Stubborn Clouds Stay Over Vermont, A Sign Of Season; Brief Warmup, Then Autumn Chill To Flood In

Low clouds and fog yesterday hung on all day in much
of Vermont yesterday, and that gray gloom has lasted
into today. The hope is that fog will finally break
up later this morning or early afternoon 

We woke up in Vermont this morning to the same low overcast and fog we've endured for the past two or three days.  

Clearing has been repeatedly delayed. It's because a temperature inversion has trapped dense moisture near the ground. Get used to it. The waning, weakening autumn sun is less and less able to disrupt these inversions.  

So the fog and gray clouds remain. This phenomenon is a big reason why November and December are almost always overcast. 

It's the last day of September. The sun isn't at the same angle as it was in June. But not as lame as December. The sun should be able to break our current inversion. Albeit much later than forecast. A couple of days ago, we thought the sun would come out yesterday afternoon. 

Obviously, we're still waiting. So, what is going to happen?

REST OF TODAY

The National Weather Service in South Burlington is insisting the low clouds, fog and drizzle will finally break up late this morning or this afternoon.  We hope. A layer of drier air aloft is getting thicker, stronger. That should help gradually flush out the drizzly gray atmosphere. 

Once and if the low clouds break up, it won't 'get all nice and sunny. The moisture stream from thunderstorms across the southwestern United States from the remnants of Hurricane Polo. This moisture is high above the dry layer that meteorologists hope will flush out the low clouds.

The end result would be finally become a brighter day once we get into the afternoon. But the sun would be dimmed by high and mid level clouds.  It's iffy, but the thinking is the low clouds will dissipate soon enough so that temperatures will still be able to reach near 70 degrees. 

I'm not 100 percent sure the low clouds will break up as forecast, but there's always hope. 

THURSDAY

This part of the forecast hasn't 'changed much since yesterday. It'll be warm and humid, thanks to those Hurricane Polo remnants. It also won't be a clear, sunny day, though the sun will be out on and off. We'll call it partly sunny. Highs will reach the low and mid 70s, with dew points in the low to mid 60s.

A couple showers might show up in the far north in the later afternoon, but don't necessarily count on it raining. 

FRIDAY

After a fairly muggy night for early October, a cold front will approach and come through on Friday. On the bright side, the front will have grabbed a little bit of moisture from the Hurricane Polo remnants.  The bad news is the front will be stretching out and moving fast. It won't have time to drop much rain on us. Too bad, because we need it. 

The end result will probably be about a quarter inch of rain, give or take. 

Temperatures and humidity will depend on when the front comes in. It will probably feel a little warm and humid amid the showers for at least part of the day before much cooler and drier air comes in. 

SATURDAY

Hopefully, a classic early October Vermont day. Early morning patch fog (again!) should burn off into sunshine. Highs should reach somewhere around the low 60s, give or take as it looks now. Basically a foliage season day sponsored by the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing. 

Watch out for frost again Saturday night and early Sunday morning. 

SUNDAY

Unfortunately, rain chances have diminished a lot compared to earlier forecasts. THere's still a chance of scattered lights showers, especially later in the day, but don't hold your breath. We'll also have some sun and seasonable temperatures in the 60s All in all, an OK day. 

EARLY WEEK

Initial indications give us the risk of a hard freeze early next week.  Details aren't available yet, so we'll want to stay tuned.