Freezing Fog Ices Vermont Trees Beautifully, Ices Roads Dangerously

Freezing fog this morning in St. Albans, Vermont
coated tree branches with delicate rime ice
A rare freezing fog advisory was in effect for the
Champlain Valley this morning. 

Freezing fog enveloped large parts of Vermont overnight, especially in the Champlain Valley. It left trees and pretty much everything else outside coated in ghostly white ice.   

And made things challenging on the roads. 

Freezing fog is when all the droplets in the fog are still liquid, even though the temperature is under 32 degrees.

As soon as these supercooled droplets as they're called  hit anything - a road, tree branches, your cold car windshield, they freeze.

On trees and other outdoor objects, the frozen water takes the form of rime ice, a delicate, feathery feature that is absolutely beautiful. 

On roadways, freezing fog forms virtually invisible black ice on pavement, especially on bridges and overpasses. 

The fact that in some cases only bridges are frozen, motorists are often taken by surprise. If they're going too fast, you can get some serious crashes. Especially if the freezing fog is thick and visibility is horrible, like it was in many areas in and near the Champlain Valley overnight and this morning. 

Freezing fog happens from time to time in Vermont. We had a bout of it around Christmastime last year.  When the sun hit those frosted trees, the scenery looked magical. It made the holiday season look that much better. 

Rime ice from freezing fog formed icy little 
needles on this St. Albans pine branch this morning, 

This morning's freezing fog was particularly dense in many spots. So dense that the the National Weather Service in South Burlington issued a freezing fog advisory for the entire Champlain Valley.

 It was the first time the Vermont NWS office issues such an advisory in a decade. 

The advisory stays in effect until 10 a.m today. If you're reading this early and planning on a drive, take it slow, keep your low beams on, and really be careful around those bridges and overpasses. And try to leave as much room as you can between you and the vehicle in front of you, 

The freezing fog should gradually lift during the course of the morning. At first it will probably transition to a low overcast. Eventually, the sun should break through for at least some of us.. 

It's tricky to determine when or if the sun will actually make an appearance. In warmer times of the year, the sun heats everything up enough to create updrafts that mix the air and evaporate the fog. 

This time of year the low angle of the sun means it can't heat things up enough to readily break up the fog. Some parts of the Champlain Valley could stay under the clouds all day. Or at least most of the day. 

Outside the Champlain Valley, there was much less fog, so other sections of Vermont will just have another partly sunny, cool November day. 

Tonight, the wind will begin to stir as a weather front begins to make an approach. Those winds should prevent another round of freezing fog from forming. Except maybe in the deeper valleys of eastern Vermont. 

One Year Anniversary Of Great Vermont Eclipse Of 2024: Still Basking In The Afterglow

The view from my St. Albans, Vermont house during
the total eclipse of the sun, April 8, 2024,

 Today is the first anniversary of the Great American Eclipse of 2024.

I'm still in awe of what I saw, as lucky for me, the center of totality passed right over my St. Albans, Vermont home.

 My husband Jeff and I parked ourselves in chairs on our back deck, with a perfect view to the southwest, where the sun was that day. 

Vermont got really lucky on April 8, 2024.   The weather is seldom nice in the Green Mountain State this time of year.  

I mean, look at today. There's lots of clouds, it's colder than hell, and snow showers keep dusting the early spring landscape. 

There had been an 80 percent chance that that eclipse day would be overcast, based on past weather records. 

Instead, the weather was absolutely, improbably perfect on April 8, 2024. The day featured mild weather as temperatures reached the upper 50s to mid 60s. There were quite a few high, thin clouds in the sky, but that actually enhanced the experience. You could still clearly see the actual eclipse, as the moon blocked the sun and you could just see the outer edges of the sun during totality. 

Those high clouds created a beautiful sunset effect during the eclipse, with the horizon lighting up in beautiful yellow, orange and blue tones. 

The whole thing was thrilling. I laughed out loud with joy as I heard a crowd in downtown St. Albans, a mile away, let out a loud cheer when totality hit. Then I sat and watched the sky, slack-jawed, during totality. I didn't want it to end. 

And as if to end the day with a flourish, hours later, we were treated to a spectacular, post-eclipse sunset. 

Barely a month later, Vermont and much of the rest of the nation experienced one of the most spectacular northern lights displays in memory. Once again, Vermont skies were mostly clear, and we got to enjoy it.

It's been back to reality with more recent celestial events. There was a total lunar eclipse early in the morning of March 14. Skies were clear for that, but it peaked at like 2 a.m. I admire anyone who stayed up for that, but I was unfortunately too lazy. I slept through it. A bad hour for this decrepit old man. 

There was a partial eclipse of the sun on the morning of March 29.  Not nearly as wild as last year's total eclipse. But it would have been fun to dig out the solar glasses from last year and take a peek as the moon took a bite out of the early morning sun.

But alas, northern Vermont was experiencing a snowstorm that morning. So much for that. 

Other than that, we have our usual meteor shower and super moons to look forward to in the rest of 2025, but not much else.

But that's OK. The sky is always interesting, even when supposedly nothing special is going on. 

