Vermont, As Advertised Finally Free Of Rain/Humidity Hell

Water droplets glisten on day lilies Saturday evening
in St. Albans, Vermont after it finally stopped
raining. A drier weather pattern begins today. 

At our house in St. Albans, Vermont last night, we left the doors open, and just the screen shut overnight on the sliding glass doors that lead from our living room to the outdoor deck.  

The result was I awoke this morning to cool, fresh, fragrant air drifting through the house.

 My alarm clock was bird song from outdoors, which wasn't drowned out by the constant hum of the bedroom air conditioner which has been on almost nightly for five weeks. 

I think all Vermonters are relishing in this change in air. The humidity is finally gone! 

SATURDAY RECAP

The transition to better conditions was a little rougher than I thought it would be Saturday. The rain was steadier and heavier for most of us than anticipated. It prompted some scattered flood warnings in Addison County and in the southern Green Mountains between Killington and Okemo.

There was a report of flooding closing roads in Bernardston, Massachusetts, which is right on the Vermont border. 

But, happy to say, I have so far seen no reports of any new major damage. There were probably some minor washouts and high water, but nothing to add substantially to the huge destruction from this month's floods. 

Yesterday's rain brought Montpelier's rainfall to the month to just about a foot which is amazing. Technically, they only have had 11.97 inches of rain,  but I'm calling that a foot. 

Most of the East Coast and Appalachians from central New England south through the Middle Atlantic States weren't so lucky, with major storm damage reported in a number of spots. Widespread flooding was reported in Boston and surrounding communities. 

Washington DC, Baltimore and surrounding areas suffered tons of wind damage as thunderstorm gusts ranged up to 84 mph, as measured at DC's George Washington University Mount Vernon Campus.   In DC, an apartment building lost its roof, and many trees at the Smithsonian National Zoo were toppled. Some of those fallen trees blocked streets.

One person died when a tree fell on a house in Prince Williams County, Virginia.

THE RAIN GRIP IS BROKEN

Back here in Vermont, one big factor that kept the flash flood risk going all month in Vermont was the lack of any real breaks in the rain. Heavy rains hit somewhere in the state pretty much every other day, so soils could not dry out.  

Any heavy rains that did fall would not be able to soak into the already saturated ground and just run off.    Which meant that some downpours that would not be a big deal during most summers would cause flooding and washouts this month.  

Now we'll have a chance to dry out some. 

Today starts that process, as it will be a beauty.  Blue skies, puffy clouds for decorations, very low humidity and temperatures only making it into the 70s.  Get outside and enjoy! 

Aside from the lower humidity, the big break we're getting is a lack of heavy rain until at least Thursday night or Friday. Additionally, we'll have some sunny days with low humidity, which will help dry things out. 

We do have scattered showers and thunderstorms in the forecast for tomorrow, mostly central and south. But they'll move right along so it won't rain much in any one spot. Many places won't see any rain at all. More importantly, there's not that much moisture to work with in the air, so Monday's storms won't be able to generate torrential downpours. 

This all leaves me pretty hopeful that when any potential downpours do reach us in the more humid air expected on Friday, they won't cause any real problems. 

The overall weather pattern continues to feature at least the possibility of cooler air and mostly lower humidity well into August. At least compared to what we dealt with in July. 

 

Southern New England Snowstorm Breaks Records

Up here in the northwestern corner of Vermont, it was just cold Friday, but no drama other than that. 

Traffic cam from Winhall, in southern Vermont, still shows
a decent amount of snow on the ground this morning.

It was a completely different story in parts of southern and central New England, which was genuinely hit by an early season snowstorm.  
 

The records set in Boston were especially impressive. That city recorded 4.3 inches of snow, smashing the previous record for an October snowstorm. The old record was 1.1 inches set in October, 2005. 

Oddly, Friday's snowstorm in Boston was their largest so far in this year.  The biggest snowfall for 2020 up to this point was three inches on January 18.

Boston this year also had a late snowfall on April 18, with 0.7 inches of snow.  That means this year's 193-day stretch between measurable snows in the spring and autumn was the shortest on record. 

Coastal Massachusetts can and does get huge winter snowstorms, of course.  But things have to align just right for those areas, including Boston, to get a decent snow.  These snowfalls typically come with nor'easters. If the center of any of these storms ventures too close to the coast, enough warm air sneaks in to quickly change snow to rain.

This time, the storm moved far enough off the coast to bring a snowfall to Boston.

Elsewhere, Worcester, Massachusetts had its third largest October snowstorm with 6.2 inches.

Southern and eastern Vermont shared in the snowfall late Thursday and Friday morning, but it didn't set any early season records. Andover, Vermont reported 3.5 inches of snow, and Danby had three inches. There were widespread reports of one to two inches of snow across southern and much of eastern Vermont. 

As I'm sure everybody has noticed, the snow was followed by a really cold moment this morning. The notorious cold spot Saranac Lake, New York bottomed out at 7 degrees. In Vermont, Island Pond got to at least 12 above zero. 

In southern New England, record lows were tied at Hartford, with 21 degrees, and Providence, Rhode Island, with 24 degrees.

We're in for another, possibly stronger cold shot Sunday night through Tuesday. This time, accumulating snow is a good bet in northern Vermont, which missed out on Friday's snowfall.

A strong cold front will pass through Sunday night, and low pressure might form along that front east of here.  That would throw at least some snow our way.  It probably won't amount to too much in the Champlain Valley, but a few inches could come down in the mountains.

Monday will be brutally cold for early November, as temperatures fall through the 30s amid gusty north winds and continued snow showers. 

A secondary disturbance will create more snow and wind Monday night and Tuesday, again with the highest accumulations in the mountains.  

Luckily, this won't be like last November, when winter set in for good during the beginning of the month. This year, we'll get an abrupt shift to warmer weather mid-week, with highs in the 50s by Thursday and near 60 by Friday.