Cold Storm Departs. Much Weaker Cold Storm Arrives Today But Summer Is Around The Corner!

Yes, that was snow gleaming at the summit of Mount
Mansfield, Vermont Saturday after a cold storm blew through

That storm yesterday really left its mark on New England with mountain snows and wind and rain and chilly temperatures reminiscent of March in some places. 

Here in Vermont, the weather got nice, if chilly. The afternoon sky lit up blue, with patchy, cold-looking stratocumulus clouds. 

The tippy top of Mount Mansfield gleamed white with new snow. Yes, on May 30. Nice contrast between the green slopes just below the snow. 

The weather wasn't so nice in so nice in eastern New England. The storm evolved into a nor'easter,, with many communities in eastern Massachusetts never getting above 50 degrees and wind gusts exceeding 50 mph. Hull, Massachusetts reached 60 mph. 

Adding to the drama, a meteor exploded over Cape Cod Bay somewhere between Boston and Provincetown Saturday afternoon, creating a loud boom and some shaking

Back here in Vermont, rainfall was more generous than predicted. Most places north and east of Interstate 89 had more than an inch of rain. Many towns in that wet region has more than 1.5 inches of rain. The town of Morgan was drenched with .2.19 inches of rain. Westfield had 1.9 inches.  

More rain is in the forecast, but nothing like we saw Friday night and early Saturday. 

TODAY

Skies clouded up overnight, preventing temperatures from getting cold enough for a frost. The clouds are from the next batch of showers and cold air aloft diving down through Quebec toward us. 

Unlike in eastern New England, skies cleared during the
late morning to reveal a delightfully sunny, breezy, 
cool afternoon to enjoy the outdoors,

This one is much weaker than the small-sized but big powerhouse we dealt with Friday night. So we'll see much less rain.  

Most places will only see 0.1 to 0.2 inches of rain, so this is only a slight wetting compared to what we saw Friday night. 

A few places will get a little more, because there's a chance a thunderstorm or two could be embedded within the mess of showers heading our way. 

If some thunderstorms get going, a few might  have pea sized hail since the air high above us is so cold. 

As far as timing goes, we already had a few light showers going on north as of 9 a.m. There will be a rising chance of showers north, spreading south through the day. The greatest chances of getting wet will probably is between 4 and 8 p.m., but of course there's chances of rain before and after those hours. 

Since its a cold system, it'll be cool for the season again today with highs in the 60s.

REST OF THE WEEK

We will slowly emerge from this cool spell and welcome back early summer.  Some potential complications that would keep us chilly longer are starting to seem less and less likely. 

Monday will probably start off cloudy, but clear up as temperatures rise only into the 60s, with maybe a spot 70 in warmer valleys far south and upper 50s in hilly terrain north. That's still a little cool as we start off June, but it's nothing incredible. 

The rest of the week looks pretty sunny and really nice. Highs should be near 70 Tuesday, well into the 70s Wednesday and probably into the 80s by Thursday. 

Cold fronts coming along toward next weekend look like they'll lack the oomph of the ones we saw in May, So generally warm weather will get June off to a great start, 

Actually It's Going To Be TWO Rainy, Chilly Spells In Vermont. The First One Tonight Is The Snowy One

The blooming irises and budding peonies in low elevation
St. Albans, Vermont certainly don't have to worry about
snow tonight, but Vermont's mountain summits could
well be white by Saturday morning. 

We're still on for our weird, cold storm tonight, but different parts of Vermont will have very different weather conditions. 

Here's the latest updates:

SNOW

Forecasters have actually lowered the elevations at which they expect snow to fall tonight. They now expect snow as low as 3,000 feet above sea level, taking the flakes pretty far below summits. 

This won't be a big summit snowstorm by any means, but places near 3,000 feet or a little higher could get a slushy coating to a half inch of snow. Summits might see 1 to 2 inches, maybe more if there are any cold surprises. 

In eastern Vermont especially, the National Weather Service says a few flakes could fall at elevations as low as 2,000 or 2,500 feet, though no snow will accumulate at such a low elevation. 

