Long Cold Spell Settles Into Vermont After Our Icy Storm

In this map, the dotted red lines over Greenland
and northern Canada represent comparatively 
warm air squashing colder air southward
into souther Canada and the northern United
States. The solid lines show the general 
air flow that is roughly northwest to
southeast towards us. This map is a prediction
for early January. Click on the map to 
make it bigger and easier to see.

 We're done with our ice storm here in Vermont. we're back to our regularly scheduled cold winter weather. 

The gusty overnight winds materialized, which caused new spikes in power outages overnight, but as of this morning, things are back under control. A little over 100 homes and businesses were still without power in eastern Vermont as of 8:30 a.m.

Now, it's going to just stay cold and rather dry for a long time. The cause of this upcoming frigid, bland weather pattern takes us to Greenland. And northern Canada. 

Yes, Greenland again. Or at least the air flow over the top of this huge, frigid pile of ice in the Arctic.  

It's called the Greenland block or negative Arctic oscillation. Basically. a huge, balmy northward bulge in the jet stream, or high pressure oozes over Greenland, and often continues into northern Canada. That's what's happening now. 

The high pressure up in the Arctic means they'll have oddly warm weather. At least toasty by their winter standards. The bitter cold of the Arctic under a negative Arctic oscillation gets squashed southward into southern Canada and the northern United States. 

Sometimes. this negative Arctic oscillation is accompanied by a separate northward bulge in the jet stream over Alaska. This creates a jet stream that originates in Siberia, then races southward through central Canada into the United States. That would delivery horribly unwanted packages of extreme, perhaps record cold to our neck of the woods.   

The incredible, record cold in Vermont we saw in January, 1970 and December, 1989 was brought to us by this nasty, Siberian pattern. 

However, we're in luck this time. Instead of the northern bulge in the jet stream over Alaska, there's a bit of a southward dip up there. We'll still be cold, because, remember, the cold Canadian air that usually hangs out in the high Arctic has been squashed southward to where we live. But the developing weather pattern won't give us access to that awful, gelid air from Siberia.

The end result will be a steady diet of colder than normal weather for us in Vermont. It means we'll frequently have days with highs in the teens to low 20s. Overnights on some nights will be near zero. But at least we should at least mostly avoid those old fashioned, terrible nights when we suffer in temperatures down in the 20s and 30s below. 

Thank gawd for small wins. 

There might be some brief squirts of slightly milder air ahead of some of the relentless parade of cold fronts. But those mild moments only mean seasonably chilly air. The bottom line is we should prepare ourselves for a nippy era of boring weather for the opening days of the New Year. 

These negative Arctic oscillation episodes tend to get "stuck," meaning that they don't go away easily. So we could be trapped in this cold weather for perhaps two weeks. Maybe more. Sometimes these patterns can last a month or more. 

Sometimes, this weather pattern can also mean a lot of snow for us. But that usually happens when there's a northward bulge in the jet stream in Alaska. The jet stream plunges south toward the Gulf of Mexico, picks up moisture, then goes up the East Coast as nor'easters. 

But we don't have that northward bulge in the jet stream in Alaska. So, we'll have a roughly northwest to southeast weather pattern. A  series of weak weather systems that would come through every couple of days, throwing bursts of light snow and flurries at us. 

Usually, this setup does give the mountains unspectacular but decent snowfalls to the ski areas so that's a good thing. There's always a chance one of these disturbances could do something weird and give us a nice big dump of snow. But for now, I don't see it.  

This winter has so far been more rough than we've gotten used to in this age of climate change. That trend will probably continue into January. 

There's Actually Rain In The Vermont Forecast! Spoiler: It Won't End The Drought

Lake Champlain at Oakledge Park in Burlington Sunday
showing its very low water level of 93.03 feet. That's 
only about half a foot higher than the record low
level for the date. 

It was so nice this morning to wake up and check the weather forecasts and the maps to learn there is a chance of showers almost every day this week. 

