New York City's longest streak of consecutive below freezing days is 16, set in 1961. Given the forecasts, that record could be broken. 

Even Florida is enduring the chill. They've already had a couple hard freezes this winter and another is due tonight. Another, strong cold wave is forecast later this week. Temperatures could get down into the low and mid 20s around Orland and mid-30s as far south as Miami. 

Even worse, a nor'easter is expected to form off the East Coast. It's still unclear whether the storm will come close enough to shore to cause a blizzard. But even if the storm misses, it's almost certain to reinforce the cold air over the eastern United States.  

 

Vermont Snowstorm Over, Deep Cold Settles In

 Getting a late start this morning, as I decided to sleep in. Sue me. 

The storm is over, but the snow remains on the roads
this morning. This traffic cam grab shows Willliston
Road in the Burlington area as it crosses over Interstate 89.
The Interstate looked pretty good, but other, secondary
roads statewide will continue to have snow 
and ice on them, possibly all week. 

Anyway, snow amounts ended up being pretty impressive from the storm that just departed. And the most impressive amounts weren't where they were supposed to be.

Southern Vermont was going  to be the big winner, with some spots expected to get up to two feet. But I had trouble finding anyone in the far south that had more than a foot. 

The big snows were in central and northern Vermont, where almost everybody except the far northern Champlain Valley had a foot or more of snow.   The biggest totals I saw were 21 inches in Roxbury, 20.5 inches in East Randolph, and 20 inches in Northfield, Moretown and Cavendish. 

"DRY" SNOW

The snow to water ratio in the snow was very low. It was quite a fluffy storm, I guess you could say. In that sense, it wasn't as impressive of a storm as it looked on paper. There have been storms with this much snow with a much greater water content than the snowfall we just got.

This snow is relatively easy to clear. Since there's so much air in it, you'll see the snow depth on the ground decline quite a bit, despite the fact there's nothing close to a thaw in the forecast. 

The snow will just settle as some of the air escapes from it. 

I am puzzled by data from the National Weather Service office in Burlington. According to them, there was 8.6 inches of snow in Burlington Monday for a storm total of 15.6 inches. 

That 8.6 inches of snow yesterday supposedly only amounted to 0.05 water equivalent. Either something is off, or maybe Burlington set some sort of record for "driest" snow. 

Most snowstorms have very roughly a 10 to one snow to water equivalent. In other words, ten inches of snow would equal an inch of rain. A storm like yesterday's with its fluffy snow I imagine would have a 20 to one or even 30 to one ratio. 

I would have expected 8.6 inches of snow to have at least a quarter inch of rain in it if not more. I messaged the National Weather Service office for an explanation.  They replied that they have an automated system that  collects snow and water measurements. When the snow is particularly light and fluffy, the automated systems has a hard time catching the snow, so it under-reports the amount of "water" that fell.

Actual human observers measure the snow, so that 8.6 inches that was measured is reliable.    

FRIGID WEATHER

When there's deep fresh snow, nights can get colder than they otherwise would be.

We saw that last night, as it was even colder than forecast. For instance, Burlington got down to minus 2. Montpelier and Middlebury were minus 7. 

If you like wearing Hawaiian shirts and flip flops outdoors, you've got a looonnnng wait before you can do it. 

It's going to stay colder than normal for the foreseeable future. 

We're still looking at highs in the teens all week and lows near or below zero. They've actually cut a couple degrees off of daily temperatures compared to previous forecasts. It looks especially cold around Friday, when highs might not get out of the single numbers and lows could be well below zero. 

It still looks like we'll have very little snow to add to what we got the past couple days. Some light snow showers might pass through today but they wont amount to much. 

Note that road conditions might not be great today.  It's so cold that our limited supply of salt is not doing a good job melting away any snow or black ice from the pavement. Traffic cams show Interstates 89 and 91 weren't too bad, as of 9 a.m. but some places still had snow in the passing lanes.

But between the cold and the salt shortage, assume local roads and streets will be snow covered, possibly icy and slippery. That problem, frankly could last most of the week in some spots. 

The computer models are still generating a strong nor'easter off the East Coast Sunday. The storm has the potential to cause real trouble right along the coast. But for us in Vermont, it still looks unlikely we'll get anything from it other than an increase in cold north winds.

We'll see if the forecasts take a northwestward shift like the last storm did, but so far, there's no signs of that happening. 

Remember how I've been telling you it looks like it will remain mostly quite cold until mid-February? It's beginning to look like that deep winter chill will go past that, possibly until the end of next month. 

We'll wait and see if that turns out to be accurate. But I hope you have money saved for your heating bills!