Vermont Experienced Coldest February, And Coldest Winter Overall, Since 2015

Henry the Weather Dog makes his way down  his St.
Albans, Vermont driveway, flanked by big snowbanks.
Snowfall hasn't been that much above normal, but 
consistent cold weather has kept snow on the ground
This February was coldest since 2015.

The data is in - at least some of it - and as I'm sure you noticed, Vermont experienced its coldest February in over a decade.  

For the record, the average February temperature in Burlington was 19.5 degrees, or 3.4 degrees colder than average. The last time we had a colder month than this was in January, 2022. The last time we had a colder February was in 2015, but that one was really cold. With an average temperature of 7.6 degrees, February, 2015 was the third coldest on record.

This February wasn't particularly cold by historical standards. By my reckoning, it was the 56th coldest out of the past 139 years in Burlington. 

It just seemed a lot colder because Februaries since 2016 ranged from kinda mild to incredibly warm for the season. Three of the top five warmest Februaries in Burlington came after 2015. 

In Burlington, it got to zero or below on eight occasions, again the most since 2015. That month had 17 such cold mornings. It appears the driving force behind February's chill was overnight lows. 

Burlington's average overnight low in February was 5.1 degrees below the "new normal," which is the mean of data from 1990 to 2020. Remember, those years had already been affected by climate change. Historically, Burlington was colder. 

February was the fourth consecutive cooler than the 1990-2020 average, as measured in2 Burlington. That's the first time since 2018-19 that has happened.  There were actually nine consecutive months that were at least nominally cooler than normal from October, 2018 through June, 2019. 

This was also the first year since 2019 that Lake Champlain had entirely frozen over. 

DATA ISSUES

A bit of a whine here: There is a LOT of missing data in the National Weather Service February climate summaries for various cities in Vermont.  I was able to piece together complete data for Burlington and St. Johnsbury using daily data in February I found from other areas of the NWS web site. 

But I was unable to find complete data for much of the rest of Vermont, making it almost impossible to detect trends in this February's weather across the state.   

I put in an inquiry today to the National Weather Service asking whether this data will be recovered and added to the incomplete monthly summaries now on the NWS website. 

I don't expect them to answer on a Sunday, so I'll keep you posted as to what's up with this. 

The missing data might be related to some problems with National Weather Service automated data transfers. One question I asked in my inquiry is whether this is all related to those awful DOGE cutbacks at the National Weather Service.  I honestly have no idea if the data issue is related to the cutbacks or not, so I'll reserve judgement. 

I noticed the same problem with data back in August.  I looked at the August data today, and it appears almost all the missing data from that month has been added back in. August data is definitely more complete now. 

I'm hoping the February data gets reviewed and the missing data is restored as it was in August. It is Sunday, so maybe they don't have the staff to deal with this issue until the work week.  

This isn't any kind of slap at the meteorologists at the National Weather Service in South Burlington. They do incredible work.  I just worry that they, and personnel at all the other meteorologists nationwide, no longer have all the resources they should have. 

MORE FEBRUARY INFO

Precipitation in Burlington amounted to an even inch, which is 0.77 inches below normal. I was able to look back 144 years and it turns out this February was the 30th driest on record. Other weather stations in Vermont appear to have been on the dry side as well. But again, the missing data makes it a little hard to truly assess that. 

Once again, Vermont tended to sit out dramatic weather events that were hitting other parts of the United States. In Burlington, February 20 was both the wettest and snowiest day of the month with 5.7 inches of snow which melted down to just a hair  under a half inch. As you can see, those figures don't exactly tell the tale of a big storm. It was just a routine snowfall. 

The lack of thaws this winter has allowed snow to accumulate pretty well, despite snowfall that has not been far from average, except in the mountains, which have had a good snow season.

Most towns in Vermont had at least a foot of snow on the ground on the last day of February. Several places had two feet or more. That kind of snow cover isn't anywhere close to record-breaking, but it's pretty good. Especially for places that need moisture because of the lingering effects of last year's drought. 

In Burlington, through yesterday, there has been snow on the ground for 83 days, the most days like that in at least 22 years. 

