Southern Vermont Still Above Water, New York Hudson Valley Badly Flooded

A historic grist mill said to date back to the 1700s 
collapsed and was destroyed amid floodwaters
today in New York's Hudson Valley. A few towns
south of Albany had nearly a foot of rain. So far,
no serious flooding has been reported in 
Vermont and the threat of flooding is 
diminishing in the Green Mountain State.

So far, as of late this afternoon, the epicenter of the flooding in the Northeast is not quite here in Vermont, but close to it. If we get through this evening, southern Vermont will have dodged a bullet.  

Parts of New York's Hudson Valley, especially in and around the Albany Capitol District, is inundated after what some are calling one in one thousand year rainfall amounts.

Some of those rainfall amounts in New York are insane. Castleton-On-Hudson, south of Albany, had reported 11.47 inches of rain by 3:30 p.m. Nearby Kinderhook had 11.37 inches. Several other towns had five to nine inches of rain

As you'd imagine, several communities around Albany were under states of emergency today. Many roads are closed, buildings are damaged and cars submerged. 

Southern Vermont's rainfall has so far fallen just short of enough to cause serious flooding. If the epicenter of the torrential downpours was just 20 or 30 miles further east, we'd have a different story on our hands.

Still, some rainfall totals in the southern Green Mountains are impressive. West Dover had 5.55 inches. Stamford reported 4.94 inches and Pownall had 4.54 inches. 

The far southern Green Mountains still face a flood threat for the next several hours as a weird storm continues to wander through New England, pulling in tons of Atlantic moisture along the way. 

As of late this afternoon, radar images of the storm's rainfall starting to look a little like that of a wintertime nor'easter. On the far northwestern flank, a narrow band of downpours was moving westward in northwest New York, toward Lake Ontario.

A band of moderate rain was twirling northwestward through central and northern Vermont. I don't think we need to worry about that piece of rain. It'll just wet down some areas that still need rain.   Lighter showers were falling between those two bands.

The storm itself seemed to be centered in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts Ahead of it, another band of Berkshires. A narrow, but very potent line of torrential rain was pinwheeling northward, then northwestward across central Massachusetts and toward southern Vermont. 

A flood warning went up for far southern and southeastern Vermont at  4:47 p.m. today because of that heavy rain band. 

Whether the flooding will be serious or not depends on how well that  band holds together and whether it keeps aiming at southern parts of the Green Mountain State,  The rain band did appear to be fizzling somewhat as it entered Vermont. And it was showing signs of pushing east into New Hampshire.   There's an excellent chance Vermont will have escaped another destructive flood. 

Further north into south central Vermont, places like Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Weston, Mount Holly, and Killington, the flood threat hs gotten very low. It's still possible an area of downpours could create a local problem, but I'm not really holding my breath on that one. I think you're safe. 

The rain ended earlier today in northern Vermont. But more light showers will come in, thanks in part to that band of rain working north across the state. More showers will follow overnight. But amounts will range from a tenth of an inch far north to maybe a half inch or a little more in central Vermont. 

Phew! 

 

Fourth Year In A Row With Vermont Weather Trouble On July 9 or 10. Next Up, Pleasant, But Maybe Smoky, Then A Hot Flash

Torrential rains in St. Albans, Vermont during a strong
thunderstorm late Thursday afternoon. The same storm
 strengthened as it moved east, eventually causing
 substantial tree and power line damage
in the Northeast Kingdom. Flooding hit central Vermont

 It turns out we had weather trouble in Vermont around July 10 for the fourth  year in a row. 

The trouble hit a little early this year, on July 9, instead of July 10 like we saw in 2023, 2024 and 2025. But yesterday, we had flooding in and around Barre, and thunderstorm wind damage in the Northeast Kingdom. 

The core of the wind damage was in Lyndon and East Burke. Video showed numerous trees down along Route 114.  

Somebody in the video background suggests it was a tornado. Perhaps, but since all the trees appeared to fall in the same direction, at least as seen in the video clip, I suspect intense straight line winds.

Another batch of thunderstorms nearly stalled over central Vermont. It was enough to flood the streets of Barre, again. This was mostly poor drainage flooding and not quite as serious as in recent years. 

In Montpelier, nearly 2.5 inches of rain fell yesterday, including 1.75 inches within two hours. 

I guess we should be grateful over a trend line. The worst flooding hit statewide on July 10, 2023. In 2024, most of the destruction was across a broad band through central Vermont. In 2025, destructive flooding was limited to just parts of the Northeast Kingdom.  And yesterday, almost all of Vermont escaped unscathed, except in the Barre-Montpelier area and a small part of the Northeast Kingdom.

Even better, we're done with the rough weather for a little while, anyway. 

TODAY

It looks like the cold front as of 8 a.m this morning was draped across central Vermont, judging from a line of very light showers drifting southward.  The front is too weak to create any dangerous downpours or high winds. We'll have no major weather today. 

This morning started humid, but light north breezes will slowly dry the moisture out of the air. The sun will break through where it hasn't already, and we should make into the low 80s this afternoon.

WEEKEND

It's still looking like a terrific weekend if you love summer.  The humidity should remain low enough, and afternoon highs will reach the 80s under sunny skies. 

Dimmed sun, though. Smoke from wildfires in Quebec near James Bay will probably drift down into Vermont on those north winds. So the Green Mountains of Vermont might well be hidden by haze. I'm not sure whether we'd have enough smoke to trigger any air quality alerts. but we'll wait for more info on that.

NEXT WEEK

A heat dome is setting up in the western United States which will create record high temperatures in places like Montana and North Dakota, and other states.

A storm way up in central and northern Canada will pull a plume of that hot air eastward, arriving here Monday and Tuesday. The National Weather Service in South Burlington is calling it a "jailbreak heat," as it's escaping the heat dome where it originated. 

We should see highs near 90 on Monday and as high as the mid-90s Tuesday. Considering where the air is coming from, it will be pretty dry air.  The kind that doesn't feel quite as bad as most heat waves, but drains the moisture from your garden plants. You'll need to water.

The heat won't last long. If there's a northward bulge in the jet stream with the heat dome in the West, you need a southward dip in the jet stream in the East.

That will start to set up midweek. A cold front will come through Tuesday night or Wednesday. Probably with little fanfare. It won't get that cold, probably seasonably warm late in the week. 

As always, long range forecasts like that are subject to change. At least we have no scary storms or floods in our immediate future.

