Tuesday Vermont Forecast: Clearing Will Be Very Reluctant, But Nice Days Coming

Fall colors hinting around my house and dying flower
gardens signal the arrival of October this week. 
Gloomy weather should last much of today,
but much warmer weather by tomorrow, Thursday. 

The gloom and drizzle and light rain we had yesterday actually felt good, at least to me. 

The fall colors popped out brightly in the gray atmosphere. Between showers, it was nice to do a little fall cleanup outside without a hot sun blasting down on me.  

Looking ahead, there are a few changes to the forecast since yesterday, as is often the case, especially in the autumn.

TODAY

Today, the dreary weather will be very reluctant to leave. More reluctant than we thought yesterday. It looks like there might be some clearing in southern Vermont, away from the Green Mountains. 

But in general, don't expect much sun. If there is any real sun, it won't come until later in the day.  It also probably won't rain,  aside from some drizzle mixed with the fog this morning. 

The clouds will tend to be low and thick, so you won't see the mountaintops. Today is not the day to hike to summits for an expansive view of the fall foliage. 

With the clouds, high temperatures will hold in the upper 50s to low 60s. 

WEDNESDAY

This part of the forecast has not changed since yesterday. The sun will come out,  though there might be quite a few high clouds. The sun should be able to break through that, though. Southerly winds should bring temperatures to near 70 degrees. 

In a hint of what's coming the next day, the air will begin to feel vaguely humid during the afternoon, but still not so bad.

THURSDAY

Another warm day. And humid. Thanks in part to of all things, Hurricane Polo, which smashed ashore in Mexico's Baja California early this morning. The remnants of the hurricane should be near El Paso, Texas of all places by noon tomorrow. Humid Pacific air will flow far to the north of that.  High pressure off the East Coast will also direct humid air northward from the Gulf of Mexico. 

The result might well be our last summer day of the year. (Though with El Nino raging, we could have a surprise warm day later in October, who knows?)  

Highs should get into the 70s, and dew points should get into the low and mid 60s. So those autumn foliage hikes might turn a little sweaty. 

Winds should pick up, too, especially in the Champlain Valley. It won't wreck the fall foliage, especially since the Champlain Valley is still generally green. 

FRIDAY

This will be another in a series of instances in which Vermont just misses out on a soaking rain. The remnants of Hurricane Polo will create a huge area with a risk of flooding in the United States. The flood potential  encompassing an enormous zone including all of Arizona and Mexica, along with southern Utah, then heading eastward into Texas and northeastward all the way to Illinois.  

Here in Vermont, despite the increased moisture from Hurricane Polo, and the humidity that will be in place, an approaching cold front won't give us all that much rain, at least as it looks now.  Heavy rain associated with the dead hurricane won't take it this far northeast. 

The National Weather Service in South Burlington says we might see 0.2 to 0.4 inches of rain. Not sure if we'll actually get that, but we will take anything we can get. 

The front was originally scheduled to come through early Friday, giving us a nice, cool day. Now, it looks like it will come through during the day, keeping us mostly under the clouds. 

WEEKEND

We might eke out a nice Saturday, with sunshine and seasonably cool temperatures. We have another chance of some showers Sunday.  It's a long way off, but so far, at least, it does not look like we'll see much rain.