Sometimes, on a clear night, it's fun to just go outside after dark on, day a mild June night. The fireflies at the edge of the woods will compete with the tapestry of twinkling stars in the sky. 

Or there's meteorological displays.  On a muggy night in July, I might sit in our outdoor tub on the deck, glass of wine in hand, Patsy Cline singing in the background as heat lightning lazily flashes in the sky from thunderstorms somewhere over Quebec. 

The year 2025 will end with three "super moons" starting in October. That's when the moon is closer to Earth than it usually is, so the full moon looks even bigger and brighter than usual. It'll be worth grabbing a jacket or coat on those nights if it's clear to enjoy the moon glow, maybe do a little moon dance, I don't know. 

 Maybe the December 4 super moon rise over a snow covered landscape, turning night into day as the moon glow reflects off the snow. 

I'll probably never see another total eclipse of the sun, but I've got the memory. I can look forward to our always fascinating sky and weather to keep me looking up to the heavens in search of both peace and joy.  

Ice Storm Videos Really Make Us Glad We Didn't Have To Deal With That Much

The effects of last weekend's ice storm in Michigan

 Last weekend, a massive ice storm stretched from Wisconsin, through the northern Great Lakes, into southern Ontario and Quebec and into New England.  

We had our own issues with that ice, as we know, with tree damage and power outages in central and southern Vermont. 

But we didn't have it nearly as bad as places like northern Michigan and parts of Ontario. The following videos in this post are at once horrifying, beautiful and sad.

The videos brought back memories of the Great Ice Storm of 1998 here in Vermont, (And Quebec, Maine, New York and a few other places).

The trees were the saddest loss. But eventually they do come back and after several years, everything looks normal again. We hope for a fast recovery for all those who lost their beloved trees in the hardest hit areas.

The videos: 

Here's a compelling video of the ice storm in northern Michigan. It's a drive through the region, and it's a combination of sadness, beauty, awe and destruction.  Click on this link to view. or if you see the image below, click on that:

A walk through a forested neighborhood in Gaylord, Michigan reveals the damage and the almost gunshot like sounds of tree collapsing under the weight of the ice. Again, click on this link or if you see the image below click on that. 

A aerial look around Gaylord, Michigan after the skies cleared reveal the awful beauty of an ice storm's destruction. Again, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

In southern Michigan, watch what increasing thunderstorms winds, finally reaching 95 mph, does to the mobile home in the surveillance video. Once again, click on this link to view or if you see the image below click on that: 

 

A Classic, Perfect Vermont Autumn Day To Be Followed By More Fall Greatness

A snowy Mount Mansfield on Thursday as viewed
from Underhill, Vermont. 

I really have to rate Thursday probably among the top five most perfect autumn weather days in Vermont that I can remember. 

Which is impressive, since I've lived in this state for a mere 62 years. 

The day started with a very traditional October frost, which left the lawn looking oddly clean thanks to  the sparkling ice crystals as the sun rose into a clear sky.

What followed was perfectly blue skies from dawn to dusk. The northern Green Mountains were topped with dazzling cold white snow, which contrasted fantastically with the warm orange, red and yellow tones of the fall foliage. This was all under the most brilliant of blue skies. 

Temperatures were perfect. The air had that clean crispness of autumn. Speaking of clean, the air quality couldn't have been better.  I checked the air quality index and for most of us, it hovered around 10. Anything between 0 and 50 is good, and it's rare to get the index down to 10.

Breathing the air Thursday was almost like pure oxygen therapy. I'm sure my lungs are cleaner now than they were 24 hours ago. 

The day ended with a view of a comet after sunset, followed by the October hunter super moon rising in the east and illuminating the night sky.  They're calling it a super moon because it's a little closer to Earth than usual, making the moon appear a bit bigger and shine more brilliantly. 

In other words, Thursday it was classic, old fashioned kind of Vermont autumn day. Which felt oddly reassuring.  

In this age of climate change and its associated scary weather moments, it felt good to have an October day, the kind I remember as a kid. It was nice to experience gorgeous "normal" weather. Granted the fall foliage is later in the season than I can recall decades ago, but let's just ignore that for now.  

MORE FANTASTIC WEATHER

If you missed the perfection of Thursday's Vermont weather, you're in luck.  I've issued a Gorgeous Weather Warning that's in effect today through Sunday. And I might need to extend that warning into early next week as well.  

Another view of Mount Mansfield as seen from
Underhill, Vermont on Thursday.

Today is pretty much rinse and repeat of Thursday.  Temperatures were just a couple degrees warmer at dawn today than yesterday, but many of us still have frost on the pumpkin, so to speak. 

It'll be another day of wall to wall sunshine, blue skies and clean air. It will be a little warmer than Thursday, with highs in several areas topping out in the low to mid 60s. 

The only thing making today and the next few days "worse" than Thursday is the snow on top of the mountains will be gradually fading as it melts in the late season sun.

 But it will take a little while. The foot of snow measured atop Mount Mansfield on Wednesday was the deepest for so early in the season. 

The weekend will feature plenty of sunshine as well, as well as temperatures getting even milder. A few places will probably at least flirt with 70 degrees on Sunday. 