Normally, that would seem odd in normally inclement Vermont, where clouds and precipitation always pester us. But our deep and worsening drought needs a bucket of cold water - stat. 

Measurable rain has only fallen on 11 days since August 1, and amounts have been unimpressive. And most of us have gone two weeks with no measurable rain. Even the weeds are dying in the dust. 

The upcoming rain will barely put a dent in the drought, if that. But it will be nice to see the very surface of the ground to get wet to perk up the lawns and remaining garden plants. The forest fire danger will get tamped down for a few days, too. 

More on the the specifics of the rain coming up, but first let's look at what amounted to the first frost/freeze of the season for most of Vermont away from the Champlain Valley. 

SUNDAY FREEZE

Most of Vermont saw their growing season end Sunday, or at least come close to it. The Champlain Valley escaped, with readings there remaining above freezing. The temperature here at my house in St. Albans was at 37 degrees at dawn, actually three degrees warmer than 24 hours earlier. 

But most places had the coldest morning of the season so far. East Haven, Vermont was down to 22 degrees, which was the chilliest place Sunday in the United States outside of Alaska on Sunday.

Other cold spots were Plainfield, at 26 degrees and Bristol, with 27. Most major communities in Vermont, including Montpelier, Morrisville, St. Johnsbury, Newport, and Rutland each made it to or below 32 degrees. 

Note that there might be parts of each town that stayed above freezing. Clear, calm mornings like Sunday feature highly variable temperatures. 

In any event, the cold is gone for awhile. Sunday afternoon was dramatically warmer as south breezes rocketed temperatures into the 70s. 

It's good that it's going to rain soon. The frost and freeze added more dry and dead material to the landscape, more fuel for any drought-induced wildfires. The fire risk won't go away forever, but at lest we'll have a few days in which the chances of a fire won't be as great. 

THE FORECAST

The seven day rain forecast finally brings fairly
decent rains to the East Coast. The blues and purples
over Vermont signify a hoped for inch or more
of rain over that time period. But that forecast
is iffy, and we could receive less than that. 

There was already rain on the radar for a change this morning. But alas, it's not coming into Vermont, A dying cold front was spreading showers into the northwest corner of New York, but since the front is falling apart, so will the showers.

We have another dry day to get through. With south breezes continuing to crank, the fire danger is still there for sure.  

It'll start to rain tonight as a second weak cold front approaches. Unlike the past few cold fronts in recent weeks, some moist air is getting shoved our way from the south. So the skies will be able to yield a little precipitation this time.

The rain will continue off and on through most of Tuesday but fall quite lightly, except for a chance of a locally embedded downpour or rumble of thunder overnight tonight and on Tuesday. 

Total rainfall through Tuesday is forecast to be around a third of an inch, give or take. As mentioned, that's not nearly enough to put a dent in the drought but at least it will temporarily slow or even briefly stop its scary worsening trend. 

The forecast gets muddled after Tuesday as weak, sluggish weather systems linger around. The air will stay relatively humid for September, (but not oppressive, like summer). So we have a chance of some inconsequential, scattered showers both Wednesday and Thursday. 

A relatively strong upper level low is forecast to linger over the middle of the nation this week, causing a flood risk in and around Arkansas and some drought-denting rains in the Ohio Valley.

The hope is that when this upper low starts to break up, it will move toward the northeast and swing some decent rains our way later Thursday, Thursday night and into Friday,  

Preliminary forecasts thrown another half inch of rain our way Thursday night, but it's still too early to count on that. We still might or might not miss out.  Keep doing your rain dances!  Even if we get a half inch of rain, that'll only help a tiny bit. We need inches upon inches of rain and/or melted snow through the autumn and winter. 

Depressingly, the rain this week doesn't really look like it's signaling a big change in the dry weather pattern, at least not yet. A lot of the computer models brint another big, fat, dry Canadian high pressure system over New England most of next week. 

Some models even more frustratingly show that high deflected a nice soggy potential tropical storm heading up the East Coast away from New England. Forecasts that far out can change radically, so don't hang your hat on next week's weather just yet.