Gulf Coast Awash In Deep Floodwaters After Sputtering Tropical Storm Dumps Feet Of Rain, Tornadoes Won't Leave Illinois Alone

A badly flooded home in southern 
Mississippi last week. Photo via 
Facebook, Gulf Coast Severe
Weather and Tropics. 

If you think we've had enough of tornadoes and torrential rains here in Vermont, it could be worse. Much, much worse. 

The Gulf Coast states have been awash in extreme flooding after record rainfall. Illinois has endured a record number of tornadoes, and surrounding states are cowering under the severe weather. Let's take a look:

GULF COAST

A small, weak tropical storm led to extreme flooding in recent days that was anything but small and weak. 

The flooding began in Texas early last week as a disorganized system in the western Gulf of Mexico flung enormous amounts of moisture into the state's coastline.

By Wednesday, the system organized itself enough to be declared Tropical Storm Arthur, the first storm of the Atlantic hurricane sassoon. 

It reached top winds of only 45 mph and lived really less than a day as it came inland over the eastern Texas coast. But the remnants of the storm did what slow moving remains of tropical storms do: It released unbelievable amounts of rain, especially in southern Alabama and Mississippi

According to NBC, rain fell in parts of southern Louisiana and Mississippi at a rate of three inches per hours Thursday. For comparison, it normally takes about three weeks to accumulate three inches of rain during a summer month in Vermont. 

At least five people have died in the flooding that has extended from Texas to the Florida Panhandle. More than two feet of rain fell in Louisiana this week. Louisiana and Mississippi record more than a foot of rain in just 12 hours, which is insane. 

AccuWeather estimates Arthur and the flood before and after it formed would cause $4 to $6 billion in damage and economic losses through property and infrastructure damage, power outages, flight delays and business interruptions. 

The worst of the rain has ended in the Gulf Coast states. But sporadic heavy showers and thunderstorms will keep going this week. 

ILLINOIS

A large Illinois tornado yesterday. The state has had a
record number of tornadoes this year and there will
probably be more. Photo via Facebook from 
Storm Chaser Jaden Pappenheim

Illinois has seemingly become the tornado capitol of the United States. The state sees tornadoes every year, of course, given that it's in the Midwest. 

There were 35 reports of tornadoes in southeast Illinois and southern Indiana Sunday.

Through Sunday,  Illinois has had as many as 197 tornadoes  this year, and not all storm damage has been assessed yet to determine whether additional tornadoes have touched down. This breaks the record for the most Illinois tornadoes in a single year. The previous record was 142 two years ago. 

No other state has had as many tornadoes this year as Illinois. This might be yet another sign that tornado alley is drifting from the central and southern Plains to points east and north. As noted, bad tornadoes have hit Illinois in the past, but they do seem to becoming more frequent there, and in northern states like Ohio and Michigan. 

Sunday's tornadoes included one powerful twister that killed two people in Jefferson County, Illinois. 

After something of a break over the next couple of days, the weather setup suggests another severe weather and possible tornado outbreak 

Videos

NBC gives a good overview of the Gulf Coast flooding here. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

View of the deadly tornado in southern Illinois Sunday. It was one of up to three dozen twisters in the Midwest. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that.  

Likely Woodstock, Vermont Tornado To Be Investigated Today, More Inclement, But Not Violent Weather Due

Trees ripped apart on a Woodstock, Vermont hillside
after a likely tornado hit on Thursday. 
Photo from WCAX via Facebook

 Thanks to the fact that everyone has a camera and local TV stations are pretty aggressive when it comes to covering rare, violent weather in Vermont, we're now pretty confident that whatever hit Woodstock, Vermont yesterday was probably a tornado. 

Drone video from Henry's Weather Service shows trees snapped off halfway up, and many other trees felled in varying directions, which are telltale signs of a tornado. 

Video obtained from Tiffany LaRocque taken from inside Mountain Creamery in Woodstock shows intense winds and rain on the edge of the tornado. Trees were falling and the parking lot was full of vehicles as people traveling along Route 4 took refuge there as driving conditions became impossible. 

About 100 people were affected by the probably tornado on the western side of town, WPTZ reports. Thankfully, we have no reports of injuries, which is pleasantly surprising, given how much traffic there usually is on Route 4 where the probably tornado crossed. 

The tornado missed the historic central village of Woodstock, which is a world-renowned tourist hub. Initial reports indicate only minor tree damage in the village center. 

Reports are that National Weather Service meteorologists from South Burlington will head to Woodstock, probably today, to confirm whether this was a tornado.  If that analysis happens, we'll learn how strong the tornado was and how long and wide the path was.

Judging from the drone video, the path of the tornado looked a little longer than most Vermont tornadoes. Twisters in the Green Mountain State tend to touch down and lift almost immediately. 

I'm not sure on the strength of the tornado, but judging from photos and that drone video, I'd say it was an EF-1, which would mean winds of 86 to 110 mph. 

Once the National Weather Service offers a report on the Woodstock storm, I'll write up a new post with the updates.

Heading east from Woodstock, there was additional severe damage. In Quechee, Vermont, a row of large willow trees on a golf course fell. They all went down in the same direction, suggesting straight line wind damage. 

There was also extensive damage in Hartford, Vermont, where a lot of trees fell. 

Nearly 4,000 Vermont homes and businesses were still without power this morning, mostly in southeastern Vermont. Londonderry had 1,100 of those outages, suggesting something nasty rolled through that town yesterday. 

This morning, other trouble spots popped up in northern Vermont, near the Canadian border. The Barton River at Coventry and the Missisquoi river near North Troy were at minor flood stage. Heavy rains yesterday fell atop soils soaked by very heavy rains that hit up there on Sunday. 

We had reports of a lot of street flooding Thursday in Newport and Middlebury. Probably other towns experienced that, too. 

Rainfall was quite heavy in many spots. Burlington had 1.11 inches of rain. My unofficial rain gauge in St. Albans collected 1.54 inches. A full report on how much rain fell in specific towns will become available later this morning. 

WHAT'S AHEAD?

Thankfully, we're done with the violent weather at least for awhile, but conditions will be unsettled and wet at times. Northern Vermont in particular is in for some showery weather this weekend. 

The out of season, strong low pressure system that gave Vermont the rough weather yesterday is meandering through Quebec. It's rotating little disturbances through here and will continue to do so through the weekend. 

That means frequent bursts of rain,  especially north. Total rainfall through Sunday night will be near an inch over the northern Green Mountains. In most valley towns north of Route 2,  a half to three quarters of an inch will come down between now and Monday morning.   

The rainfall will taper to a quarter inch in central Vermont and less than a tenth of an inch in far southeast Vermont. A  few garden variety thunderstorms and downpours will probably mix in, so a few towns will get more rain than the rest of Vermont as a result. 