Keep all this in mind if you have a big Saturday morning hike planned. Either postpone it or dress for a winter hike, your choice. 

RAIN

The cold, small but intense bowling ball of a storm that has blasted down from the Arctic Circle and was making its way southward through Quebec toward New England this morning. The direction of the storm is odd enough, most of them come from the west or south, not from the Great White North. 

When storms do come from the north or northwest, they tend to be pretty dry affairs, with light precipitation. There's no warm ocean up that way to add a lot of moisture to the atmosphere. But this storm is so dynamic that it's able to squeeze every bit of moisture it can out of the air. 

The Northeast Kingdom, along with northern New Hampshire and western Maine, can expect more than an inch of rain between this afternoon and noon Saturday. The area around New Hampshire's White Mountains could receive two inches of rain. That will probably translate to a LOT of snow atop Mount Washington, which is New England's highest peak.

Rainfall amounts will fall sharply as you move away from the Northeast Kingdom. Places a little north and east of Interstate 89 can expect up to three quarters of an inch.  The Champlain Valley would get a half inch north up near St. Albans and Alburgh, tapering to a quarter inch south of Burlington. 

Southern Vermont only gets a tenth of an inch out of this. 

TIMING

Light showers were already scattered around northern New York and Vermont as of 9 a.m. The showers will start to increase in intensity and number north later this morning or early afternoon and spread south and east. There could be a rumble of thunder because the storm is so dynamic. Once the rain arrives, temperatures will fall rapidly from the 60s through the 50s. Tonight's lows will be between 38 and 45, except low 30s above 3,000 feet.

SATURDAY

The rain should taper off pretty early in the day.  The morning should feel pretty chilly and blustery, but the sun should come out in most areas during the afternoon. That'll boost temperatures into the 55 to 65 degree range, depending on whether you are fairly high up in elevation north or a low elevation south. That's pretty cool for this time of year, but it's actually pretty nice for outdoor activities. 

SUNDAY

Part of the day will be nice. By early afternoon, most of us should see temperatures within a few degrees either side of 70. But the next cool storm from the north will start to arrive in the afternoon with its batch of showers. 

This cool batch of rain isn't as cold or as intense as the one we're getting tonight. So it shouldn't snow in the mountains and rain in the Northeast Kingdom will be lighter than tonight's go around. 

BEYOND SUNDAY

We'll have trouble getting rid of this weather pattern, so it will be relatively cool and showery at least through Tuesday. But it could last until the end of the week, depending on which weather model you believe. Stay tuned! 

Soaking Memorial Day Morning Vermont Rain To Yield To Some Sunshine, Finally! "Omega Block" Looms

National Weather Service radar showed lots of soaking
rain across Vermont as of 8 a.m today. But if you have
Memorial Day plans, the rain should exit by late
morning to yield a partly sunny afternoon

As expected, Sunday was a chilly, rainy mess of a day. There were a couple bright spots in the gloom.

Winds were not as strong as expected near the mountains, so there were no power outages to speak of. In western Vermont, the rain tapered off as expected in the late afternoon, so you could sneak in some outdoor activities. 

Most places around the state had roughly a third of an inch of rain, give or take. That was what was forecast south, but it amounted to a little more than expected north. Good for the gardens, so another bonus there. 

Another heavier slug of rain was moving through Vermont early this morning. This rain seemed to be over-performing a little, too. 

Burlington was closing in on an inch of rain today from this morning's disturbance. Forecasts had called for a half inch. We'll see how the rest of Vermont does once this rain is out of our hair. 

The good news is this morning's rain does not mean we will have another entire gray, overcast day to deal with. 

The rain was beginning to end in western Vermont as of around 8:30 a.m. and should be out of eastern Vermont before noon. This afternoon, skies will turn at least partly sunny, and that should send temperature up into the comfortable low 70s, which is more or less normal for this time of year. 

REST OF WEEK

A schematic from Fox Weather showing what an 
Omega block looks like on a weather map. It features
 a northward bulge in the jet stream featuring warm,
sunny weather sandwiched between cooler
somewhat wetter southward dips in the jet stream.