Instead, enjoy any bits and sprinkles and sporadic showers we get this week. 

If you want one more glimmer of hope, NOAA's three to four week outlook, released Friday, gives greater than even odds that the period from October er 4 to 17 would feature above normal precipitation. 

Wet Vermont Saturday Still On Schedule. All But Two Saturdays So Far This Year Have Been Precipitation-Free

A little morning sun graced this iris in my St. Albans,
Vermont gardens this morning before clouds moved
in, The gardens - and everyone else in Vermont -
were bracing for another wet upcoming Saturday 

 The weekend is coming up, and as long advertised, it's going to be a wet Saturday. 

Hell, the way it's been going, I wonder if we should just count on rainy Saturdays through the rest of the year.  

NEVER A DRY SATURDAY

As I've been reminding folks, this will be the tenth wet Saturday in a row with measurable rain, at least as noted in Burlington, Vermont. 

Well, technically ninth. Because on Saturday, March 29, it was snow, not rain. But it amounted to 0.65 inches of liquid equivalent, so we'll count it. 

Eleven Saturdays ago, March 22, there was only a trace of rain. The last time we got through an entire Saturday without a drop of rain was on March 15. Bonus, that day was warm for the season, running 25 degrees milder than  normal 

Still, even that wasn't a perfect day. It clouded up in the afternoon, and winds gusted to 48 mph.

The only other Saturday so far this year that was completely dry in Burlington, Vermont was January 25.  Three other dates, January 18, and February 1 and February 22, had just traces of precipitation. The rest had measurable rain and/or snow. 

THIS WEEKEND'S FORECAST

This photo was taken in St. Albans, Vermont on the 
last rain-free Saturday we had, March 15, 2025.

We're coming off of three gorgeous days in Vermont with an overcast Thursday.  It is cooler, and it will probably rain today.  Not much, and not all the time, so you'll be able to get things done outdoors. We even managed to see a little sun this morning in northern Vermont. 

A few places will just get sprinkles. Most of the rest of us will see less than a tenth of an inch of rain. So really no biggie. 

After fairly grim forecasts earlier in the week, Friday is actually looking......not bad. 

The sun will be out some of the time, and there will only be widely scattered, brief showers at most. It'll get into the low 70s in quite a few places, which is about average for this time of year. 

Saturday

Then there's Saturday. Hoo boy!

I mean, I suppose there is good news.   We shouldn't have any flooding, aside from ponding of water in a few places and creeks and brooks that start getting swift again. But nothing to really damage roads or buildings. There won't be thunderstorms either, so no worries about hail or high winds like we had on Saturday, May 17.

But it will be a soaking wet day, with our next out of season nor'easter.

Forecasts still vary as to where the swaths of heaviest rain will hit. 

Official forecasts this morning have trended east, but that is uncertain because predictions have been windshield wipering between a storm track along the coast, or much closer to Vermont with storm blasting northward through New Hampshire .

Those differences in computer models had not been resolves as of this morning. In a sense, it doesn't really make a difference because Saturday will be a wet one in the entire state of Vermont regardless.

Right now, forecasts are going for a little over a half inch of rain in the Champlain Valley and three quarters to an inch across central, eastern and southern Vermont. 

If the storm goes inland  more, the rain totals would be higher from the Green Mountains west, with even the Champlain Valley getting an inch. 

The timing is such that you won't get a break in the rain all day.  Some of our recent rainy Saturdays have at least had a few hours here and there in which it wasn't raining. It looks like this time around, it'll be raining when you get up in the morning. It will still be going at lunch time, and going still at the dinner hour. 

Too bad, because a lot of outdoor weddings and other events happen this time of year. 

Sunday

Sunday will be the better of the two weekend days, but that's not saying much. First of all, the weather won't exactly be screaming "summer!" Not with highs in the 50s to around 60 in most places. That's a good 15 degrees colder than average for this time of year.