MARCH OUTLOOK

March is always a wildcard and this year is no exception. We're starting off bitterly cold, like mid-winter, but temperatures will go above normal later this week.  We don't yet know how far above normal readings will get or how long the warmish weather will last. 

March has the most variable weather of any month. Temperatures during March in Burlington have been as low as 24 below and as high as 84 above. More often than not, we get a March like 2017. The first day of that month was springlike, with a record high of 63 degrees. By the March 14, 2017, the "Pi Day Blizzard" hit. That one is still the second deepest snowstorm on record in Burlington, with 30.4 inches. 

So yeah, don't be surprised if the weather surprised you this month. 

The forecast from NOAA has Vermont leaning toward a warmer than average March, but it's not a slam dunk. NOAA thinks precipitation in the Green Mountain State during March will be near to perhaps edging a bit above normal. 

We will of course, see whether that forecast was accurate in about a month. If we can get the data.  

A Rather Unpredictable Weather Week Coming Up For Vermont

This forecast weather map for this coming Wednesday
morning looks a bit frightening, with a sprawling storm
covering most of the U.S. Looks are deceiving, at least
for us in Vermont. Some precipitation might 
fall early in the week, but it's not definite, and if
we do get any, we don't yet know what kind.

 This is going to be one of those weeks where meteorologists might be tempted to thrown up their hands and say "You figure it out. "   

It's not that they're unprofessional or would actually do that,. But all the moving parts in the atmosphere are so jumbled that it's hard to tease out what we're going to get.

Overall, the best guess is it will be mostly relatively mild, pretty unsettled, but otherwise a pretty iffy weather week.   The forecast through about Tuesday is relatively easy, but after that, it's basically a flip of a coin

But, let's get into it the best we can.

In case you missed it, Burlington broke its long streak of subfreezing days on Saturday. After 22 days of staying below 32 degrees, the temperature briefly poked up to a pleasant 35. 

TODAY

It won't be quite as warm today. As expected, a weak cold front passed through most of Vermont overnight. It was in the single numbers at dawn in the north, with cold spots like Lake Eden getting s cold s 8 below. In the far south, the cold front never really arrived, so it stayed in the low 20s in places like Bennington.  

Temperatures will tend to even out statewide today. Highs will be in the 20s, with some low 30s south. Sun will fade behind some clouds, but it will be gorgeous day for skiing or other winter sports. Today's a great day to pretend to be winning gold at the Winter Olympics. 

MONDAY/TUESDAY

A weak disturbance should come in tonight to throw a handful of snowflakes at us overnight. You might find maybe a dusting or a half inch of powder on your car in the morning.

The day itself will likely be the hottest it's been since mid-January. That's not saying much, since it'll only get into the mid-30s for most of us. Another weak disturbance - ever so slightly stronger than tonight's - will probably deposit a dusting to maybe a full inch of snow in spots on a balmy Monday night. 

I say balmy because lows will be in the 20s to around 30. 

Tuesday will still be warm with highs in the 30s to around 40.  One note or caution:  I see a lot of ice dams on many roofs. Some of those will let go over the next few days. In many villages and somewhat more urban areas around Vermont, people park their cars in the narrow spaces between houses. 

You might not want to do that as heavy chunks of ice could fall. Also, if you can, try not to walk under these frozen Swords of Damocles. 

WEDNESDAY AND BEYOND

Forecast weather maps for Wednesday morning look ominous. They show a strong, sprawling storm covering the entire middle of the U.S. and the Rocky Mountains.  Since storms tend to head east, you'd think we in Vermont were in for something really nasty. 

But it's not as scary as it looks. High pressure over northern and central Quebec will tend to shear this storm apart. Here's where we get into the "we have no idea what's going on" part of the forecast.'

Will that Quebec high pressure shunt the whole thing to our south?  Or will the storm come through, albeit in weakened fashion.  Will another storm follow on Friday and Saturday? If so, rain or snow or mix?

What will the temperatures be like? We know Vermont will be in part of the battle zone between warm from the south, and Arctic air to the north. Will frigid winter weather reassert itself? Or will we have more thawing? Maybe something in the middle, mild for February but not exactly warm?. 