By early next week, Indian Summer should be in full swing with afternoon highs at least into the low 70s. 

The next chance of rain - and it won't be much - will probably come along with a cold front Wednesday night or Thursday which would knock temperature back down to seasonable late October readings.  

Spring Is Over, Looking Back At How Beautiful The Season Is In Vermont

Sun shines on some colorful daffodils in St. Albans,
Vermont back on May 6.  Spring, now over, is
my favorite time of year. 

 Basically, it's summer now. 

Oh, sure, astronomical summer doesn't officially start until 4:50 p.m. June 20.  But meteorological summer is here, having started June 1. And the weather has quite often surely felt like summer lately. The landscape looks like full summer, too. 

Spring, though, is my favorite time of year, with summer a close second. I just low how the drabness of winter disappears into the bold colors of spring.

Every day during the spring looks different and more colorful than the day before.   

I try to spend as much time outdoors that time of year, despite the clouds of black flies. 

Here's a look back at the spring, through my eyes (and the lens of an old iPhone).

For each of the videos, click on the hyperlink, or, if you see the image below that link, click on that.  

Here's the first one:

Early spring can be wet and cold and windy, but it's still beautiful. Eventually, the sun does come out. Not sure if the rain or sun is more beautiful in this one.  Click on this link.

I'm a daffodil nut.  The following video checks out some of the many, many  daffodils around my yard.   Again, click on this link or image below if you see it. 

As I've said in past posts, the height of spring is peak foliage season. Here's a video to prove it, by clicking on this link, or seeing below. 

Finally, spring brings us lilacs. You can almost smell their aroma in this video, clicking on this link or viewing below. 

 

Video: Sunday/Monday Storm Not Quite As Predicted, But Still Had Its Dark Season Beauty

Aftermath of early week storm in St. Albans, Vermont.
I made a video, shown in this post of the storm from
start to finish. Dark December gloom to bright
snow/sun. 

 As I previously reported, the storm early this week did not have the oomph some forecasters had expected.  

But it was beautiful in its own way.

Things went from dark to rainy to winter wonderland, at least here in St. Albans, Vermont. 

Video at the bottom of the post shows how the landscape changed in the two days of the storm, and the day after.

First half of the video was dark and rainy Sunday. Not a great day for outdoor stuff, but it did have its own murky, quiet beauty as the rain fell and dark clouds hung overhead on a brief December day.

Monday, we woke up to snow, which continued much of the day. The snow certainly brightened the surrounding. Wet snow clung to every single little twig. Luckily, at least in my area, the snow fell short of causing much damage to my trees.

Day after the storm featured a bright and sunny interval. It was all too brief, but it was a stunning display of early winter gorgeousness.

Anyway, enjoy the video below. Click on this link to watch, or if you see the image below, click on that to watch. The vid is a nice excursion through changeable Vermont weather. 

Scotland Trip Is Ending; Photos Show Edinburgh's Fitful Weather.

After some brief sun, a rain squall approaches Edinburgh's
Royal Mile at around 3:30 p.m. November 30,
just before sunset. 

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - My time in this beautiful, small nation has come to an end. 

One of the things I've got left is photos showing the beauty of the area, and the fitful, inclement, but sometimes sunny, cold weather the region sees in December. 

Days are incredibly short in Edinburgh, since it's so far north. Sunrise in early December is around 8:25 a.m., and it sets around 3:40 p.m. 

But we made the most of it, enjoying the brisk outdoors while traipsing around the shops and pubs and historic buildings.

This post is just a sampling of scenic/weather photos, since it's such a beautiful place. 

Click on the pics to make them bigger and easier to see

Typical overcast day this time of year in Edinburgh

A brief bright spot in the Edinburgh overcast

Late afternoon on a rare clear, but very cold day by
Edinburgh standards on December 1, Highs that day
were in the mid-20s, normal for the season is low 40s.

Shop and Christmas lights brighten a Edinburgh street
as darkness falls at around 4 p.m,

Back to a hazy Edinburgh overcast on December 2.

A hint of a rainbow on a changeable, gusty day along
the North Sea in North Berwick, Scotland, December 3.

Frosty day in Edinburgh, December 6.

Another rare treat of sunshine, but it was cold again
in Edinburgh, December 6

Video: A Garden Gets A Drink Of Water Before Another Long Dry Spell

Water beads on plant leaves after the last rain we had
on May 24 in St. Albans, Vermont. Video in this
post shows a garden and trees enjoying 
some gusty rain showers. 

 A quick hit this morning, just a video showing a grateful garden in St. Albans, Vermont getting a little drink of water from the sky this past Wednesday. 

It's been dry lately and getting drier. We got about a third of an inch of rain Wednesday, which isn't much, but we'll take anything we can get. 

Since Wednesday, the air has been bone dry with wall to wall sunshine. This state of affairs is pretty much expected to continue through Thursday at least. 

We have a shot of a few showers at the end of the week, but whatever comes does not look at all impressive, at least according to the latest forecasts. 

