Sort Of Cold Today In Vermont As We Await Severe Weekend Arctic Blast

"Planet Claire" style skies over West Rutland, Vermont
during last evening's northern lights display. Photo by Brent
Barnett via Meteorologist Jess Langlois/Facebook
 

 It really wasn't quite as cold this morning as I thought it might be here in Vermont, which is great news, considering what's coming.  

I hope you didn't miss it, but skies partly cleared last evening, so a lot of us got to see the northern lights. 

Viewing from the naked eye, it looked like the northern half of the sky over St. Albans had a pink haze. It almost made me think we were on the B-52s' Planet Claire.  "Planet Claire has pink air....."

Most of us started the day in the teens, which was actually a smidge above normal. Those readings won't go anywhere today. We'll stay right there in the teens. 

Tonight will get down into the single numbers above zero for the most part. The cold hollows might sneak a degree or two below zero. Banana belt towns might hold closer to 10 degree for so.  No biggie.

We've got one more brief warm up coming in before the bottom drops out of everything. The upcoming "warm" spell won't really feel that way since winds will be gusty most of that time. Wind chills ruin everything. 

Tomorrow will get into the 20s on increasing south winds. Tomorrow night will hold in the 20s as those south winds get stronger. The Champlain Valley could see gusts to 40 mph or so.  Nothing earth shattering, you'll hear the roar in the trees

The balmy day will be Thursday when many of us will hit the low 30s ahead of that Arctic cold front blasting out of Canada.

We won't get much snow out of what will essentially be a series of cold fronts. Some of us, especially in the northern Green Mountains, can expect some scattered snow showers tomorrow.  We'll have even more snow showers Thursday, and a couple towns might see the snow come down pretty hard, but really briefly. 

Between now and Thursday night, most of us will get less than an inch of snow. The Green Mountains could score a couple of inches.

COLD WAVE

I'm sort of burying the headline hy waiting until now in this post to talk about the Arctic cold that's coming. But it's still three days away, and it's easier for me to do things chronologically. Sue me. 

We will however, go from the above mentioned Planet Claire to bone chilling former Planet Pluto.

Well, OK, the average temperature on Pluto is minus 387 degrees Fahrenheit, says NASA.  I know we won't get that cold. But this weather wimp will whine that it will feel like 387 below. 

At this point, the cold wave looks like it will be a long slog, with the worst of it coming from Friday night to Monday night. 

The chilliest daytime during this whole escapade will probably be on Saturday. Many towns, especially in northern Vermont will probably stay at or below zero.

If Burlington's high temperature does not make it above zero Saturday, it will be the first time that's happened in four years.  If it stays under zero, that will make it the first time since January, 2018 they've stayed below zero all day. 

The expected low temperatures Saturday night should be mostly in the teens below zero. That'll likely make it the coldest night since February 4, 2023.

A slow warm up should start early next week, but temperatures will stay below normal.  

We'll have more on the cold snap as it draws nearer.