All I can is stay tuned to this bat channel for answers we hope will appear within the next day or two.  

Vermont October Was Warm, And Surprisingly Wet. Maybe The First Hints Of Drought Relief?

Very low water levels on Lake Champlain, seen here in
Milton, Vermont during a record late season
heat wave on October 6

November is here, so it's time to look back on an October weather.

The month brought more warmth to Vermont, and also provided the first hopeful signs that a few cracks might be forming in our deep, relentless drought. 

October in Vermont had its extremes, and a rainy end made the month actually turn out to be on the wet side. That's a trend we hope we will continue for the next few months.  

 The drought appeared to peak during an early month heat wave that shattered record highs. A rainstorm just after that heat wave offered a hint of wetter times ahead. 

We had to wait until the final 11 days of the month for the skies to finally open up. 

The rainfall was uneven, focusing on northwest Vermont, while cheating other parts of the state out of the heaviest downpours. Here in St. Albans, 6.76 inches of rain came down in those 11 days. In Burlington, those 11 days featured 4.55 inches. 

For the month as a whole, Burlington had 6.27 inches of rain, which surprisingly makes this past month the fourth wettest October on record in Burlington. 

Elsewhere in Vermont, rainfall wasn't nearly as heavy in Burlington, but it was least everybody got some rain.  Most weather stations in the state had October rainfall just slightly above normal, with most reports coming in at 3.8 to 4.5 inches. 

Such rainfall is, of course, not enough to emerge from a deep drought. We'll watch anxiously for any heavy rain or even big snowstorms we can get our hands on.  

WARMTH

October was yet another warm month in Vermont, punctuated by an extreme late season heat wave on October 4-7.  Burlington tied its all time high for October with a high of 86 degrees. Montpelier tied its October record at 84 degrees. 

We were on the edge of an incredible October heat wave in southeast Canada that shattered monthly record highs by wide margins. 

All those 80s have been adding up in our age of climate change. In Burlington, 76 days this year got to 80 degrees or more,  Only five other years out of the past 130 have had more 80 degree days in a single year. Four of those years were since 2016. 

Storm clouds gather over South Burlington, Vermont
on October 20, signaling a welcome wet stretch
to close out the month. 

After that early October heat wave, the rest of the month featured no more extreme temperatures, but it remained consistently mild. Burlington ended up with a mean temperature of 52.9 degrees, which is 2.6 degrees above the climate-change influenced "new normal."

That "new normal" is the average of the years 1990-2020. Those years were warmer than the 20th century average, due to climate change.  

October, 2025 in Burlington was tied with 2012 as the 12th warmest on record. In general, most other weather stations in Vermont were also very roughly two degrees warmer than average for October. 

For only the seventh time since the 1880s, this October in Burlington had no days with a high temperature colder than 50 degrees. 

Unlike some Octobers, absolutely no snow fell in the state except in the highest elevations. That is until late last night.  Even before midnight switched the calendar to November, some places above 1,500 were snowing. 

LOOKING AHEAD

The outlook heading into November is mixed. 

Long range forecasts, always a bit of a crapshoot, predict near to above normal temperatures for November. The ever-important precipitation outlooks is a tossup, with mostly equal chances of above or below normal rain and snowfall. 

Despite the nice, wet end of October, we still need many drenching rainstorms to fully emerge from our tough drought.  

There's a little rain and mountain snowfall in the Vermont forecast, but nothing big enough to rock our world. 

The 2025 Trend Continues: July Was World's 3rd Warmest

Once again in July, 2025, it was hard to find places
that were cooler than the longtime 20th century
average. Parts of Antarctica and few other
small isolated places were cool, that's it. 

 July, 2025 followed a familiar climate trend we've seen so far this year: It was the third warmest on record, just behind the boffo hot summers of 2023 and 2024 across the world. 

This according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Information. 

Julys figures are in line with recent months, most of which were the third warmest on record. 

The data is yet another piece added to the mountain of evidence that climate change has transformed the world and might be accelerating. 