Add in a stiff northwest wind and it will feel even chillier. It will also be mostly too completely cloudy with light but chilly rain showers roaming around. 

Summer Comes Back

But never fear! Summer has NOT been pre-empted for the year. Monday will also be chilly for the season, but not as bad as Sunday with highs in the 60s.  Tuesday will bring us near average temperatures around 70,

After that, next week continues to look warm and moderately humid. It doesn't look like we'll have anything insanely hot, but it will feel like summer, which is nice!

No word yet on what things will be like on Saturday, June 7, which is the next Saturday after this weekend's. Long range forecasts so far offer no help or clues as to what will happen then. 

But you know our tradition of Saturdays and rain by now....

 

Midsummer To Take The Wind Out Of Our Sails

Trees bend in the wind last Saturday in St. 
Albans. It's been a strangely windy summer so
far, but we are now reverting back to our
normal, calmer summer pattern

 Yesterday was another strangely windy one, especially in the Champlain Valley. 

The peak wind gust in Burlington was 39 mph. It was enough for another round of widely scattered tree damage. 

I found myself swerving around a tree branch on Spear Street in South Burlington, and I saw a report of a tree blocking Route 7 for a time between Milton and Georgia. 

Summer is usually a very calm time of year here in Vermont. Yes, you do occasionally get local damaging wind gusts in severe thunderstorms. But other than that, the wind just usually doesn't blow much. 

To get a gusty day, you need strong weather systems, be they large storm systems passing nearby or a contrast between a storm and strong high pressure fighting for control.

Overall weather systems in the summer tend to be weak. "Storms" usually consist of weak cold fronts limping through, with their parent low pressure systems far to the north.  Maybe a bubble of high pressure of meh strength gives us a refreshing north breeze on occasion. Or, the sprawling Bermuda High far off the East Coast pumps a lazy stream of humid winds northward into our neck of the woods.

Trees sway in the wind, pictured on June 27, when
winds were gusting past 30 mph. 

The weak summer systems can still cause a lot of mischief, but wind is rarely one of them. 

You might remember during last year's epic floods on July 10, there was little wind. 

It was an otherwise  weather system of so-so strength that brought incredible amounts of Atlantic moisture into Vermont and dumped it as downpours over our mountains. 

This year, for some reason, the weather systems remained relatively strong up until now. 

Yesterday, a large, strong for the season storm way up by James Bay Canada bumped into high pressure departing to our east to produce the winds. 

This sort of thing happened during most of June. I saw ten days during the month where gusts reached or exceeded 30 mph during June.  That kind of wind frequency is common in say, January, but not June.

As of today, it looks like we're finally getting into the weather patterns more typical of summer, meaning the wind is taken out of your sails as of today. Don't worry if you have a sailboat or anything like that, there will be plenty of breezes to keep you going the rest of this summer.

We just won't have the loud gusty winds we've had lately. Any system that comes through, at least in the near future, will be pretty weak.  

One boundary came through with light showers last night. Behind it, we're in sort of a no mans land of nothing going on. The next thing to come through should set off some showers and local downpours Friday night and Saturday, but that one, too, is no wind bag. Then it's rinse and repeat beyond that. 

The bottom line: It's now safe to unfurl your deck umbrellas again. 

 

Canadian High Pressure Helping Create "Goldilocks Weather" In Vermont

 The weather here in Vermont lately has been OK for this time of year. 

Jackson the Weather dog this week monitoring 
plant and flower growth in his St. Albans, Vermont
yard, measuring how this week's mild temperatures
influenced changes in the gardens. 

In the past week, we've been in  Goldilocks weather. Not too warm, not too cold, rainfall is frequent and adequate, but it's not nearly enough to flood us out again.  The pattern will continue this week.  

It might not always be gloriously sunny out there. Over the next seven days it will be cloudy and showery much of the time. But it will be perfect for May, and all that stuff that's blossoming and bursting with green at the moment. 