The gardens are getting pretty dusty, and I'm spending a lot of time on irrigation lately.  I guess that will continue all week with warm to hot temperatures and continued very low humidity. 

Eventually, it will rain again. There are hints in the long range forecasts of possible cooler, somewhat wetter weather in the second week of June. We'll see about that. 

Meanwhile, we can watch the video as sort of a rain dance for our Vermont gardens and farms. The rain and wind kind of made look like the trees and gardens were dancing. 

At the end, the sun comes back out for a quick evening visit. 

Click on this link to watch the video if you don't see the image below. Otherwise, click on the image below to watch: 

Scenes From The Chaos And Beauty Of Vermont's Mid-March Snowstorm, Through Videos

Vermont was pretty much ground zero for the snowstorm
on March 14-15. Most places had at least eight inches
of new snow, with up to 42 inches in the far southern
Vermont Green Mountains. 

 For those of you who don't like snow, the big mid-March snowstorm that swept into Vermont is already a fading memory, except for those of you in the southern Green Mountains who measured the new snow depth in feet, not inches.  

In low elevations, even though temperatures have barely been seasonable, the snow is melting fast. 

The snow depth in my yard in St. Albans, Vermont was 17 inches just as the last snow flakes of the snowstorm fell on March 15. By late Monday afternoon - less than a week later - that depth was down to four inches. with widening bare patches spreading from beneath trees. 

Still, the heavy, wet snow on March 14 and 15 brought both frustrations and beauty. The roads were tricky for sure and the soggy snow was backbreaking to shovel, to say the least. Power outages spread across most of Vermont. 

But the snow, amid gusty winds, plastered the trees into an undeniable winter wonderland. 

Sunset after the snow ended on March 15 in 
St. Albans, Vermont. 

Day Two of the storm offered more of the same early in the morning. But the snow ended by noon, at least around my place, and the cleanup began in earnest.

 That cleanup was aided a bit by the March sun's warmth cutting through the clouds just a bit, to melt any ice beneath the snow on the driveway, and unburdened the roof.

By evening, the sun came out in all its glory, revealing a bright, white, beautiful winter landscape. 

From there, after enjoying the gorgeousness of the whole thing, we were ready for the snow to start melting. 

The forecast the next day - Thursday - indicated we'd begin that melting in earnest. Instead, it snowed all day. Not much, but enough to make one think the snow would never start receding. Would we be buried in snow forever?

Nope! Next day, Friday, it rained for a change. The March meltdown began in earnest. By the time the rain ended, half of the new snow was gone. Spring will probably arrive after all

So I have three videos to share that gives you the experience. 

The first was taken during the first, and main day of the snowstorm.....

Click on this link, or if you see the image below, click on that:

Now, the second day of the snow. The morning began rough, with people struggling the roads and me struggling to shovel heavy, wet snow. But at least there were signs that the snow would melt, as the ice on the mostly-cleared driveway melted away, and the snow began sliding off the roof. And as the sun came out in the evening, it was really just gorgeous. Again, click on this link, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Or maybe it won't melt. The next day brought more steady, but light snow. It made it seem we'd be mired in deep snow forever. Once again, click on this link, or if you see the image below, click on that:

Vermont Snowstorm And Pretty Aftermath, Videos Included

Morning sun shines on snow-laden trees Sunday in St. Albans,
Vermont after a beautiful storm the day before. 

 The snowstorm that hit Vermont a few days ago was much more mellow in northwestern Vermont than in the most of the rest of the state. 

We had somewhat less snow. We had some power outages, but they were fewer and further between than elsewhere. And the outages were quickly repaired up in my neck of the woods.

Of course I took plenty of photos and created videos of the storm and aftermath. 

In Video #1, scroll down in this post to view it,  you can see the storm got off to a fairly good start, but sputtered during the day Friday as temperatures rose above freezing and the wet snow turned to glorified rain. Some of the snow melted.

But, just as forecasters told us, the snow returned in earnest overnight, and we woke up to a winter wonderland.  It was still overcast, with kind of a blue/gray light all day, but it was gorgeous.

Just before sunset at St. Albans Bay Vermont on Sunday,
the day after a picturesque snowstorm hit the area.

The day after, Sunday, brings us to the aftermath. As you can see in Video #2, the sun came out, and it was glorious. The sun unburdened the trees of some of the weight of the snow.  People enjoyed going for snowy walks in the park, or sliding down Hardack Hill in St. Albans.

The view from St. Albans hill showed a big, gloriously clean and white landscape. The day was topped off by a beautiful winter sunset at St. Albans Bay. 

I'm generally not a big fan of winter. But weekends like the one we just had in northwestern Vermont really does make one really appreciate the season. 

So, first here's the video of the actual snowfall this past Friday and Saturday around my house in St. Albans, Vermont. Click on this link if you don't see the image of the YouTube video just below.  

Next up, the even prettier storm aftermath around St. Albans, Vermont. Click on this link if you don't see the image, otherwise click on that image

Video: Warm, Dreary, Rainy, Foggy: Not The Christmas Themed Weather We Want

Christmas lights and car head lights try to cut through
the gloom in downtown St. Albans, Vermont on Wednesday.
Dark and dreary has been the theme lately.