By the way, all ten of the world's hottest Julys have happened since 2016. It was the 49th consecutive July with above average temperature. It shows the climate has been changing mostly due to human influence for at least a half century. 

In July, 2025, the hottest spots relative to average included northwestern Europe, most of China along with Japan and the Koreas; northern Africa, most of the northern Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean and much of eastern Nort America. 

As we've consistently seen in recent years, cool spots were hard to find in July, 2025 but they were there. This time, we could find chilly areas relative to the long term average in parts of Antarctica, western Australia, parts of  India, central South America, a relatively small area in central North America straddling the U.S. Canadian border and a piece of the North Atlantic Ocean south of Greenland and east of Labrador. 

This year through July is still ranking as the second hottest on record, behind last year. NOAA gives this year a 99 percent chance of being among the top five warmest on record, but only a 1 percent chance of being the absolute warmest.  The record for world's hottest year in 2024 looks safe. For now. 

UNITED STATES

Most of the United States heat in July was 
concentrated in the eastern third of the nation. 

The Lower 48 of the United States had its 19th hottest out of the past 131 Julys in the National Centers for Environmental Information data base.  

Two states - West Virginia and Virginia - had their hottest July on record this year. Nineteen other states, including Vermont had one of their top ten hottest Julys.  

The interesting thing was the warmth was driven largely by very warm overnight temperatures. 

The nation had its fifth warmest average July low temperatures. Twelve states had the warmest July daily low temperatures on record.  The United States had its 33 wettest July out of the past 131 years. 

Nights have generally been warming faster than daytimes. Increased humidity  helps hold nighttime temperatures up. Since a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, this all makes sense. 

The Plains states and California were relatively cool, but not among the coolest on record. For instance, North Dakota had their 58th coldest and Texas had their 60th chilliest July.  In other words, something akin to what the mid-20th was like, before climate change really took hold. 

The United States had its 33rd wettest year. But rainfall really varied from place to place. New England was dry, a hint of a drought that began hitting the region in earnest this month. New Hampshire had its 7th driest July, and in Maine it was 8th driest. (Vermont was 27th driest).

Elsewhere, Utah had its second driest July and Alabama had its 6th driest.

Some places, by contrast, were pretty wet. Amid its hottest July, Virginia also had its fifth wettest July, so the humidity must have been miserable. The Midwest was generally wet, with Iowa logging its second soggiest July of the past 131 years. 

To confirm that this year has been the summer of flash floods, the National Weather Service issued a total of 1,434 flash flood warnings this July, the second highest July total in 40 years. There were 17 flash flood emergencies issues, along with more than 2,000 preliminary flood related storm reports.  

Kind Of A Stormy Vermont Sunday, New Wet Weekend Record Set. Then: More Rain, Cool, Then More Heat?

Dark green and yellow areas of this map are under
some risk of severe storms today, with yellow areas
at a slightly higher chance of severe weather. 

As of 7 a.m, this morning, it has officially rained today at the National Weather Service office in South Burlington, Vermont.  

Not much rain, but enough to make this the 31st consecutive weekend with precipitation. That's a new record for consecutive wet and/or snowy weekends.

The bit of rain Burlington had early this morning is not the end of it.  More showers and storms are due today. In fact, there's still a chance of a severe thunderstorm or two today, primarily in southern Vermont. 

It's kind of a messy weather system with a sharp end to it. 

Usually, if you want severe storms, sunshine during the heat of the day helps destabilize the atmosphere, providing more lift for the strong updrafts that produce torrential downpours and strong thunderstorm wind gusts.

It'll be pretty cloudy today, so that ingredient is missing. However, the incoming cold front is more like one you'd see in the autumn than one in mid-summer. 

This autumnal style means there's a sharp temperature gradient involved. You usually don't see that in July. Winds aloft will be strong for this time of year.  South winds ahead of the cold front will collide with incoming north winds behind today's cold front. 

All that should fire up some pretty decent storms, or at least some downpours. Plus, there is some sun in southern Vermont, which will help prime the atmosphere, too. 

Scattered showers will continue this morning, then it appears a main band of showers and storms should enter northwestern Vermont around noon, give or take. 

