Storm Blasting East; Severe Weather Threat Continues. Up In Vermont, Windy, Warm, Then A Crash

A lightning strike map from Sunday of the
 powerful\storm's squall line. Notice how
long it is, stretching from Chicago to
Houston. The squall line will enter
 the East today with severe storms
Other severe storms and tornadoes
are likely to form out ahead of the line. 

The United States is  dealing with yet another huge storm that will probably be yet another that causes at least $1 billion in damage. 

It's covering such a wide area- from the Plains to the East Coast - that collectively it's causing plenty of damage. 

This storm is hitting us here in Vermont too, but thankfully not as destructively. More on how this is and will affect the Green Mountain State further down in this post. 

Blizzards are leaving what is expected to be up to three feet of snow in the Upper Midwest  An ice storm is wreaking havoc in northern Michigan.

Worst of all, the storm's powerful cold front, as expected, generated a squall line that is causing tremendous wind damage along its path. 

 The National Weather Service collected at least 430 reports of thunderstorm wind damage on Sunday from this squall line. Judging from some damage photos, including one from Rector, Arkansas, there were likely a few embedded tornadoes. 

National Weather Service investigators will sort out which damage was caused by straight line winds, and which damage was associated with tornadoes. 

Even away from the squall line, just general high winds with the strong storm caused power outages, felled trees and damaged buildings. For instance, the roof blew off a building in Jamestown, in western New York. 

Roughly 535,000 homes and businesses in the United States were without power due to the storm as of this morning. The worst was in Michigan, with about 125,000 outages. That was due to heavy freezing rain in northern parts of the state, and a blizzard in the Upper Peninsula. 

Major roads remained closed this morning including two interstate highways in southern Minnesota.  

TODAY

The actions shifts east today, with the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast coasts most in the crosshairs today. Severe storms with damaging winds are possible all the way from northern New York to the southern tip of Florida,

But the main area of worry extends from southeast Pennsylvania to coastal Georgia. A roughly 150 mile wide band from Maryland to northern South Carolina is under an even higher alert - level four out of five in the National Weather Service's danger scale. 

Strong thunderstorms are expected to form ahead of the cold front in the Mid-Atlantic States. Strong winds, changing direction with height, can cause these storms to spin. That, in turn, could spawn tornadoes. 

Then the main cold front will arrive with its own batch of storms with high winds. If you know anybody in the Mid-Atlantic States and Southeast, make sure then know to listen for weather warnings are are ready to take shelter at the drop of a hat. 

VERMONT EFFECTS

The wind in parts of Vermont is cranking from the south this  morning, especially in the Champlain Valley.

The wind will be the main story Vermont's experience with this storm. A wind advisory is in effect for the entire state. A high wind warning is up for chunks of northern New York, including much of the Adirondacks. Saranac Lake, New York already had a gust to 65 mph overnight. 

The winds might tend to die down a little late this morning and early this afternoon. I'm already noticing this here in St. Albans as of 9 a.m. It'll still be windy, just not as bad.

This afternoon, just ahead of our sharp, strong cold front, winds will ramp up again, especially in the Champlain Valley. That's when the air will be warmest, and winds a few thousand feet overhead will be strongest. The warm air will allow more mixing in the atmosphere, helping to draw down some stronger gusts from above. 

Areas outside the Champlain Valley will also notice increased winds, but it won't be quite as bad.

Temperatures across Vermont were in the 30s and 40s as of 9 a.m. We still expect highs in the low 60, maybe mid 60s in a few places. Those high temperatures will actually probably come in the early evening just before the front arrives.

When that cold front does get here, you'll know it!  For most of us, it will come with a big but brief gush of rain, strong winds quickly shifting to the west. Temperatures will fall just as rapidly. 

Between today's winds and whatever comes along with the cold front, expect some scattered power outages and tree damage here and there. This won't be the most ferocious Vermont wind storm ever, but it will be on the noticeable side. 

Rainfall will be between a half inch and perhaps three quarters of an inch. That'll be enough to get rivers rising again, but not enough for them to break their banks. 

By dawn, many of us will be below freeing again. And it probably won't get above freezing all day. Winds will also stay gusty from the west and northwest. We might need another wind advisory east of the Green Mountains where gusts should be a little stronger on Tuesday. 

No wild weather events are scheduled for the rest of the week after this goes by, so I'll leave forecasts of  the coming days for another, later post.