 As is often the case, I take videos of the weather and nature of my surroundings. So of course I was out on a wet, warm, gloomy misty December Wednesday in St. Albans, Vermont grabbing a few scenes of the day. 

This time of year, we're really getting into the Christmas spirit and Ma Nature usually helps. We very often have at least dustings of snow in the first week of December, if not bonafide snowstorms. 

So far, at least, not this year. Wednesday was early November redux, if we ever have a normal November and December again.

Temperatures were in the mid-50s, close to 20 degrees on the warm side. It was damn dark all day, with a thick overcast, plenty of mist and fog, and occasional rain, which sometimes came down pretty hard. 

We never actually had daylight on Wednesday. It was more like a dreary dusk all day. As you can see in the video, the Christmas lights of downtown St. Albans struggled mightily to cut through the gloom. 

Next in our video, we take a trip on some local roads, to enjoy plowing through the puddles and and enjoying the gray sky, gray landscape and gray fog.

The last part of the video is when I retreated home to my very muddy yard. The piddling little stream we call the Woof River that goes past my property looked pretty healthy too.

To be honest, there is a subtle, quiet beauty in all this rainy darkness, as you can see in the video.

The dark, rainy misty landscape in northwestern Vermont
Wednesday didn't exactly scream "Christmas season."

Look on the bright side, and there are a few. The ground is still unfrozen, and all this extra moisture is seeping into the ground. 

That's plenty of water for winter snowmaking. It also sets us up for a good start in the spring, and gives us a bit of a reserve in case April and May are dry, as they often have been in recent years. 

The forecast is looking up, sort of, if you're a fan of more normal and wintry December weather.  We  Temperatures will sink to levels that are much closer to normal for this time of year.  We should even see some sun come out occasionally over the next few days. 

There's not really any snow to speak of in the forecast for the upcoming week. At least according to current forecasts. A few places might get a snowflake or two Sunday, but that's about it. However, there's plenty of time for the weather patterns to change, and provide us with a nice traditional white Christmas.

To view this moody video, you can either click on this link. Or iv the image of the video is visible below on your device, click on that. 

Video: Cool Thunderstorms Last Week, Northwest Vermont

A developing thunderstorm begins to produce rain
as it intensified last Tuesday near St. Albans, Vermont. 

Last week, I talked about some backward moving thunderstorms in Vermont, thanks to an out of season offshore nor'easter.  

We were on the outskirts of its circulation. We were outside the storm's main cloud shield. Which meant the sun could interact with relatively high humidity last Tuesday to create some scattered thunderstorms. 

The video I finally put together shows the rapid development of what was initially an isolated thunderstorm that formed near the borders of St. Albans, Sheldon and Highgate. 

The first views in the video were taken from Fairfield, east of  St. Albans, but later, around the 1:14 mark in the video I repositioned on St. Albans Hill, where I had a great view of the downpour and storm structure. 

The storm moved southwestward, the opposite of the usual path for Vermont thunderstorms. It 's neat to see in the video that the storm developed a nice rain shaft. It was almost indiscernible at first, as it started wit almost not rain, but then turned into a gushing downpour as the storm moved over parts of St. Albans.  The storm the began to dissipate as it moved over Lake Champlain.

A picturesque gush of rain pours from an isolated thunderstorm
last Tuesday in St. Albans, Vermont. 

Hot on the heels of that storm was a larger, stronger storm.   Starting at the 1:42 mark, you can see me turning my attention away from the first storm and focusing on the larger storm coming in from the Northeast.

I rushed home, and enjoyed the show of the second storm from my shed. Nothing extreme, really, about the storm. However, I don't know about you, but I just enjoy the kind of gusty downpour (with small hail) that I caught in the video.  

Too bad the sound quality isn't great. The thunder wasn't loud, really, but it was absolutely continuous. That's because there were pretty much no cloud to ground strikes. The instability in the air wasn't strong enough to support that. Instead, all the lightning was up in the clouds. 

Click on the image below to view the video.  If you like nice summer thunderstorms this is for you.  On some devices, you might not see the image below that I'm talking about. In that case, click on this link to watch the YouTube video. 

Snow Squalls Create A Dangerous But Beautiful Saturday In Vermont/Northeast

A snow squall west of St. Albans, Vermont early Saturday
afternoon. You can see the towering clouds with the
squall and if you look close, intense snow falling from
the base of these clouds. This squall produced
whiteout conditions in many areas of northwestern
Vermont, focusing on Highgate and Swanton.

 Saturday was a really interesting weather day in Vermont and most of the rest of the Northeast as a well-forecasted batch of snow squalls roared through the region.  

Pretty much everyone was affected by the squalls from Michigan to Maine and from Quebec to Pennsylvania.  Social media was full of snow squall time lapse videos showing dark clouds approaching, then visibility going from perfect to zero in an instant, then recovering back to normal just as fast. 

A video from the John Hancock tower, and my ground view video of the St. Albans evening snow squalls are at the bottom of this post 

True to form, Saturday's squalls didn't last long in any one location.  Most places only had intense snow for just a few minutes. The heavy snow was so brief in Burlington, Vermont that they only measured 0.3 inches of new snow and a trace of melted precipitation. 