Something called an Omega block in organizing itself in the atmosphere.  That's when a big northward bulge in the jet stream is flanked on either side by deep dips in said jet stream.  It's called an Omega block because the set up on a weather map resembles the Greek letter Omega. 

They're called a block because these patterns gum up the works so that the general weather stays the same wherever you are in the whole setup. 

Omega blocks are hard to dislodge, so they can last for days or even weeks. 

In this case, the big northward bulge will be in the middle of the U.S and central  Canada. Those areas will  have sunny and warn weather. The "dip people" in the northwest and northeast U.S. will be cooler and more unsettled. 

The Omega block is just starting to set up, so the change toward cooler weather around here will be gradual as the dip sends a series of weak cold fronts southward.  Here's how we think it will play out in Vermont

Tuesday: A summer day. The last one we'll have for awhile. Under sunny skies it should reach the low 80s. Some clouds might filter in during the afternoon, especially north, but that shouldn't make much of a difference in what a nice day it will be.

Wednesday: Still very nice, but winds will have shifted into the northwest, so the cooling will just be beginning. Highs should still make it into the 70s.

Thursday: Cooler  yet under partly sunny skies. Highs in the 60s, so now we're into somewhat chillier than average territory. 

Friday/Weekend: By this time, the coldest air aloft will have arrived. That means the strong end of May sun will heat the ground, which creates rapid updrafts into the cold air above. That means showers. It's a little soon to figure out how many showers and who gets the most of it. Best chances for rain will be north nd mountains. 

Depending on how cloudy it gets, it could get quite chilly down here near the surface. If we manage a fair amount of sun, we could get into the low 60s, still nippy for this time of year. If it's cloudier, we hold in the 50s, which is getting weird for this time of year. 

As noted, Omega blocks don't break down easily once they form. Which means we could be stuck with this cool, unsettled weather perhaps through the first week of June. Stay tuned on that one. 

Vermont: Now Back To Our Regularly Schedule Oddly Early Spring

The departing storm today created an interesting
satellite photo, with the thick snow band 
visible in the western Green Mountains. You
can also see snow cover in the Adirondacks
under the clearing skies 

 The long-lasting snow in northern Vermont has come to a quick end this afternoon, as the air dried out, and clearing skies have entered western parts of the state.  

The clearing is abrupt. From my perch in St. Albans, Vermont at 5:30 p.m. the sky is completely cloudy except when you look at the western part of the sky. It's completely clear over that way, and the sun came out brightly just moments ago. 

The satellite photo from this afternoon is really cool to look at. Click on it to make it bigger and easier to see.

The photo was taken at around 3 p.m. this Monday afternoon. In the clear skies to the west, you can plainly see the snow cover in the Adirondacks, with adjacent bare ground in the St. Lawrence Valley to the west and the Mohawk and Hudson valleys to the south. 

You can also see spots of snow in the high elevations of the Catskills. 

There's a striking north to south band of thick clouds along and and just west of the Green Mountains of Vermont. That was the west winds hitting the mountains, being forced to rise and creating the sometimes heavy snow in very roughly a 20 to 30 band along the western slopes and summits of the mountains. 

Winds heading down the east slopes of the Green Mountains dried the air, making the clouds thinner and broken. 

Notice how the clouds east of the Adirondacks, east of the Greens, and in New Hampshire and Maine are arranged in thin lines. 

The mountains are causing that.  If you've ever watched a fast moving river with water racing over a submerged rock, you see sort of "echo" waves downstream from where the water was rushing up and over the rocks

The same thing happens to the air. The mountains are the submerged rocks and the bands of clouds are the peaks of the echo waves downstream. 

THE SNOW/WIND

We saw quite a range in snow amounts today as the snow was focused on the west slopes of the Greens. Burlington managed a storm total of 2.7 inches between yesterday and today. But just to the northeast, in Essex Center and Westford, totals were just under nine inches.