 Over the past few days a very distance high pressure way up in northern Canada west of Greenland has occasionally extended its influence southward all the way to the Maritime Provinces of Canada, at least to some extent. 

The weather pattern, actually kind of common this time of year, tends to drive cool, overcast, foggy weather into the New England coast.

That clammy air has trouble making it into Vermont, especially the northwestern corner. 

The result is that on average, May is the cloudiest month of the year on the coast, while it is fifth  sunniest of the year in northwest corner of Vermont and sixth cloudiest across much of the state

In this pattern, we in Vermont more or less stay warmer than the immediate New England coast, but we're also not experiencing any real hints of summer, aside from the thunderstorms we've been occasionally seeing as weather disturbances zip by. 

This whole set-up is why much of the eastern United States has had at times record high temperatures this week while Vermont has only managed average temperatures. The high pressure way up in Canada is helping to cut the really hot air off at the pass.

Meanwhile, the Midwest and parts of the South have been enduring repeated bouts of severe weather and tornadoes. But this weather pattern forces these systems to weaken big time before they head our way. The result is frequent batches of showers and some thunderstorms, but nothing especially scary.  

Those little batches of showers and thunderstorms  in the past week have been coming across southern Ontario then bending southeastward across Vermont. That's a symptom of that blocking high far to the north keeps pushing everything southward. The hot air never really gets here. 

And that's OK.  We really don't need summer weather yet. Comfortably mild is good enough for me.  Some forecasts have called for a hot summer in these parts, so I'm good with waiting for it. 

Over the next several days, the rather oppressive weather from the south will try to make a couple of runs at us. But chances are, it won't succeed. 

Instead, we'll be unsettled, and seasonable. We have lots of chances of showers, especially Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday. 

The weather pattern will have changed a bit by Wednesday, creating more of a dip in the jet stream near the Great Lakes that would steer wet air our way.  That's why the end of the week looks wet as showers will be coming at us from the west and southwest. 

 Given the extreme storms and strange heat waves we so often see in this era of climate change, it's so nice to have this longish spell of Goldilocks Vermont weather.

"Bowling Balls" Of Chilly Air Will Keep Interrupting Vermont Spring

Skies looked rather volatile last evening in St. Albans,
Vermont as a burst of cold air from Canada stirred
up some showers, clouds and downdrafts.

 It got awfully gusty at times and temperatures took abrupt tumbles Saturday afternoon as the first in a series of what I call "bowling" balls of chilly air invade our Vermont spring. 

While the northern hemisphere is warming up as the sun angle rises, it takes time to scour the pools of biting, winter cold air out of the Arctic.

These pools of frigid air tend to wander around up there as pieces of them get dislodged, inching the north toward spring. 

That cold pool for now is near Hudson Bay, Canada, which means it's in fairly close proximity to us her in Vermont.

Lucky us! For now, the pieces of nippy air that are breaking off from that frigid swirl of air in Canada are landing on, or at last near our doorstep. I refer to those pieces breaking off as bowling balls because they're compact, roll down from the north quickly, then move back off to our north and east just as fast. 

They're sort of drive-by cold snaps, if you will. 

A few days ago, it looked like these quick cold blasts would largely miss us here in the Green Mountain State. That forecast has obviously changed for the worse, at least if you like spring. 

We do see these pretty frequently in the spring here in Vermont. They're disheartening, but quick hitting, and spring resumes soon enough. Here's how our bowling match will play out this week. 

BOWLING BALL #1

The first one, the weakest of three that we'll deal with this week, came in Saturday afternoon.

The cold front had a fair amount of oomph to it, but the air was really dry.  The spring sunshine helped created updrafts that ran into the very cold air aloft.  This built up towering showers clouds. But that dry air down in the lowest few thousand feet of the atmosphere evaporated some of the precipitation coming down. 

The showers themselves had downdrafts to them. The evaporating rain and snow cooled the air further. The downdrafts and cold, dense air created by the evaporation rushed downward, causing those strong wind gusts at times Saturday afternoon. 

I'm sure a few places gusted to over 40 mph, perhaps 50 mph. I noticed the National Weather Service in South Burlington hoisted a few special weather statements, warning of gusts that high. 

It was cold enough for snow to fall in the upper elevations. Some places had graupel which is sort of a snow/small hail hybrid.  Our first bowling ball also created some dramatic late afternoon and evening skies over the region. Dark clouds, shafts of bright sun, gushes of rain and snow visible here and there, and some wild rainbows.

Today is cooler, with clouds mixed with some sun and breezes behind yesterday's "bowling ball.

The second one comes through this evening and overnight.

BOWLING BALL #2

Once again the air is dry but the cold front with this is strong. That should set off some gusty winds, scattered showers, and eventually, snow showers overnight. Temperatures will take quite a tumble, and we'll see the coldest air since late March by dawn. 

This by no means will be record cold, but it will be shock to the system. It'll be down in the 20s for pretty much all of us and northwest winds will make it feel colder.

If you have magnolias blooming, there's a good chance they'll become brown wreckage after this unfortunately. But the vast majority of garden plants current growing should survive just fine. 

Monday will be sunny, which will deceive you into thinking it's nice out. It will be cold for the season with highs only in the 40s.  The sun, gusty northwest winds and very dry air could create something of a fire danger.  Tis the season for that, as I explained in a post last week. 

Monday night will be cold, too, though it will warm up west as the cold bowling ball departs.  Tuesday will bounce back nicely to near 60 degrees.

BOWLING BALL #3

This has the potential to be the strongest and perhaps the most disruptive of the three, depending on which computer forecasting model you want to believe. 

The cold front and embedded low pressure will come in from the west and north, so rain will break out Tuesday night and Wednesday. So far so good. 

Then, the cold air rushes in, changing rain to snow, yes snow, Wednesday afternoon or evening. Probably even in the valleys. 

If you believe the European computer models, the storm won't linger much, so only a little snow will fall. If you believe the American model, this thing might linger for several hours, which could dump several inches of snow Wednesday evening and night. That's especially true along the western slopes of the Green Mountains. 

I'm not sure which one to believe yet, but of course I'm rooting for the European model on this one.

We do know we have another hard freeze Wednesday night, and probably Thursday night, and a chilly day Thursday.

After that, it starts to warm up, and we can forget the bowling balls for awhile. We'll go back to our regularly scheduled spring.  

As always, stay tuned for updates. The forecast could well change! 

Vermont In The Throes Of March-Like Yo-Yo Weather Pattern

Sunset Tuesday in St. Albans, Vermont, just before a 
shift from wintry cold to warmth in Vermont. We'll
go back and forth with temperatures the next
few days, too. 

Given that we really haven't had much of a winter, it's fitting that a typical March pattern is hitting before the third month of the year even hits.  

That weather pattern involves some seriously yo-yoing temperatures for us. Along with abruptly changing skies and precipitation risks. 

On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, and to an extent Thursday morning, temperatures in Vermont fell to the single numbers either side of zero. Not super cold for February, but still the coldest weather since the third week in January. 

That was followed by a gorgeous Thursday afternoon with sunshine and readings near 40 degrees. 

One sign of spring popped up unexpectedly this morning, as a couple lightning strikes appeared between Massena, New York and Ottawa, Canada. Those showers and storms that included mixed precipitation were heading deeper into Canada by 8 a.m. and  for the most part won't affect us here in Vermont. 

Maybe a sprinkle later today, but that's it. 

But warmth and wind will get us today. Especially in the Champlain Valley, where gusts could reach 35 mph amid temperatures in the low 40s.

Tonight, it'll start to rain lightly, then in many areas that will transition to wet snow. There's that variable weather again. Where it snows, it won't amount to much. The warmer valleys might stay as a cold, light rain or mix of raindrops and snowflakes. 

Another slightly showery, but decidedly warm day hits Friday, with readings once again near 40.