Other places got a little more snow if they were repeated bullseyed by squalls. I got about an inch of wind-blown snow in St. Albans. Several towns reported two to four inches. High elevation Readsboro in far southern Vermont received six inches. 

Obviously, with the sudden zero visibility, the squalls can be dangerous.  Saturday morning, a period of heavy snow and intense blowing snow on the Route 2 Causeway in South Hero caused zero visibility and a series of crashes, forcing a temporary closure of the wind-exposed section of highway. Six people were injured in the crashes, reports WCAX.

Smart phones throughout the Northeast including mine in St. Albans, Vermont buzzed and blared all day with emergency alerts warning of the snow squalls.

The warnings, much like severe thunderstorm warnings, cover an area of just a few counties at a time and tell people to stay off the roads until the snow squall passes.  And that visibility issue is real. 

Fascinating visible satellite image from about 12:30 p.m.
Saturday. Click on the image to make it bigger and 
easier to see. The bright cloud line from northern New
York just west of Lake Champlain all the way down to northern
Maryland is the main snow squall line. A line of snow squalls
is also coming off Lake Ontario. New snow squalls are 
forming in northern New York and in Quebec southwest of 
Montreal, and those would come through 
Vermont in the evening. 

 I was on the road less than a half mile from my house heading home when an evening snow squall abruptly blew in.  I couldn't see my mailbox from 50 feet away as I prepared to turn into my driveway.  Luckily, I was safely back home for the bulk of the snow squall. 

The widespread snow squalls were created by a compact, vigorous "Alberta Clipper" type storm coming in from the west from the Great Lakes into far southern Ontario and Quebec with an equally vigorous cold front dangling southward from the storm center. 

A pocket of cold air aloft led to a big temperature change from the surface to several thousand feet up in the air. This helped lead to the towering clouds that produced the snow squalls.

I also think there was a hint of a sign of spring in these squalls. That sound counterintuitive, but hear me out.

The sun angle is increasing fast now from its December lows. That means the sun is starting to more effectively heat the ground.  The sun yesterday did just that, adding more updrafts to feed the snow squalls and make them stronger. That's the same process that is often necessary for strong summer thunderstorms. 

It doesn't look like we have more snow squalls in the immediate forecast. However, you'll want to be careful out in open areas of the Champlain Valley today, especially near that notorious Causeway in South Hero. Strong south winds are forecast this afternoon, and that will blow the snow around quite a bit, causing some more visibility problems in spot.

Videos:

As always, click on the hyperlinks in the text if you don't see an image of the video. If you see the video, click on the red arrow then the YouTube logo.

First video is snow squalls skirting close by my place in St. Albans in the afternoon, then a snow squall scores a direct hit on St. Albans in the evening: 

Next video is from CBS Boston. It's a time lapse camera view from atop the John Hancock building as a snow squall sweeps through Boston Saturday evening.

A Gorgeous, Windy Winter Day On The Lake. In Photos and Videos

Strong winds and blowing snow on the Lake Champlain
causeway in South Hero Sunday afternoon.

Sunday afternoon, Lake Champlain: A couple days after that big storm of powdery snow dumped more than a foot of snow on the icy surface of the lake, the wind picked up.  

It always does in the winter on and near Lake Champlain.  Winds gusting to 40 mph or so propelled that fallen snow into South Hero and other south facing shores of the lake. 

This all happened under a gorgeous, almost otherworldly sky.  Plus, some kite skiers took advantage of the very blustery weather to spend the afternoon skipping along the lake surface towed by their kites flying in the wind.

Of course, I had to take photos and videos, and the results are on this page. Scroll down to look at the pbotos, and at the very bottom is the video.  The video really shows what it's like to be on the Lake Champlain islands in the middle of winter. 

Click on the photos to make them bigger and easier to see.

Kite skiers prepare their rigs under a rather otherworldly
sky in South Hero, Vermont Sunday. 

 

Kite skier on Lake Champlain in South Hero, Vermont Sunday.

Lake Champlain in South Hero, Vermont Sunday. This 
area can look like a lonely Arctic trek this time of year. 

Clouds in the sky sort of echo the snowdrifts on ice-covered
Lake Champlain in South Hero on Sunday.

Now onto the video. Lots of blowing snow, and an expansive lake, making things look both bleak and beautiful.  If you don't see it displayed below, click on this hyperlink.  To view the video most clearly, click the red arrow on the below image, then the YouTube logo. 

Final Vermont Storm Wrapup. Plus A Gorgeous, Powdery Saturday Leads To A Frigid Night

Map of snow totals from our recently departed snowstorm
closely match forecast maps ahead of the storm, so
kudos to the National Weather Service in South
Burlington. Click on the map to make it bigger
and easier to see.

 The final list is in for snow totals across Vermont, and that list confirms that across the northern three quarters of Vermont or so, amounts are tightly clustered between 11 and 17 inches.

That's unusual, because the path of a storm and its wind field, usually leads to highly variable amounts of snow in most Vermont winter storms.  