Where skies began to clear in the very late afternoon, temperatures snuck upward. Burlington hit 39 degrees, normal for the date, so it wasn't such a wintry day after all. 

Temperatures in cloudier, snowier central and eastern Vermont held near 32. 

Winds are continuing to gust and will remain blustery all evening. Those gusts could still reach 45 mph in spots. On the bright side, power outages never really increased today despite the winds. Just around 500 Vermont homes and businesses remained without power as of 5:30 p.m

Winds will gradually subside late tonight as temperatures dip into the 20s.

SPRING RETURNS

After lows in the 20s tonight, sunshine will boost temperatures right back into the 40s tomorrow.

That will start a quick thaw, especially in the valleys. The Northeast Kingdom might see a delay to the warming as lingering clouds could  hold temperatures down.

At least the freeze the past couple of days will recharge the maple sugaring operations.

The good news is it will get pretty toasty for this time of year, with daily highs in the 40s and 50s through at least Friday, with lows mostly staying above freezing. That might feel nice for those shocked by the winter weather.

The bad news is it will get pretty toasty for this time of year, with daily highs in the..... yeah, same sentence as above. It's bad news because our vicious mud season will come roaring back. 

The melting snow, and the risk of showers late week and next weekend will make the mud bath on the back roads all that much worse. 

So, either enjoy the sun or or enjoy the mud, your choice. 

Will Those Pesky Clouds Finally Depart Today?

Skies were finally clearing over St. Albans, Vermont
this morning, and that clearing trend should spread
across the rest of the state today. 

 Today's the day when us Vermonters should finally see the sun after a long hiatus.

It's been overcast since Saturday, so I'm sure lots of you are beginning to wonder whether the sun would ever reappear. 

Although that sunshine should come sometime today, exactly when is the question. 

The Canadian province of Quebec, at least north of Montreal, basked in sunshine Tuesday and that drier air has been slowly trying to bleed southward across the International Border.

The dry air has been battling stubborn moisture in the lower levels of the atmosphere here in Vermont.  Forecasters think the battle will be won as the sun gets high enough into the sky late this morning to cause the atmosphere to mix. 

Drier air up above will start to dip down and skies will clear. 

It looks like northern areas will be the first to clear later this morning, and that process should head south through the state by early afternoon.

These overcast sieges happen in Vermont from time to time in the autumn, and it's often hard to predict when they will break up.  So don't be surprised if the clearing comes a little sooner or somewhat later in the day than forecast in any given location.

My bet is on an earlier clearing trend. At my place in St. Albans, not far from the Canadian border, skies cleared abruptly shortly after 8 a.m at least briefly, though patches of low clouds were moving back in. So it might be an uneven clearing trend as we go through the morning.   

Once we clear out, we should see a fair amount of sun until the weekend.  Do expect many areas of fog and overcast in the mornings, though, which is typical of this time of year.

A backdoor cold front is coming in Saturday, which might help to temporarily cloud us over.  It's called a backdoor cold front because it's coming in from the northeast, instead of the west or northwest like most cold fronts do.

The backdoor cold should bring a whoosh of more moist air off the Atlantic, so many of us could see some more fog and drizzle Saturday.  Another system might bring more clouds Sunday, but the upcoming weekend won't be nearly as dank and dreary as the past one. 

Nights in particular have been warm.  With the clearing skies, daytimes will now become warmer too, as temperatures push toward 70 degrees. With clearer skies at night, though, overnight lows will be cooler for the rest of the week, but not nearly cold enough to produce frost. 

The air coming with that backdoor cold front is only somewhat cooler than the air ahead of it, so it will still be relatively mild over the weekend, and the warm air will re-establish itself next week.

While we here in Vermont will remain warmer than normal at least through mid-month, there still are signs of impending winter, as you might expect. 

The western United States, which has been on the warm side too, will cool off big time and the first substantial snows of the season should hit the Rocky Mountains next week. 

It's already winter up in Alaska. Deadhorse, way up on the northern edge of that state, tied a record low for the date of 2 below zero yesterday.  Won't be that long before we see temperatures like that in Vermont.