Vermont Split: Spring South, Semi-Winter North For Couple Days. Which Season Eventually Wins?

I like to do my annual brush pile burn when there's snow
on the ground to prevent any fire from spreading.
This week might be last chance to see a decent snow
cover here in St. Albans, so I set my brush
pile alight yesterday. I didn't finish throwing
the other pile in the background on the fire 
yesterday, so that's today's job. 

For the next couple of days - today and tomorrow - Vermont will be seeing two different kinds of early spring. 

In southern Vermont, it will be unmistakably spring with mild temperatures and no worries about snow or ice. 

By the time you get to far northern Vermont it will be.......OK, I guess. Kind of chilly today by the Canadian border, a risk of tiny bit of snow and ice tonight, and a milder but not necessarily balmy day Thursday. 

A weak cold front has sagged into Vermont from Quebec, but it hasn't really gone through the entire state. T

he result will be highs today ranging from the low 30s right along the Canadian border to around 50 in the valleys of far southern Vermont.

That cold front will become a warm front tonight, tied to a storm approaching from the west. This could generate some sprinkles of rain south, and a little bit of wet snow far north. Don't worry, there will be very little if any accumulation

THURSDAY

On Thursday, the temperature range across Vermont will be just as great,  but at least at this point, everyone is looking warmer for a day. Highs tomorrow should range from near 50 by the Canadian border to low or even mid 60s around places like Bennington and Brattleboro near the Massachusetts border. 

That difference will be because the warm front is expected to stop in southern Quebec, so far northern Vermont won't be able to warm up as much. Especially with more clouds up there. And the day-long risk of scattered light showers. Further south, the air will be genuinely blowing in from the south. Breaks of sun will help boost temperatures, too.

We still have to keep an eye on the far north. There's a low chance that the front could stall further south, keeping areas near the Canadian border chilly.  As it stands now, it does appear the front will get into Quebec, so the chances of an unexpectedly nippy and raw Thursday north of Route 2 are very low, but still could happen, I suppose. 

As it stands now, valley locations that have been collecting new snow over the past week should lose it all by the end of the day tomorrow. Some of the deeper mountain snow pack will melt too. We'll also get about a half inch of rain tomorrow evening as a strong cold front approaches. 

The snow melt and the rain should make rivers rise noticeably, but local hydrologists are pretty relaxed about the situation. The chances of flooding are low, and if it does happen, it will be minor.

WINTER RETURNS

As we've been advertising, winter comes back in full force Friday and Saturday. High temperatures Friday will be just after midnight, before dawn. By the time the sun rises, most of us will be at or below freezing. 

The overnight rain will turn to snow showers, but again, accumulations will be very light. A thin scrim of snow and water that will have freon might make give you some icy patches to deal with on the way to work. 

Temperatures will stay near or below freezing until Sunday.  Temperatures Friday night will get into the single numbers and many places, and low teens in the "warmer" valleys.  Definitely cold for this time of year. But be glad we're past winter. If this frigid high pressure came in during, say February, it would be way below zero at night. 

Now that we're getting into the end of March, it's getting harder and harder for Ma Nature to sustain any cold waves for too long. So, it's back to pretty normal temperatures starting Sunday and carrying on into next week. 

I don't see any gorgeous spring weather on the way. But highs in the 40s with frequent chances of light rain or showers coming through every couple of days is, well, acceptable for early April.