This time, the storm itself was weak, so it didn't have much of a wind field to add snow to locations where the wind was climbing the sides of the mountain, or "shadow" areas where wind is forced to roar downhill on the other side of the mountains. 

During this week's storm, a very rich supply of wet air from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean was forced to rise over a wall of cold air.  Rising air does enhance precipitation. The wall of cold air was mostly above mountain top level, so there was nothing to make strange snowfall booms and busts. Everybody got in on the action. 

Jackson the Weather Dog could barely peek over the 
heaps of snow left behind by this week's big snowstorm in 
St. Albans, Vermont, Jackson measured a final
snow total of 15.7 inches here in St. Albans. 

It was interesting that the two towns that had the greatest total, 18 inches were Warren, a perennial winner in the winter snow derbies, and Charlotte, a Champlain Valley town that usually misses out on the big storms. 

Unfortunately, far southern Vermont had a much shallower layer of cold air, so they got a bunch of freezing rain an sleet out of this, and not much snow. 

If you look at the map of snowfall totals in this storm, it really closely matches the forecast maps the National Weather Service in South Burlington issued ahead of the storm. Kudos to them!  

I have to say, wasn't today a beauty in Vermont?!?! That clean, deep fresh snow for most of us, those brilliant blue skies, that chilly bite to the air. I'm certifiably crazy and hand shovel my very long driveway.  

Today was so nice that I pretty much took pleasure in the chore, even though my nearly 60 year old body is now tired and a little sore. Worth it though!  I hope you had a nice powder day. 

True, far southern Vermont didn't have snow, but the ice glistening on the trees like crystal sculptures had to be amazing. Today will easily be the nicest day of the winter in Vermont. 

As I've been advertising, clear, calm nights with deep, fresh snow lead to frigid nights. As soon as the sun sets this evening, the temperatures will crash. We'll all be in the single numbers to teens below zero overnight. 

Deep snow and a late afternoon sun played with shadows
and colors in the deep snow in St. Albans, Vermont today

Thankfully, the core of the coldest air will be moving east of us late tonight, so I'm thinking only parts of the Northeast Kingdom will make it into the 20s below.

One other weather hazard to deal with:  In the Champlain Valley and the Islands, south winds will pick up, so we'll have problems with blowing and drifting snow.   That'll be a problem especially around open farmlands and on the islands, where wind will propel snow off of large frozen expanses ofLake Champlain. 

Expect problems with visibility and deep drifts on roads in these areas Sunday afternoon and night.  

A Steamy Warm Diversion To The Frigid Vermont Weather

If you want a distraction from the Arctic air over Vermont
lately, this photo, and the video below, were taken on a 
steamy, warm July 14, 2021 in St Albans, Vermont.

 I've already posted the video in this post as a standalone on social media, but I might as well put it in a blog post, as it does involve weather.  

But not the kind of weather we're getting now.

Many people are pining for the days when we don't have to wear 376 layers of clothes. I get it. It's Vermont. We have winter. It's cold. Deal with it. 

Still, summer days are much easier to deal with, even if whiny me starts complaining about the heat and humidity by mid-July. Oh well. 

The photo and the video below takes us to St. Albans, Vermont on July 14, 2021. It was a humid one. It wasn't that hot, due to the showers and thundershowers the muggy air was generating. (The high that day was 83 degrees, the low a stuffy 71).  

In the video, the flowers in the gardens had just gotten a nice drink from a brief, passing thunderstorm.  The storm did nothing to alleviate the humidity. In fact, it made things steamier.

But with the past two mornings in the teens and 20s below zero under our belt. a steamy summer day is just the ticket.

Watch. Or if you have a mobile device, click on this hyperlink. If you see the video below, click on the YouTube logo and arrow for better viewing. 

Lake Ice Turns Into A Cool Noisefest.

A frozen Lake Champlain can offer lots of entertaining sounds
 as water freezes, ice slabs move, expand or crack

 As frigid weather took hold in Vermont in mid-January, much of Lake Champlain quickly froze over. 

Even after the lake froze in any given area, shifting slabs of ice, new ice forming, wind pressure and other factors turn the lake into a noisy place. 

On Sunday, Lake Champlain in St. Albans, Vermont was a cacophony of pops, thunks, creaks, groans and gawd knows what.  Video of this is below. 

Some of the noises in my video sound like I had the sniffles, but that wasn't me. That was the ice making that sniffly sound. 

As usual, mobile device users might not be able to see the video displayed in this post, so click on this hyperlink to view

Otherwise, click on the image below. Click on the arrow and the YouTube icon for best viewing. 

The First Snow Of The Season Is Usually Magical. Video To Prove It

Snow falling Friday evening gave these trees near my 
house a rather ghostly appearance. As the video in this
post shows, the first snow of the season really 
transforms the landscape. 

That snowfall we had Friday in Vermont, for all its disruptions in travel, electrical power and tree damage, was also a thing of beauty, as most first snows of the season are.  

So of course I made a video, which is at the bottom of this post.  The video documents how the snow transformed a drab, dark November landscape into something much prettier, more festive. 

