Video: Finally, A Little Vermont Snow

Light snow begins to whiten up the winter landscape
in St. Albans, Vermont on December 11, 2022.

 The classic first big snowstorm of the season in Vermont plays out like this:

It had been cold for a few days, so things have frozen up. The ground is hard and frosty. Ice is forming on the edges of the brooks, and the ponds have a thin skim of ice.  

The blue sky turns milky, with a big rainbow ring around the sun. Then the clouds get lower, thicker, duller, and blot out the sun.  It's gloomy.

Then you notice the tops of the mountains get blurry and disappear. That blurriness descends down the slopes of the mountains until a few snowflakes start drifting down. 

Soon, the snow gets steadier and heavier. A dark, bare landscape finally starts to glow winter white.

Well, there was an attempt, anyway at the scenario in Vermont on Sunday. The snow ultimately didn't amount to much, but otherwise the scenario above pretty much played out. Without the end result of deep snow, but that's OK. 

Of course, I had to video at least part of the sequence.  The sky had already turned gloomy, and water in the brooks made their way past building ice. Jackson the Weather Dog sniffed at  the changed in the weather coming, and shook the first few snowflakes of the day off his coat.  

 The dark, cold, landscape gradually took on some white highlights in the light falling snow. The roads got a bit icy as cars, with Christmas trees strapped on the roof, returned from the cut your own tree farm up in Bakersfield. 

The video is a glimpse of winter's (somewhat reluctant) arrival.  But there is the chance of an even bigger storm toward the end of the week. We'll see.

If you don't see the image of the video below, click on this link to view. Otherwise, click on the image below to view the video of an attempt at bringing on the early part of winter in Vermont: 

Video: A Quiet Lake Champlain Prepares For Winter

The quietest time on Lake Champlain is now. The summer
is long gone, and winter activity is awaiting a nice 
freeze over. 

 This past Sunday, a day after a super windy day and the day before a sort of, kind of windy day, it was wonderfully calm.  

I happened to be working near Lake Champlain, in and around Swanton, Vermont.  

It was a terrific, quiet early December day in which the lake was clearly preparing itself for winter.  And of course I had to make a quick video.

It was pretty silent. The birds, the summer vacationers, the swimmers and the boaters were long gone.  The summer camps were all buttoned up for the winter. The only noise was the subtle splashing of a few ducks in the water.

Activity returns to the lake soon. This part of the lake freezes over pretty early.  Ice fishing enthusiast will soon take over with their shanties and snowmobiles and such.  Maybe a few ice skaters will glide through this part of the lake too, if the ice is smooth enough and not much snow falls. 

I's been on the mild side lately, so no ice yet.  But there were hints of what was to come. A little ice had formed on exposed rocks and branches that were hit by small waves when the wind was blowing a little the night before. 

Any ice out there is still fleeting. It'll stay mild for at least a few more days, so the winter people will have to wait awhile. For now, the lake is at its quietest, most somber time of year. 

If you can't see the video image below, click on this link to watch this peaceful video. Or, if you see the image below, click on it to view.