WEEKEND

Then the bottom drops out of the temperatures. Pretty much the sharpest cold front of the winter will come through Friday night. It won't have too much in the way of snow showers with it, but boy, you will feel the change in the air. 

Amid strong, gusty northwest winds, temperatures will be in the single digits by Saturday morning and not rise much during the day. Those blustery northwest winds will continue all day, making Saturday a candidate for the most wintry day in what has almost been the winter that wasn't.

Forecasters are quite confident March will get off
to a warm start in the Northeast, including 
here in Vermont. 

If you think that real winter if finally, belatedly hitting on Saturday, think again.  Saturday night, temperatures will only fall a little to a few degrees either side of zero as the core of the cold air zips on out of here. 

By Sunday afternoon, we'll be back in the low to mid 30s and by the middle of next week, we'll see some balmy 40s to low 50s as it looks now. 

Here's another, not welcome sign of spring: Meteorologists are already beginning to look at a possible first substantial severe storm and tornado outbreak in the Midwest and Southeast Tuesday and Wednesday. 

That's not set in stone yet, but it's a sign of a changing season.  We won't see any severe weather here in Vermont, but those warm temperatures during the middle of next week might  not be the end of it. 

Long range forecasts are iffy, but if this one is true, we're under a torch for the opening week of March, with readings possibly far above normal for that time of year. 

Not Usually Good News When Weather Pattern Turns "Interesting". It's Getting Interesting

I'm not saying anything super bad is going to happen, but a really wavy weather pattern coming up for the United States could spell various kinds of trouble next week.  

One forecast of the weather pattern in 
about a week. Ridges on both coast
with a dip in the jet stream in the Midwest
would create more wildfire risks out west.
Pattern could steer a hurricane if there
is one into the East Coast. Chilly
in the Midwest

It just depends on what moves where and when. 

Here's the problem: A deep southward dip in the jet stream is setting up in the middle of the nation next week. That means northward bulges, called ridges, will set on either side of this dip, one on the West Coast and one off the East Coast. 

The one on the West Coast is almost certain to stir up trouble.  It'll cause another bout of record high temperatures, which means the wildfires out in that part of the nation will surely worsen during this. 

The East Coast ridge is more problematic. The center of the ridge will probably build over the Canadian Maritimes.

It's the height of hurricane season. Many hurricanes form in the Atlantic this time of year, and a lot of them take a northward turn well east of the United States and so they harmlessly blow out to sea.

The type of weather pattern getting ready to set up with that high pressure in the Canadian Maritimes would steer a hurricane westward across the southern Atlantic Ocean then push it toward or up along the East Coast.  

Of course, it's far from a guarantee that this would happen. First you need an actual hurricane, and there's none out in the Atlantic right now. Tropical Storm Omar is a weak thing far off the North Carolina coast and will soon die out in the north central Atlantic.

Tropical Storm Nana could become a hurricane, but it's southwest of Jamaica and heading west toward Belize. Terrible for them, but not a problem for the United States. 

If a hurricane does form in the next week or so - again definitely not guaranteed -  it would have a higher than average chance of hitting the East Coast.  Which is bad, because we've already enough hurricanes to deal with this year. 

This weather pattern will bring chilly air from Canada to the middle of the nation, so that will be the first truly autumnal cold front of the year out there. I wouldn't be surprised to see frost advisories in places like northern Minnesota next week.  (Frost advisories aren't that out of the ordinary in the north woods of Minnesota this time of year).

For us in Vermont, those cold fronts would either come through weakly or die out on the way here due to that ridge to the east of us. Temperatures would stay close to normal through next week, although there may be periods of warmer than normal temperatures and humidity during all this. 

This weather pattern would also increase the odds of wetter than average weather in Vermont starting sometime next week. Moisture streaming north on the back side of the ridge to our east, combined with those stalled out fronts over us or just to our west would combine to give us quite a few periods of rain. 

That would be a good thing, as long as there are no hurricanes in the mix. Vermont is still abnormally dry after such a long, hot summer, so some decent rains would help.