Wednesday Evening Storm Update: A Very Gusty Thursday, Severe Storms Still A Threat

I'm considering laying the umbrella on its side and securing
some of the outdoor furniture on my St. Albans, Vermont 
deck given the wind advisory in effect for tomorrow.

 Just a quick update on our weird storm coming in tomorrow. 

The main news is the wind advisory in effect for most of Vermont with just the lower Connecticut River Valley not in the alert zone. Winds could gust as high as 45 to 55 mph in spots. The areas expected the strongest winds are the northern Champlain Valley, the western slopes of the Green Mountains and the northern slopes of the Adirondacks. 

The winds will be strongest probably between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., with a second surge in northern New York between 3 and 8 p.m. This evening would be a great time to get your deck and lawn furniture to a secure location. 

As I mentioned yesterday, strong winds of this type happen occasionally in the winter. But they're rare this time of year. Trees are leafed out. Each leaf acts like a little sail and will tug the trees sideways in the wind. Some trees will fall. I'm sure we'll see some power outages here and there tomorrow.

Strong low pressure passing by near Ottawa will drive these winds.  In the summer months, this type of thing happens less than once every decade. 

The other problem is the risk of severe thunderstorms. This risk is still iffy. The strong winds aloft high above us might help blow wannabe storms apart, or make them worse. That's an oversimplified description but it about covers it. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center still has Vermont under a slight risk level 2 out of 5 alert for severe storms tomorrow. 

NOAA has added a very, very low chance of brief twisters in the Connecticut River Valley and in New Hampshire.

If we do see any severe storms, they'll come through between about noon and 5 p.m. 

Total rainfall still looks like it will be about three quarters of an inch or so. Strong winds aloft smacking into the mountain might create a rain "shadow" in parts of the Champlain Valley where only maybe a half inch will fall.  Flooding looks really unlikely at this point. 

Full update will come in the beginning of the chaos tomorrow morning.