A few daily details: 

Today

Mostly cloudy and breezy with west to southwest winds gusting to 25 or 20 mph. Most of the afternoon showers and garden variety thunderstorms this afternoon and evening will be north of Route 2, but some will drift into central Vermont by very late afternoon or the first half of tonight. A few storms might have briefly heavy downpours, but not enough to cause any flooding or anything like that. 

Highs should reach the low and mid 70s in most valleys

Saturday

Probably the worst day of the bunch. Northern areas will see very little sun and frequent showers. Southern valleys will see some sun, but also a risk of a shower. It will be quite cool for the season with highs in the 60s north, with low to mid 70s southern valley floors. 

Hikers should be aware that summits will be wet and cold tomorrow with wind chills in the 40s. If you insist on hiking, it won't be a summertime activity. Dress accordingly. 

Sunday

More showers and garden variety thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon and evening. Highs in the low 70s, give or take. 

 

Storms In Hawaii Cause Widespread Flooding, Other Havoc. Worst In Years

Torrential rains in Hawaii made this house
slide down into a raging river as a 
long lasting, severe storm rakes the
islands. Photo via Facebook, 
Dillon Mitchell 

A week long storm is easing - but not quite done - as Hawaii once again reels from widespread flooding, wind damage and landslides. This storm was the worst in a series. 

As Forbes reports:

"Governor Josh Green declared a state of emergency as the week-long onslaught of rainfall, landslides and infrastructure damage continued into the weekend."

Forbes continued: 

"'Maui got it even worse and locals describe that the whole island feels like it is underwater,; wrote his Dodds in Surfer. He continued: 'The steep slopes around Haleakala turned into walls of mud, rock and debris moving at terrifying speed. Some are calling it the worst rainstorm in the island's modern history.'"

Rainfall amounts were incredible. A site in Maui recorded a five-day total of 44.37 inches of rain. Other sites on Maui had 25 to 35 inches of rain over those five days. 

On the big island of Hawaii, Mauna Loa had 25.45 inches of rain in five days with other sites on the Big Island coming in with over 20 inches. A few locations on Kauai and Oahu reported nearly 20 inches of rain over that five-day period. 

Those rainfall amounts were even greater than forecasts, which were themselves ominous. 

On Maui, roads became rivers, with vehicles floating in them like leaves in a stream. In one neighborhood, a large storage container joined the vehicles that had floated downstream. Tourists could not cross the rushing water on the streets to make it back to their condos. It was too dangerous. 

 Power outages have kept coming in recent days even as crews have worked in the storms to restore power. More than 120,000 Hawaiian homes and businesses were without power Friday. That number was at around 114,000 on Saturday. 

More than 100,000 Hawaiians were without power Saturday. 

The Hawaii Department of Transportation reported parts of numerous roads closed due to the heavy rain and flooding

In Waikiki, news video showed high winds and sheets of heavy rain, making the streets look like they were enduring an approaching hurricane. Streets and sidewalks were louder water. In a luxury shopping district, an enormous tree collapsed in the storm, blocking most lanes of a wide, busy avenue. 

Nearly an hours's drive from Waikiki on Oahu's North Shore, things were even worse. Major roads, fields,s, and even a major beach access were under muddy water because of the relentless rain 

Video from Maui showed a house collapsing into a swollen river. Sections of roads have collapsed, some taking cars and SUVs with them.  

On the Big Island, Kilauea volcano complicated things further. Just before the storm, an eruption created a rain of tephra (chunks of lightweight lava, debris and ash) on areas surround the volcano. That's the second time this winter such an event happened, and this one was more extensive than a tephra fall back in January.  In some places six inches of tephra accumulated.

Cleaning up that mess was complicated by the heavy rains. And I imagine the tephra clogged ditches and brooks somewhat, which would exacerbate flooding. 

If this post sounds kind of familiar, it's because we reported on another destructive storm back on  February 11.  It's been an incredibly rainy, windy winter in Hawaii

As I earlier noted, the storm over the past few days far outdid and out-damaged all the other previous storms this winter.   

Some of the storm's origins came from as far as the southwestern United States. The building heat wave and strong dry high pressure is causing a blockage in the atmosphere, allowing a train of storms to blast through the Hawaiian Islands. 

The principal storm was know as a Kona Low, which frequently occur in Hawaii during the winter. Usually winds in Hawaii blow from the east. A Kona Low forms when winds shift to the west or southwest, bringing much more humid air from the tropics. 

Because of the usual trade winds, the wettest parts of Hawaii are on the north and east side of the islands. South and west sides are actually pretty dry. The Kona storms, with their high humidity and southwest winds, can drown the the drier parts of the island. 

The storm is easing as to today. Instead of wet southwest winds, or the usual east to northeast trade winds, the breezes are slackening to near calm. That'll keep showers going all week across the islands. There's the risk of yet another Kona storm towar

 

False Spring Is Over In Vermont After A Weird Wednesday, Welcome Back To Winter. And March Winds

The loss of snow uncovered this messy look in one of my
perennial gardens, but it's too muddy to clean  up yet.
And now the weather will be too stormy and wintry
over the next week to do anything about it.
Patience is a virtue during early spring in Vermont

It's kind of windy and chilly out there this morning, and gray, with a few showers around. False spring is definitely over. 

Before we get into what's happening next, we have to talk about how weird yesterday's temperature were. 

In the morning, it took time for northern areas to warm up after that intrusion of chilly air that actually caused an ice storm up in southern Quebec  

At 9 a.m. it was 49 degrees in Rutland, with thunderstorms approaching. A short distance away in Middlebury it was just 32 degrees. 

As we went through the day Wednesday, the temperature ranges expanded. At 1 p.m., readings ranged from 36 degrees in Highgate to 63 in Bennington. Meanwhile, freezing rain continued all day up in Montreal. 

Then it got really weird.

 Last night, a tongue of very warm air was able to head up through western Vermont. Highs reached 69 in Bennington and 63 degrees in Burlington after dark. .

The warm air lingered in Vermont until a little after midnight. It was still 63 degrees in Burlington at about 1 a.m., which means even though today is chilly, we still tied the record high for the date. Meanwhile, while it was in the 60s across northern Vermont very early this morning,  it was still just 30 degrees with lingering freezing rain not so far away in Montreal. 

The warm air never really made it into eastern Vermont, either. It mostly stayed in the 40s there.

Rivers this morning are still running high after all that snowmelt and rain. Though the rain was mostly a little less than expected, which is good.  There could be some low lying roads under water today. If you see that, don't drive through it. Please turn around and find another way around. Nobody needs to be fishing you out of an inundated car today. There's enough problems out there as it is.

BACK TO REALITY

At 4 a.m. today in Bennington, it was still 65 degrees. By 9 a.m., it was 36 degrees and snowing.  Except for a brief warm excursion we might see on Monday, winter weather is back and will prevail for more than a week. 

It won't be the intense below zero cold we saw in early February. It's getting  late in the season for that. But spring weather can't last forever this time of year!  

Expect a lot of breezy to windy weather, too. The March reputation for wind is no myth. The burgeoning forces of spring compete with the lingering claws of winter, and that creates a lot of tight temperature contrasts and storms. 

Hence winds.

An unbelievably huge area of the northern United States was under a high wind warning this morning. Those high wind warnings extended from Washington State all the way to Minnesota and Iowa. Slightly lower level wind advisories ran further east into Pennsylvania and New York. 

For us in Vermont, we won't get the worst of the winds, but you'll feel the chill from the gusts those winds create. Temperatures with those gusty winds should stay in the 30s today. 

THE NEXT STORM

A storm coming in from the west is set to give us a mostly light snowfall Friday night into Saturday. Low elevations will get near to a little above freezing during this episode, so a lot of valleys might only get an inch of snow, or even a bit less. The Green Mountain chain can expect a few inches. 

It'll be kind of windy from the south ahead of the storm Friday and kind of windy from the west after th storm Saturday. 

A BIGGER STORM

A much larger storm is due Sunday and Monday. It's still forecast to develop in the central Plains Sunday and get stronger fast as it eventually moves northward through the eastern Great Lakes. 

For us, the early guess is some snow will develop Sunday then turn into a mix and then rain overnight Sunday. Specifics on ice, how much and when aren't quite available yet.

This storm is, however, going to be a windbag and another opportunity to have wild swings in temperatures. Strong south winds look like they'll boost us at least into the 50s and maybe low 60s amid the rain showers Monday.

Then, strong north winds will plunge us into the 20s by Tuesday, with some snow showers. 

I'll have more specifics on this storm in a couple days, as it could be a bit of a humdinger. 

Vermont River Ice Breaking Up Amid Mild Spell, Still Questions About Wednesday

An ice jam on the Mad River in Moretown, Vermont
Sunday. More ice jams are possible on other rivers the
next couple of days amid warm weather. Photo
via Facebook/Patrick Quimby

After the mild temperatures Saturday and continued balmy weather Sunday, at least for the season, the ice on our Vermont rivers is breaking up, sometimes dramatically. 

There were and are some ice jams around the region, and that state of affairs should continue the next few days as the weather stays warm. 

So far, flooding from the ice jams has been pretty minor. 

The worst ones so far is are along the Mad River in Waitsfield and Moretown..  Water behind the jam in Waitsfield rose several feet in minutes. 

The ice also re-routed the Mad River through a parking lot in town. So far, there's been no major damage and the jam is of course being monitored.

At last report, there was another ice jam along the Mad River downstream in Moretown. If the Waitsfield jam breaks abruptly, the added surge of water and ice could cause some flooding in Moretown.

An ice jam broke up along the Missisquoi River around Richford which sent a surge downstream. That flooded and closed the end of Boston Post Road in Enosburg. That spot is a perennial lowland flooding area. 

Also, a mudslide closed part of National Guard Road in South Burlington Saturday, but the road has since reopened.  

Warm weather today and tomorrow will keep thawing the rivers, and more ice jams are a good possibility, which could lead to scattered instances of flooding. Otherwise, the snow is melting rapidly and rivers have risen.  The snow depth near the top of Mount Mansfield went from 81 inches Friday to 67 inches Sunday, so you can see it's disappearing fast. 

Other than the ice jams, no flooding is expected today and tomorrow, though water levels will be up somewhat. We'll have to watch for at least minor flooding   Wednesday, depending on what a storm does then. More on that in a minute. 

MARCH WARMTH

Temperatures got into the mid-50s in most Vermont valleys Sunday, which was a little above forecast. That makes me wonder if today and tomorrow might get a little warmer than forecast, too. Rather than 50s, I think many valleys might reach the low 60s today. 

 There might be a couple record highs here and there in and near Vermont today and/or tomorrow, but most places will fall short of those records. The record high today in Burlington is 70 degrees, which is higher than most records this time of year. It won't get that warm today.  Burlington has a slim shot of reaching tomorrow's record high of 63 degrees.

Even if there are no record highs, the high temperatures over the next two days are normal for late April, so enjoy it while you can.   

Today will be breezy, especially in the Champlain Valley. A warm front passing by to our north was creating showers near and west of Montreal, but the only effect we'll have in Vermont is a few clouds. 

It still looks as if tomorrow might be a couple degrees cooler than today in the north, especially in the northern Champlain Valley, but it will still get into the 50s there. Elsewhere, it looks like more low to even mid 60s, with lighter winds and sunshine. 

Which leads us to what is still our mystery storm for Wednesday

WEDNESDAY QUESTIONS

The computer models have gotten their act together a little bit more with the projected path of a storm and cold front Wednesday and Thursday. The storm should pass close to or over northwest Vermont

The trouble is there will be a very tight temperature range from one side of the storm to the other. Just to its northwest, it could be cold enough for some freezing rain. Just the storm's southeast, it'll be near 60 degrees.

At this point, it looks like southern Vermont is in for some rain, with only a little snow at the tail end Thursday after the cold front goes through. 

Central and northern Vermont, especially the northern Champlain Valley, are still solidly in question mark territory. These areas could still end up experiencing just rain until the very end when there would be a brief changeover to snow before everything ends.

Or, the storm could feature partly or mostly mixed precipitation.  I'm hoping we know more tomorrow. 

The rain, especially if it's still warm, could produce some river flooding Wednesday and Wednesday night.  So whatever happens, there's going to be some hazard to deal with. 

BEYOND WEDNESDAY

Starting Thursday, the warm weather will disappear, and not come back for a long time. There might be a warmish day thrown in here and there over the next two weeks starting Thursday, but most days will be at least seasonably chilly. 

It'll be an active pattern, too. A small storm looks to come through Friday night and Saturday with some snow, maybe mixed with a little rain. Then, a larger storm is then possible next Sunday and Momday. 

 

Signals for unusual warmth, which could result in localized record
highs on Monday and Tuesday, continue. On Monday the warmth looks
pronounced across our area, and then primarily in central and
southern portions of Vermont and the Adirondacks on Tuesday as
slightly cooler air filters in from the north. As far as actual
temperature forecasts, will note there may be too much of a bias
correction with the cold conditions we`ve had over the last couple
of months. Some of the statistical guidance shows more widespread
low to mid 60 high temperatures than the current forecast indicates
for tomorrow; coupled with some of the dynamical models, greatest
confidence in these warmest conditions are in the southern portions
of the Champlain Valley and Upper Valley in Vermont.

Minor Storm Brought Vermont Road Issues, More Ice To Come Then Huge "False Spring"

From Facebook. Things got snarled up in the snow
yesterday in far southern Vermont. I believe this is
Route 9 in Searsburg. 

Our little storm last night wasn't really that bad or memorable, but it proved it doesn't take much to make a mess. 

Yesterday afternoon, it looks like they had to shut down Route 9 over the mountains between Bennington and Brattleboro because road conditions got so bad so quickly. The roads were pretty awful across southern Vermont during the afternoon commute. 

The snow abruptly came into Burlington last evening. Reports were it was slow going on Interstate 89, not so much because he road was slippery, but because the large snowflakes, blowing erratically in the wind, annoyingly made visibility terrible. 

This morning, Interstate 89 around Milton was seriously backed up due to a crash or crashes, presumably in part because there was lingering slush on the roads. It must have been frustrating with stuck there, with the warm March sunshine streaming through windshields and water from melting snow trickling pass car tires just sitting there in the traffic jam. 

Nice morning today, but Vermont AOT web cam showed
traffic really backed up on Interstate 89 in Milton,
possibly partly due to lingering slush on the
road from last night's burst of snow. 

I don't have much in the way of snowfall reports, but judging from traffic cameras, the expected one to three inches fell, with perhaps locally more in some high elevations. 

Burlington has 1.3 inches. Far northern Vermont missed out, as expected. I only had 0.2 inches here in St. Albans, which had already largely disappeared in the morning sunshine. 

We'll have one more wintry bump in the road before we get the big thaw this weekend that will be our false spring.  I define false spring as the first spell of balmy weather,  usually in late February or March, before winter weather returns. 

Let's get into the daily forecast. There's been a few changes since we last checked in with this yesterday. 

TODAY

Despite what all those people stuck on Interstate 89 thought this morning, today will truly be a nice one. The sun had returned, or was in the process of return, by around 8:30 or so today.

Maple sugar makers might get a decent run today as highs get into the low or even mid 40s. We'll have a fair amount of sunshine as well. 

THURSDAY 

We have some changes to the forecast, mostly in the Champlain Valley. That cold high pressure in Quebec we've been talking about will be taking hold. It looks like the high pressure might be a tad further south in Quebec than first thought. That means  chilly low level air will start to bleed down into the valley. Instead of highs in the low 40s that had been forecast, it'll barely make it to 32 degrees.

The cold air will have trouble making it east of the Greens, so places like Montpelier and St. Johnsbury should still make it at least into the upper 30s. Southern Vermont still looks like they'll see another sap run day with highs passing 40 degrees.

THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY

The fact that the cold air from Quebec is asserting itself a little more is a problem. The next weather disturbance coming along will run into that shallow layer of cold air settling into northern New England while warm air flows in aloft.

There's are classic recipe for freezing rain and sleet. I'm seeing varying scenarios as to how much we'll get. At the moment, it does't look like the icy stuff won't come down hard, but you need just a teeny tiny bit to make things miserable. After hacking the ice off your car to get in, you next need to deal with very slick roads. 

I think the trees and power lines are safe, though. It doesn't look like we'll have enough ice to cause that kind of damage. 

Thursday evening's commute is safe, as we won't have anything worse than thickening clouds then. But Friday morning could be a real mess. 

A couple other things could happen, one of which would help. It's possible the cold high pressure will get so strong that it could deflect all precipitation away from some areas north of Route 2. That' scenario is unlikely, but it's one that I'd love to see. 

The other one is that the warm aloft might erode and turn colder. That, in turn would change precipitation to snow for a time Friday morning. Snow is at least a little better than freezing rain. This scenario is slightly more likely, but not definite. 

By Friday afternoon, temperatures should crawl back above freezing. It looks like the day will just be cloudy, raw and damp. 

FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY

The next wave of rain will arrive Friday night. Or freezing rain, unfortunately. It still might be cold enough east of the Green Mountains for some ice. Increasing south winds west of the Greens should keep things just wet.

Temperatures should rocket upward Saturday afternoon so that it could get into the 50s in some areas. Dew points, a measure of how humid it is, will get into the 40s. That's pretty high for this time of year. 

Snow melts faster with higher humidity, so we might start getting into trouble Saturday and Saturday evening with ice breaking up on rivers, so we'll need to keep an eye on that. One bright spot is the it looks like the rain will be mostly light and sort of on and off. It won't add much to the runoff.

SUNDAY AND BEYOND

It still looks like decidedly springlike weather looks like it's on the way. Sunday looks slightly cooler and definitely less humid than Saturday, so that will probably temporarily slow the melt runoff into the rivers. 

But Monday, Tuesday and possibly Wednesday look interesting. A summer-like Bermuda high will set up, bringing us temperatures that will possibly threaten record highs. And once again bring high humidity for this time of year which just eats up snow. ]\

Whatever snow is left in the valleys will melt super fast, and many low elevations that are now deep in snow will be looking at bare ground by next week. 

Some preliminary data suggests some area rivers might go over their banks, and we'll still have the risks of ice jams. which of course can cause flooding if they dam up rivers in the wrong spots.

Early guesses are we'll go back to wintry reality by the end of next week. Of course, cold snaps tend to start losing their bite this time of year. By no means do I expect any subzero cold to return. Instead, just the usual March schmutz.

Some Of The Best Videos To Come Out Of The Blizzard Of ' 26

Blizzard aftermath in Fall River, Massachusetts. This
city reported the most snow out of the storm - 41 inches. 

The Blizzard of '26 was certainly one of the most photogenic storms we've had. 

The blinding snow, the coastal flooding and the immense effort to clean it all up made for some good visuals.  

There is of course TONS of videos taken in the storm. I'm sure I missed some really good ones But I found some dramatic and cool videos too.

We have some of them here. 

Here's how New York City looked. I'll never understand why New Yorkers try to use umbrellas in blizzards. Anyway, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

As always, videographer John Petramala went out into the storm, hanging out amid the whiteouts, waves and storm tides of Scituate, Massachusetts. Toward the end of the video, I'm not sure what's up with the driver of the white car, but JEEZ! Again, click on this link to view or if you see it, click on the image below. 

One man's experience battling the blizzard from his home in Rhode Island. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that.  

News report from Sandwich, Massachusetts on Cape Cod give you an idea of just how extreme the blizzard was.  Click on this link

We have more of the obligatory nor'easter ocean waves crashing onto Scituate, Massachusetts houses, and also the whiteout conditions on local highways, and stuck cars. Click on this link to view or if you see the image below, click on that.

Really cool mostly drone video by Aaron Rigby of people in Providence, Rhode Island neighborhoods trying to dig out from the city's biggest snowstorm on record, the day after the snow ended. You can see  some side streets hadn't been touched by city plows yet. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

In Herbert Von King Park in Brooklyn, New York, area residents turned the open space into a snow sculpture park. It appears dozens of them are there. There's even an igloo where the television reporter conducted part of her interview. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Peaceful Tropical Vacations Blasted By Wild Hawaiian Storm

So much for peaceful, tropical vacation.

Damage in Hawaii from an intense storm
that hit over the weekend and Monday. Image
from Hawaii News Now/Facebook

Residents and vacationers alike in Hawaii last weekend and early this week endured a storm that packed winds as high as 70 mph and dumped up to 30 inches of rain in at least one spot. 

As AccuWeather tells us:

"Winds gusted over 70 mph on the islands of Maui and Molokai, with gusts over 60 mph on Oahu, Lanai and the Big Island. Rainfall amounts exceeded 30 inches at Laupahoehoe on the Big Island, with 23.22 inches at Waikamoi on Maui." 

Needless to say, there were lots of power outages, along with property damage, torn away roofs  and flooding on the islands.

The storms brought widespread problems to Honolulu. "The Honolulu Fire Department reports that since Saturday, they responded to nearly 100 calls, with 60 of them for downed tres, 22 for blown roofs and 1 for downed power lines," Hawaii News Now reports. 

An apartment building was one of the structures that lost its roof. That incident displaced 12 people. Elsewhere in Honolulu, video captured winds tearing the roof off of a house. Luckily, the house was vacant, so nobody was hurt or displaced.  

In Manoa, near Honolulu, residents said downslope winds were "far, far worse" than a hurricane. In immense, ancient tree in one neighborhood was uprooted.

Elsewhere, a large landslide shut down a major highway on Maui .

A storm south of Hawaii and high pressure north of the islands created an atmospheric squeeze play that created the strong winds. 

The storm began in earnest Sunday and continued Monday. The state of Hawaii basically shut down as schools, the courts, libraries and many businesses closed. The State Legislature opted not to meet on Monday.

Tourists had to hunker down, too as parks camping areas, zoos, botanical gardens and other attractions all shut down. 

The storm had eased by Tuesday so most offices and businesses were reopening.  Breezy, unsettled weather will continue in the Hawaiian islands for at least the next week or so, but no more extremes seem to be in the islands' immediate future. 

Video:

News account of the strong winds and damage on Oahu. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

 

Juneau, Alaska, Buried In December Snow, Now Faces Rain, Flooding, Avalanches

A bus makes its way through a flooded street in 
Juneau, Alaska. After unprecedented snows, it's
been raining in Juneau, causing flooding, 
avalanches and other trouble in the 
weather-beleaguered city

In December, Juneau, Alaska was buried under more than 80 inches of snow, capsizing boats in the harbor, caving in roofs and blocking streets. 

Now, after some more snow, it's raining up there in Juneau. Now we have an even bigger mess.

Juneau sometimes gets heavy snow and downpours of rain during the winter as storms and atmospheric rivers come in off the Pacific Ocean. 

But the extremes of the past few weeks is totally off the charts compared to what Juneau has experience in the past 

"These are unprecedented times," said Aaron Jacobs, the senior hydrologist at the National Weather Service office in Juneau.  "The amount of snowpack that we are seeing on the ground at the airport, and then this massive warm-up we're seeing, really hasn't been seen in the climate records."

After four additional inches of snow fell on Juneau Friday, the precipitation switched over to rain. The city received 1.58 inches of precipitation that day. Areas around Juneau receive up to eight inches of snow and two inches of rain.  

On Friday and over this weekend, the rain/snow line crept up the steep slopes of the mountains. The higher up the slopes the rain gets, the greater the avalanche risk.

As KTOO reported:

"John Bressette, the city's new avalanche advisor, said multiple avalanches happened on Mount Juneau on known slide paths including White Pass, Chop Gully near Flume Train and above Behrends Avenue. He said he doesn't know exactly how many occurred, but that it's somewhere in the double-digits." 

People in avalanche prone areas in and near Juneau were urged to be ready to leave at the drop of a hat due to the avalanche worries. 

An emergency warming shelter was moved from a converted warehouse to an elementary school Friday due to the avalanche risk. By Sunday, emergency managers deemed that the avalanche risk had diminished, so they moved the shelter back to the warehouse.  There could be avalanches in that areas, but they wouldn't be strong enough to reach the shelter. 

Some avalanches did crash down the steep slopes above Juneau, but none hit populated areas. 

The shelters are open in large part because the weight of the snow, plus the rain water soaking into that snow, is threatening the stability of many roofs in and around Juneau. 

About sixty people were on the roof of the Bartlett Regional Hospital Saturday trying to remove snow because roof loads were nearing capacity, reports KTOO.

The snow-clogged storm drains and ditches in Juneau were no match for the rain and the snow melt. Streets flooded, and water began to seep into basements across the city. 

Another rain storm was set to hit Juneau and the rest of southeast Alaska last night and this morning. A more powerful storm set to hit Tuesday night has prompted a flood watch for southeast Alaska, especially south of Juneau. To add insult to injury, a  high wind watch is also up for Tuesday night and Wednesday for pretty much the entire Alaska Panhandle. 

Video: An avalanche is seen crashing down a steep slope in Juneau on Friday. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

 

West Coast King Tides Causing Floods And Aggravation This Weekend

King Tide flooding in Marin County
Friday. The flooding was expected to
be as bad or worse today.

 King Tides are swamping parts of the West Coast this weekend. 

Coastal flood warning and advisories and beach hazard statements are in effect up today all the way up and down the West Coast.

King Tides are related to this weekend's full moon, known as the Wolf Moon, after the howl of wolves you might hear on cold January nights. 

The Wolf Moon is also a super moon, meaning the full moon is closer to the Earth than at other times of the year. The full moon and the fact that Earth's orbit is now closest to the sun are making high tides even higher this weekend. The sun, Earth and moon are all aligned, adding to the extra water on the shorelines at height tide.   

On the West Coast, an offshore storm is driving wind and water toward the beaches, marinas and bays in California, Oregon and Washington, which adds a storm surge to the king tides. This double whammy is what has so many people concerned.

The National Weather Service office in the Bay Area issued a coastal flood warning for today with the following alert:

"Numerous roads will be closed. Low lying property including homes, businesses and some critical infrastructure will be inundated. Some shoreline erosion will occur."

At the San Francisco tidal gauge, forecasters said this morning's high tide would be 2.5 above normal, the highest since 1998

The tide fell just short of that on Friday in San Francisco, peaking at 2.2 feet above normal. That flooded streets and some businesses in the Bay Area. 

The Corte Madera area of Marin County was especially hard hit by Friday's King Tide. And presumably today's. High tide was approaching as I wrote this.

Employees of a fitness center surrounded by water were seen trying to bail out the business with buckets. Cars in the fitness center's parking lot were flooded and stranded. Television station KTVU showed a neighborhood flooded by the king tide Friday. 

The offshore storm is creating other headaches in the Bay Area, including gusty winds and heavy downpours which could cause some non-tidal flooding.  The high tides are blocking rain swollen rivers where they empty into the Pacific, adding to the flooding hazards. 

In the Los Angeles area, a large sand burn was bulldozed into place in hopes of preventing flooding in parking areas, the pier, homes and buildings nearby, as KTLA reports. 

As KPBS in San Diego points out, this weekend's king tides are giving Californians a glimpse into the future. "What the California Coastal Commission is telling us is that the King Tide is approximately what an average high tie will be by 2050," said Karin Kirk, executive director of Friends of Rose Creek. 

The East Coast is not being as seriously affected by this weekend's King Tides.  Weather patterns are keeping the worst of the tides at bay. 

But this episode is a warning to all coastal areas. The water will keep coming up in the years and decades to come as climate change continues to raise sea levels. 

In a few decades, the high water on the West Coast will seem quaint. Maybe it's time for people living right on the water to start pulling back, hard as that is to do.  

 

California Endures Storms Again Today, But It's Finally Ending

A home buried in mud and rocks after a
debris flow in Wrightwood, California
Widespread storms and atmospheric
rivers have plagued California
for more than a week now 

The giant storm in California is starting to ease today, after causing days of havoc from the Oregon border all the way down to Mexico. 

The storms targeting southern California over the Christmas holiday have so far claimed at least three lives. 

Another person died in San Diego when a large tree branch fell on him, reported television station KGTV.  At least 90 trees fell across the city of San Diego. 

Videos are at the bottom of this post. 

A number of people were plucked from flooded cars on streets and highway throughout southern California. 

One of the hardest hit areas is the community of Wrightwood in the San Gabriel Mountains, where several homes were buried under several feet of mud, notes KTLA.

Video showed some houses with four feet of rocks and mud inside them. Cars were buried halfway up their windows Two people died and six others were injured on a wet freeway..

Downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday received 2.53 inches of rain, which is a bit more than what normally falls in the entire month of December. Other totals from just December 24 include 3.96 in Woodland Hills and 3.39 in Burbank. 

Before the storms hit the L.A area, the atmospheric rivers targeted northern California. Redding, California was probably the hardest hit. The city had 5.3 inches of rain from December 16 to 22, with much more in the higher elevations nearby. 

A 74-year old man died when he drove around barricades and got swept up in the flooding. 

High winds also tore through the Golden State. 

 Santa Cruz Harbor reported a gust to 91 mph. Several boats were not surprisingly damaged. Likely not a tornado, say NWS. Pablo Point, about 20 miles northwest of San Francisco reported a gust to 108 mph. 

About 125,000 people lost power in central and northern California over the Christmas holiday.  

Heavy snow has been falling in the Sierra Nevada range, with some places clocking in with several feet of snow.

Interstate 80 through Donner Summit was impassable at times over the holiday as vehicles got stuck, crashed or spun out. 

 Rain continues in southern California today, though it's not coming down as heavily as it did Wednesday and Thursday. But now that the ground is sodden from the storms, so the somewhat lighter rain could really set off more debris flows and mudslides. Los Angeles itself could get another one to two inches of rain today. The mountains could get another three inches. 

After that, practically no rain is expected in California until later Wednesday or Thursday. 

Videos:

A scary tour of flooded Redding, California on December 21. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Next video shows a motorist stupidly driving into fast flowing water and getting swept away. So what does the next car do when they see this? Drive into the fast flowing water and get swept away. People are dumb. They were both eventually rescued, by the way. This was in Palmdale, California. Click on this link to view, as always, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Aftermath of the huge debris flow in Wrightwood, California. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Deadly Atmospheric Rivers Swamp West Coast From British Columbian To Oregon, Now Targeting California

As rain began in San Francisco
Saturday it was already chaos
A power blackout meant many
driverless Waymo taxis stalled 
in intersections because they
didn't know what to do with
traffic signals that weren't working. 

After trashing British Columbia, Washington, and eventually Oregon this month, atmospheric rivers continue to harass the West Coast, and now the main target has shifted to California. 

The storms have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in the Pacific Northwest. The wind energy from these storms has spread further damage from Idaho to New England. 

By the time we're done with these storms after Christmas. the entire area from north of Vancouver, British Columbia to San Diego, California will have been soaked and flooded and blasted. . 

I think this has turned out to be the nation's latest disasters costing $1 billion or more. And the damage will keep adding up. 

Let's take stock of what has already happened, and what we're bracing for, moving north to south. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA

The storms this month have caused a lot of power outages and flooding in British Columbia. Hundred of thousands of people lost electricity as surges of powerful winds blew through on several occasions in mid-December.

Ironically, drought in recent years has made the storms more damaging in British Columbia. Trees are weakened and damaged from the drought, making them more likely to snap and blow over in storms. 

Flooding hit British Columbia's Fraser Valley, damaging hundreds of homes   The Noosack River, which crossed into British Columbia from Washington, caused much of the flooding. 

Chilliwack, British Columbia had about 15 inches of rain between December 9 and 15, causing plenty of flooding and some landslides around the city, which is not far north of the border with Washington State. 

Power has not yet been 100 percent restored in British Columbia and some roads and highways remain closed due to flooding, washouts and mudslides. 

WASHINGTON

The last big atmospheric river surge finished crashing through Washington this past Tuesday into Wednesday with another gush of downpours and an even bigger gush of wind, as we noted the other day. 