The snow began in the afternoon, so I had a good view of the grass and mud and dead leaves quickly disappearing beneath that rush of snowflakes from the sky. 

The snow continued to fall as darkness descended. It was a wet snow that clung to everything.  In the darkness, the snow-plastered trees gave our surroundings a ghostly appearance. 

The magic was largely gone by Saturday morning. It was cold morning. Strong winds had blown most of the snow off the trees. The wet snow had to be removed from the driveway. The water at the bottom of the snow had turned into a stubborn ice, making cleaning it up all the more difficult. If I hadn't been in a decent mood, it would have been a frustrating cleanup. 

I'm not the world's biggest fan of snow.  Winter is my fourth favorite season.  A recent post on Facebook helps put it all in perspective, though. It said something to the effect that we should find the joy in snow, because if you don't, you 're still stuck with the same amount of snow. 

Snow and a whitened landscape is often pretty, and I'm sure I'll find more beauty in the long winter months ahead.  It will eventually be spring, and we'll have another season of greenery and flowers to look forward to as well.

Mobile uses might have difficulty viewing the video below. If that's the case, click on this link and you should see it. 

Otherwise, here's the video. You can click on the red arrow, and then the  YouTube logo to make it easier to view. 

"Tea Kettle" Lake Champlain Causes November Gloom And Beauty

Relatively warm, steamy air rising into the chilly
November air mass over St. Albans, Vermont yesterday
afternoon created this dramatic cloud. 

One of several reasons why a good chunk of Vermont is usually so hopelessly cloudy in November is Lake Champlain.  

The lake is warm relative to the chilly blasts of air we usually get this time of year. 

The warm moisture rising into the cold air creates steam. It's pretty much the same reason why you see your breath when outdoors in nippy weather.

Lake Champlain is much bigger than most (but not all!) peoples' mouths of course. It essentially acts as a giant tea kettle. That means the lake steam can easily collect as fog, low clouds, or even rain and snow showers. 

Wednesday's snow showers were more intense east of Lake Champlain than in other sections of Vermont because they got that boost of moisture from the lake.  

On Thursday morning while most of Vermont was partly sunny, the Burlington area was stuck under low, thick, gray and cold clouds until early afternoon.  At that point, skies were able to abruptly clear and temperatures shot up to levels comparable to the rest of the state.   

Every once in awhile, the steam from Lake Champlain can create some beauty. In St. Albans, Vermont last evening, the warm lake created low, dark billowy clouds over the lake.  That, combined with some colorful high clouds, created a unique sunset as the photos and video below shows.

Low, darker clouds created by moisture coming off the
relatively warm Lake Champlain, combined with high clouds 
created a unique and lovely sunset Thursday evening
as viewed from St. Albans, Vermont. 

(As always, mobile users might not be able to see the video at the bottom of this post. If that's the case, click on this hyperlink).   

Usually, the Champlain tea kettle effect produces gloom, but it can create some minor drama as well.  Sometimes, a few inches of snow can accumulate down wind of the lake if conditions are just right. 

During intensely cold winter weather,  the steam rising from the lake combined with clouds overhead can create cold weather funnels. 

 In rare cases these sort of waterspouts can make landfall, but unlike more traditional tornadoes and waterspouts, they are not strong enough to be dangerous.

Usually, though, Lake Champlain helps make our gloomy Novembers even darker.  That's a small price to pay for the gorgeousness of "The Sixth Great Lake." 

Here's a quick video of last evening's sunset:

Relatively Rare (Possibly!) Asperatus Clouds Create Weird Vermont Skies

Before sunset, the odd clouds overhead in St. Albans, Vermont
on Tuesday consisted mostly of bluish and gray waves.

On Tuesday, an overcast, sprinkly, somewhat chilly day here in St. Albans, Vermont, the sky definitely got weird.  

What appears to be a fairly rare cloud called undulatus asperatus graced the skies. This type of overcast looks sort of like what a choppy sea must resemble if viewed from just under the water's surface.

This cloud was only recognized as its own category of cloud by the World Meteorological Organization back in 2017.  

The headline on the linked article is titled "Earth's Newest Cloud Is Terrifying," but not really.

In some cases, asperatus clouds do look threatening.  The ones over St. Albans on Tuesday were just weird.  You are not in danger if any of these clouds happen to be overhead. 

I'm not entirely sure these were true asperatus clouds over St. Albans.  They usually form near convective showers and thunderstorms.  While there were some weak showers in the area, there weren't any robust storms nearby. So they might just be cool clouds. 

I'll leave readers and the experts to judge.

Keep scrolling for more photos of the clouds, and at the bottom of the photos is a quick YouTube video I put together of the phenomenon.  You'll need to click on this link to view the video on mobile devices.

The setting sun began to add color to the strange skies. 

Between the odd clouds and the setting sun lighting up
trees in a strange orange hue, it suddenly felt like
St. Albans, Vermont was on some other planet. 

Sunset and odd clouds on Oct. 19 over St. Albans, Vermont.

Here's the video: Click on the arrow, and then the YouTube logo to view in fuller size: