SUNY Oswego Webs Cam Spectacularly Shows How Changeable Snow Squall Season Is

An intense snows squall slams into the campus of 
SUNY/Oswego on Monday. See the series of photos
at the bottom of this post to watch how the
squalls unfolded. 

I occasionally checked in with State University of New York/Oswego web cams on Monday, watching dramatic views of how fast the weather changes in the winter on the shores of Lake Ontario.

The photos in this post kind of go back and forth a little between two SUNY/Oswego web cams. One   web cam is at Hart Hall, which offers stunning late afternoon views of the lake. The other at Shineman Center is equally as good. 

In the series of photos below, you'll see a large snow squall approach. I believe this dark cloud was a snow squall along a cold front, or a trough line ahead of a cold front. 

The main band of lake effect snow formed a short time later and continued pummeling the lakeshore northeast of Oswego overnight and this morning. 

The squall in our series of photos was almost certainly enhanced by moisture from Lake Ontario. The part of the series from when the wall of snow seems to be at the edge of campus to when visibility drops to near zero came within about five minutes or less. 

Once that squall goes by, it clears up dramatically. But you can see new snow squalls starting to form. The new line of snow squalls, as mentioned, are the ones pummeling areas mostly a little south of Watertown, and a little north of Oswego today. Total accumulation in New York's notoriously snowy Tug Hill region could be up to four feet. 

In this morning's SUNY/Oswego web cams, you can just barely see the heavy lake affect snow band in the distance, on the extreme right edge of the camera's view.  

The cam grabs I have in this video cover about an hour and 15 minute period. The series of photos are below. You can click on individual images to make them bigger and easier to see.  Enjoy!

Scenes From A Vermont Flood, In Photos And Video

The Lamoille River blasting through Fairfax Falls
near Cambridge, Vermont on December 19

 It's odd to see a serious flood in Vermont in the early winter. 

This  year, though, it happened.  Weather geek that I am, I documented it with photos and video. 

Photos are first, and below those are two videos. One shows the Winooski river in various spots between Richmond and Winooski. The other shows the Lamoille River between Cambridge and Milton. 

Severe flooding in Vermont is obviously unwanted. Especially during the Christmas season. 

I don't want to say anything positive about the disaster. Except that, since we had to endure it, there was an almost stark, terrible beauty about it. 

The landscape was on the edge of winter. But there was water everywhere. The sounds and odor of rushing, flooding river water is what we expect during the spring thaw, or after extreme summer storms, or while an errant late summer or early autumn tropical storm passes through Vermont. 

Somber December colors lit up with glimpses of sun
and blue skies during this week's flooding. This
is at submerged North Williston Road between
Essex and Williston, Vermont. 

This time, it hit while Vermont should have been freezing up and whitening up with snow.  

The flood hit just a few days before the winter solstice, the darkest time of year. 

The flood went on to make things even darker. Even as glimpses of sun and snow flurries mixed in with the images of high water. 

It was a strange disaster, but I guess in the age of climate change, we now have to expect more and more weather weirdness. 

Only a boat would have gone the speed limit of 35
mph on North Williston Road during the December 18-19 flood.

 

The Winooski River blasts past buildings in Winooski,
Vermont, as seen from the Chase Mill in Burlington on
December 19, 2023   

The Lamoille River comes perilously close to a house
in Fairfax, Vermont during snow showers on Dec 19, 2023.    

The Lamoille River blocking access to the "Wrong Way Bridge"
area of Route 15 in Cambridge, Vermont while damaging
properties on December 19 2023.     

TWO VIDEOS

First video shows flooding along the Winooski River at various locations between Richmond and Williston, Vermont. Click on this link to view the video, or if you see the image below:

The second video also shows serious flooding, this time along the Lamoille River between Cambridge and Milton, Vermont. Again click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that:

Last Spring Time Lapsed To Get You Ready For The Change In Scenery This Year

Last spring in St. Albans: How it began

I love to watch nature. It's part of the DNA of a person born and raised in Vermont, I guess. 

During a change of seasons, mostly spring and fall, you see changes every day in the way the landscape looks. Sometimes the change is so subtle you have to really stare to find it. Surprisingly often, it's a jarring change from the day before. 