Since then, the downpours have mostly devolved into the usual Pacific Northwest drizzles and mountain snows. But the damage is done and new post-storm problems keep popping up. 

Continued light rain, with a few bursts of heavier rain, falling on already super-soaked soil, is seriously increasing the risk of landslides in western Washington State. 

Sharp slopes on coastal bluffs, steep hillsides, road cuts and recently burned wildfire areas are most at risk. There have been several landslides already this weekend, The threat should continue for several days. 

A large marina in Tacoma was badly wrecked by debris and wind. Multitudes of trees were washed into the harbor by flooding rivers. Then, high winds turned those floating trees into battering rams, destroying docks and boats. 

Rainfall has been pretty incredible in some areas right along the Pacific Coast and in higher elevations. Forks, Washington, a little inland from the Pacific Ocean in northwest Washington, has received 22.1 inches of rain so far this month. 

Rain during the atmospheric rivers reached high into the mountains, melting the snow that usually forms a thick blanket way up on those slopes.  The snow levels are now down to normal elevations, and the fluff is finally piling up in the Cascades.

OREGON

In Oregon, one person died when he drove around flood barriers and got caught in swift, deep floodwaters. Elsewhere in Oregon, a family of five was rescued from a pickup truck that got caught in swift water. 

In Tillamook County, five drivers had to be rescued from floodwaters, most of them after they drove around barricades. 

The Clackamas River rose 26 feet, flooding through homes and leaving yards littered with large trees and other debris. 

Landslides closed many roads in Oregon, including several near Mount Hood National Forest; along a section of the Columbia River Highway and in Oregon City.  

The rain in Oregon has tapered off some, but rivers are still flooding, even if they are gradually receding. Forecasts of daily rain coming up through the next week, will slow the Oregon recovery. 

CALIFORNIA

Next on the atmosphere river hit list is California.  

The first blast of atmospheric river downpours is hitting California from roughly the Bay Area north. Flooding is a good bet today and tomorrow in many areas of northern California, but areas near Placerville, Oroville and Paradise, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. These areas could get five to seven inches of rain in the next 24 hours. 

Heavy rain would continue in those same foothill areas tomorrow, making any flooding even worse.

Another surge of deep moisture off the Pacific will renew heavy rains in California, and those downpours will spread south.

By Tuesday night and Christmas Eve, rainfall rates through much of the L.A area, especially higher elevations, could reach to an inch per hour or more. This sets the stage for lots of mudslides and debris flows, especially in areas that saw wildfires in the past couple of years. 

Moisture content in the storm will be near record high levels, according to the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles. The flood watch for northern California is lasting a long time. It starts today, and goes into next Friday. 

 In less than a week, Los Angeles could receive more than five inches of rain. Normal rainfall for the entire month of December in L.A. is 2.3 inches. 

Snow levels will be high in the Sierra Nevada, so some places that usually get snow in the winter will see rain. Rain today is falling at elevations below 8,800 feet, and the snow level should slowly drop to 7,400 feet, give or take, by Tuesday night  

Way, way up there in the high Sierra, accumulations this week will range from four to ten feet, or even more.

It's going to be a long, long, tedious Christmas week for California.   

Atmospheric River Drowning Pacific NW As Expected, Idaho Of All Places, Too. Meanwhile, California Dries Out

Snoqualmie Falls in Washington State
is at its highest level in at least a 
decade due to this week's 
atmospheric river. Major flooding
is occurring or forecast on at least
18 river sites in western Washington. 
Photo via Facebook,
Washington Weather Chasers

As we all expected, the Pacific Northwest is drowning in an atmospheric river, with widespread flooding  covering roads, homes and businesses throughout western Washington.  

Round One of the flooding hit yesterday and last night, with major flooding and some reports of record high crests on some rivers.

Seattle area meteorologist Scott Sistek, in his Emerald City Weather Blog, painted a pretty grim picture of the flooding underway in 'Washington State: 

"The Skagit River is now forecast to reach several feet beyond its record crest. The predicted peak at out Vernon was 41.54 feet Thursday night - over 4 feet above the record crests from 1990, 1995 and 2021. 

The Snohomish River at Snohomish forecast was back at peaking a few inches over record flood stage Thursday and Friday."

Sistek went on to describe several other rivers that have or are expected to reach record crests. 

The flood in Washington is coming in two waves. The atmospheric river moved south into Oregon yesterday, so the rain largely stopped in Washington and rivers started to recede.

But now that atmospheric river off the Pacific Ocean is back in Washington. This time around, the rainfall isn't quite as heavy as in the first round, but will last longer than in the initial blast. With rivers already flooding or at least very high, it won't take much for the major flooding to take hold again today. 

To make matters worse, forecasts for amount of rain in today's wave of the atmospheric river in Washington have increased. 

Eighteen river locations in Washington are expected to reach major flood stage. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said the state's Emergency Operations Center is at level 1, the highest response level. 

The weirdest part of this is in northern Idaho. Atmospheric rivers with heavy rain hit the Pacific Northwest most winters. The moisture sometimes carries over all the way to the mountains of Idaho, producing some rain in the valleys and nice winter storms with heavy snow in the Bitterroot Range ad other tall Idaho mountains.

This time, the atmospheric river is much stronger than usual. The moisture, and the tropical air associated with it, is raising flood concerns in the normally wintry mountainous terrain of Idaho.

Total rainfall in much of central and northern Idaho was expected to be in the higher elevations and one to four inches in the valleys. Snow levels were expected to rise to maybe 6,000 feet to as high as 9,000 feet, which is pretty wildly high for December. 

Record high temperatures are also melting existing snow. As you can imagine, this is a recipe for high water. 

The atmospheric river is strong enough so the some moisture will probably make it over the Continental Divide into Montana. There, the wet air will collide with a blast to Arctic air coming in from Canada to  produce heavy snow and strong winds across much of Montana late this week. 

An atmospheric river is a long narrow band of moisture that can travel thousands of miles before making landfall. They can happen almost anywhere near a coastline, but they are common in the winter along the Pacific coastlines of the United States and  Canada.

Many of them are beneficial, as they bring needed rain and mountain snows to the West Coast. However, stronger ones, as we're seeing now, can cause serious flooding. 

Climate change can make atmospheric rivers warmer and wetter than they otherwise might be. That increases the risk of flooding. The added warmth  also makes rain more likely and snow less likely up in the mountains. 

That less mountain snow scenario can increase flooding, since rain fall where it normally snows. High elevation rain also reduces the winter snow pack. That leaves less snow to melt in the spring to feed into reservoirs.