Spring is especially like that in Vermont. Each spring unfolds differently than all the others. Each one has its own personality.  But it always does arrive, sometimes enthusiastically, sometimes grudgingly. 

Last spring wore both those faces. The first half of spring had to be dragged kicking and screaming into Vermont. Frequently, we had snowy setback in the spring of 2022. Including one on April 19 that buried my yard - and some new daffodils - under 5.1 inches of snow, 

During that slow first half of spring, plants soldiered on. The grass ever so slowly turned green.  Daffodil shoots timidly rose upward from their winter slumber. Winter weather and snow be damned. 

The second part of spring galloped in. The season seamed to rebel against that April 19 snow. The weather moderated immediately after that, then turned downright warm as we headed into May. (We'll just ignore that last brief snowy setback on April 27.

By mid-May, we were in the grip of a mid-summer type hot spell. Temperatures for three days in a row got into the upper 80s, and stayed on the sort of warm, humid side after that. 

And how last spring ended. Deep snow on the ground
now, but soon enough it will look like this in Vermont. 

If anything in nature hadn't made its seasonal transition by then, it hurried up and put on its summer clothes. Well before Memorial Day, spring was over, summer started prematurely.

Gawd knows how this year will work out. It's starting out with a lot of stubborn snow on the ground, but that doesn't mean all that much. 

All I know is this spring will be unique, just like all the others. I've already started taking daily photos. 

The first days of meteorological spring in Vermont have been challenging. As I wrote this on March 15, there's 17 inches of snow on the ground. That's far deeper that at any point during the just-ended winter. 

But, hope springs eternal, pardon the pun. That 17 inches of snow has already started to melt away. Soon, there will be daffodils, then lilacs, then a lush green landscape. It'll happen in a blink of an eye.

So, for encouragement, what follows is how last spring went in St. Albans, Vermont, so you can see for yourself. I hope it gets you revved up for what this spring will eventually brin. 

Here's the video. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that:

Vermont Weather, Cloud, Nature Year 2022 In Photos

A cloudburst unleashes over St. Albans, Vermont in 
August.  Weather is always interesting or at least pretty
in the Green Mountain State and was in 2022

For the most part, weather in Vermont isn't particularly extreme all that often.  I

t's not the national hot spot for storm chasers, that's for sure. 

But the changing seasons, the clouds, the nature and the landscape sure make for pretty weather photos.  Near the end of every year, I like to compile some of my favorites.

The photos were all taken in northwestern Vermont during the course of 2022

Spoiler, you pretty much have to watch the video at the bottom of this post.

Click on the image below to view. Or if you don't see the image, click on this link to check out the photos. 

Vermont Snowstorm And Pretty Aftermath, Videos Included

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Last Warm Autumn Sunset

Trees glow in golden light from a low angle sun Saturday
afternoon in St. Albans, Vermont. The dark clouds above
signal the end of a remarkable warm spell, and the start
of winter, or at least Winter Lite 

 Late Saturday, afternoon,  I said goodbye to a beautiful Vermont autumn and said hello to winter. 

Yes, it's still autumn, but winter, at least Winter Lite, almost always hits the Green Mountain State in sometime in November. 

It's hitting right on schedule, really. 

The opening week and a half of this November felt like never-ending summer, what with bouts of record high temperatures and periods of strangely high humidity. 

As forecast, that all started crashing down with the setting sun Saturday. The rest of the weekend, and probably the rest of November, would be quite different.

 Unlike the first 12 days of the month, Sunday was completely in character with November: Dark, overcast, drizzly, cold, with snow flurries eventually mixing into the picture. It was a little brighter on Monday, but the air had a definite cold season chill to it. 

Amid still warm temperatures late Saturday afternoon, I knew this change was coming. As if to announce it Ma Nature gave us what I would call the last warm sunset of the autumn.

It wasn't the sky that was so interesting, but the landscape was. A shaft of golden sun broke through the clouds before sinking behind the Adirondacks.  It lit up the bare trees, still wet from the out of season, early morning tropical downpours. 

The sun on the trees gave a warm, golden glow, as if to say, this is your last chance to enjoy a balmy atmosphere for awhile. Above this golden glow, dark, cold clouds competed with warmer looking sunlit ones. The battle to turn cold had started, and the cold was the inevitable winner.

For a hint of what I saw, click on this link to see it on video. Or, if you see the link to the YouTube video below, click on that. (Not all devices let you see that image)

Photos: Vermont Year In Review - Weather And Nature

At the end of every December,  I like to put together a YouTube slide show of some of my favorite weather and nature photographs from the year.  

This year is no exception. Like the year before, I didn't get out quite as much as I would have liked, due to a busy schedule and some restrictions due to Covid. 

Many of the photos were shot right on my St. Albans, Vermont property.

Having a good view and plenty of flower gardens does help. 

Although we had our extremes here in Vermont, mostly on the heat side, the weather year in the Green Mountain State wasn't nearly as off the rails and as dangerous as it was in many parts of the world. 

Which of course is great, and I hope our luck continues in 2022. 

Weather off the rails can make for some great photographs. The snow in spring photos in my slide show are a small example of that. 

That said, I'm not exactly into death and destruction weather, so here's hoping my photos for the upcoming new year feature mostly pretty clouds, flowers and trees as they did this year. 

As always, mobile uses might not be able to see the video on this screen, so click on this hyperlink to view.

Or if you see the video image below, click on the arrow and the the YouTube logo for best viewing 

Here ya go! 

"Tea Kettle" Lake Champlain Causes November Gloom And Beauty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'll leave readers and the experts to judge.

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

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

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

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

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

Gloomy Day Turns Into Glorious, Ultra Colorful Surprise: Photo Essay

The big autumn rainbow over St. Albans, Vermont on
Monday. 

 I love what I call "come to pappa" moments in my weather geekdom.

Those are the moments when I don't have to seek out any interesting weather. No effort, no muss, no fuss.  

I had one of those wonderful incidents yesterday, when a quick trip to the door to let the dogs out to do their business led to the glorious surprises you see in this post. 

It had been a chilly, gloomy October day.  The skies all day had been gray and overcast, and sporadic showers kept things damp and dank.  Late in the afternoon, the showers intensified as breaks formed between those rain clouds. 

As the sun headed toward the horizon for the evening, all color broke loose.  The combination of dark clouds, bright sun, foliage was just the background.  A brilliant rainbow, one of the brightest I can remember formed behind the house. 

Another view of yesterday's double rainbow and fall
foliage in St. Albans, Vermont. 

I didn't have to go anywhere to enjoy the ultimate autumn show in Vermont. Just open the door and gawk. 

To best look at the photos, click on each one to make them bigger and easier to see. Scroll down past this verbiage as well to check out all the photos. 

I even took a brief video and posted to YouTube. You can see it below the photos, but if you have a mobile device, you'll want to click on this link to view it. 

I'm not sure if today will bring any more happy weather surprises.  The only new "news" to report is that the summit of Mount Mansfield finally touched 32 degrees this morning, making it the latest first freeze of autumn up there. It broke the old record by a whopping 13 days. 

The weather is forecast to be quite variable for the rest of the week into the weekend. Maybe a recipe for more photogenic weather? We'll find out! 

More photos and video:

Double rainbow, fall foliage, dark clouds Monday afternoon
St. Albans, Vermont 

Sun shines brightly on fall colors late Monday afternoon
as dark clouds and rain loom overhead, St. Albans, Vermont. 

Dark clouds, bright sun and fall foliage, St. Albans, Vermont

Roiling clouds and a shaft of rain are lit it by the setting
sun Monday in St.Albans, Vermont. 

Video: Rainbow, setting sun, clouds and foliage in St. Albans, Vermont Monday:

Henri's Outer Edges Made For Photogenic Skies Over Northwest Vermont

Pure tropical air ahead of Henri created some Miami-like
skies over Colchester Vermont Saturday evening. 

Hurricane/Tropical Storm Henri's approach and passage through southern New England, and the pure tropical air it brought north to Vermont, made this probably the prettiest such system to affect northern Vermont.  

Even if that effect was slight to say the least.

Still, the sky over northwestern Vermont because of Henri were spectacular.

The haze from western wildfires was routed by the clean, but oppressive pure tropical air.  The sky Sunday afternoon was some of the bluest I can remember.  

Dying rain bands from Henri produced nothing more than the lightest sprinkle, but created some gorgeous rainbows on two evenings in a row. 

Mid-level cloudiness associated with Henri also created some gorgeous patterns in the sky Monday morning, and prompted a gorgeous orange sunset Monday evening. 

I took photos, and a few of them are in this post. Scroll down to see them all.  Enjoy! 

By Sunday afternoon, the sky turned perhaps the deepest blue
I've ever seen, thanks to pristine, but very humid air
brought in part by Henri straight from the Caribbean. 

Toward Sunday evening, the dying remains of an outer rainband
from Henri, created a delicate pattern and a complex sky over
St. Albans, Vermont.

That dying rain band then produced a lovely rainbow. Here
you can see a dragonfly scooting by in front of the rainbow.

Mid-level clouds from Henri created these beautiful 
patterns in the sky over Burlington, Vermont Monday morning.

Another rainbow, fainter than the night before, with no
actual rain, from Henri's remains as viewed from 
St. Albans, Vermont Monday evening

 

As Henri began to depart southern New England Monday
evening, it threw out a nice sunset
over St. Albans, Vermont 

Journey From Spring To Winter To Spring, In Photos

Before the storm, April 20

 As promised, we're back to full blown spring here in Vermont after our bout with late season winter. 

For me, it was back to doing garden work yesterday here in St. Albans, Vermont on a cool, breezy, but pleasant evening. That involved assessing the damage from the snow and freeze.  I found that plants can be nice and resilient. 

A series of photos in this post depict our journey in St Albans from spring to winter and back to spring. 

What saved many garden plants around much of Vermont was for most of us, temperatures stayed at or above 25 degrees. 

 It felt colder with the wind chill, but wind chill is for us humans. The snow hurt by crushing tender flowers and stems, but also helped by burying leaves and sprouts to protect them from the cold. 

It's still not perfectly clear yet what died and what survived, but for most plants, they're good. 

2:32 p.m. April 21, the burying begins.

The most disappointing result I've seen is that although all those daffodils around my house survived and continued to bloom, they got mushed down and are now not as pretty and well-arranged as they were.  

Some flower stems failed under the weight of the snow, so the flowers drooped to the ground and are dying. 

The forsythia flowers, a brilliant yellow before the storm, are now brown and dead, but the new leaves sprouting on that bush look fine.  The leaves on the day lily plants are flattened but will perk up as spring progresses.  

I'm cautiously optimistic about the lilacs.  The budding flowers drooped and took on a darker, brownish color in the freeze, making me think they died and we'll have to wait another full year for the glory of the lilacs.

However, the flower buds seemed to perk up in Friday's sunshine, so maybe they survived. We'll see how they do in the next few weeks. 

4:31 p.m April 21 The snow keeps flying 

Thank goodness we don't have much more cold weather to talk about. Today will be sort of warm for the season with highs up into the 60s.

Sunday will bring less rain than originally expected, but there will be showers around under seasonably cool conditions. 

The dreaded "S" word comes back late Sunday night and early Monday, but relax, it will be no big deal. There might be a few wet snow flakes in the air in the hours either side of dawn Monday, but it won't amount to anything. 

Monday will be close to 10 degrees colder than average, but that means highs will be near 50 degrees. That's not too bad.  Temperatures will be near freezing Monday night, but again, not cold enough to cause any further plant damage.

The weather for the rest of the upcoming week looks fairly uncertain, but it will be a little warmer than average, and expect some late April showers here and there. 

Continue to scroll down to see our climb out of the winter blast and back into spring. It's satisfying to see.   

  

8:54 a.m. April 22. The depths of winter. Temperatures were
around 27 degrees when this photo was taken. 

7:31 p.m. April 22. The snow hung on stubbornly all day
but do the warm colors of that sunset portend
better times ahead?

7:13 a.m Friday, April 23. It feels a bit warmer and look
at that blue sky headed our way. Hope?

9:56 a.m. Friday, April 23. The sun begins to do its work

12:25 p.m. April 23. Almost there! 

2:32 p.m. April 23 The daffodils are looking a little
battered, but back to full on spring!