The band of showers and storms should head northwest to southeast across Vermont during the early to mid afternoon, strengthening as it goes. 

According to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, we could have isolated instances of strong winds along and south of Route 2, and slightly more cases of potentially damaging winds along and south of Route 4.  The rest of central and southern New England is in that same boat.

Most places will be fine. But a few of us Vermonters will be dealing with toppled trees and power lines. Almost all the trouble should be near or south of Rutland and White River Junction.

Much like on Tuesday, there's an extremely low but not zero chance of a brief, weak spin up tornado in southern Vermont and the rest of central New England.  That's not a big concern, since the chances are so low. But I'm throwing it out there to show that this cold front does mean business.

I also suppose a couple of the most intense and long lasting downpours could create a local issue with flash flooding in one or two spots today in Vermont. But if that happens, it will be really isolated, relatively minor and definitely not a statewide problem. 

Generally speaking Vermont should get a quarter to three quarters of an inch of rain out of this with isolated higher amounts. 

COLD THEN HOT

As mentioned, this is an unusual cold front for July. It's more like something that would come through in September. (One of the reasons some storms might be so strong is because this front is out of season. An autumn cold front would not be interacting with such humid air from the south to boost the instability).

Anyway, by late afternoon, northern and probably central Vermont will be in the clear, with sunshine breaking out. There might be an isolated sprinkle left over, but nothing to worry about. Cool north winds will might make you want to grab a sweater if you're doing an evening outdoor barbecue or something like that. 

Monday will be a typical September day with sun and clouds alternating and afternoon highs just making it into the mid 60s and low 70s. Monday night temperatures will drop into the 40s with some low 50s in warmer valleys. This won't anything close to record cold, but still, we're not used to it.

But summer is not over,  that's for sure. 

As I described Friday, the "heat dome" which controls big summer heat waves in the United States, is migrating a little more toward the central U.S. But we're still prone to squirts of hot weather coming in from the west. It now looks like we'll have a sharp boost of heat and humidity late week. 

Wednesday should get into the 80s but the humidity will be reasonable. On Thursday, we have another possible shot at 90 degree temperatures, with oppressive humidity 

Another cold front should arrive by Friday, but that one will be a typically weak, July style version, so it will stay quite warm even after the front goes by.  The changing weather pattern looks like it will still favor additional mostly weak cold fronts in late July and early August.

That means we'll continue with mostly warm summer weather, but on most days the really intense heat would stay to out south and west, with just an occasional oppressive or broiling day thrown in.  

Vermont Enjoying Its First Dry Day In Ages Today, To Much Wet Out There Anyway

After a gloomy few days, evening sun Saturday lit
up this flowery branch in St. Albans, Vermont. Look
close and you can see a spider web in the upper
right.  After an incredibly soggy start to May,
Vermont is about to be treated to a stretch of
dry, sunny weather. 

 It was such a pleasure this morning going outside amid bright sunshine, and a fresh dry breeze this morning in St. Albans, Vermont.  

Today will be the first rainless day since April 30.  Since March 19, there have only been ten days that have been precipitation-free, so today really is a treat. 

At least we can say that the drought we had last fall that lingered to some extent into the winter is over. 

In the first ten days of May, southern Vermont in particular has had more rain than we usually see during the entire month.

For instance, Rutland has had 4.05 inches of rain since May 1. The entire month of May there should have 3.63 inches. Woodstock has had 4.66 inches of rain so far in May, an inch more than what should come down there in all of May. 

We're actually fortunate to be getting a break in the rain. Things are so soggy that one more good rain storm might have triggered flooding worse than the minor stuff we saw Saturday. 

As it was, some of the minor flooding in Vermont was actually a little worse than forecast.  The Otter Creek at Center Rutland, Vermont reached 10 feet yesterday, which put it on the border between minor and moderate flooding. The crest was two feet higher than forecast and flooded some low lying roads in the area.

A section of road in Pomfret, Vermont is closed this weekend due to a mudslide. 

Further north, the Winooski River at Essex Junction stopped just a few inches short of flood stage. 

RAIN SHUTS OFF

Vermont is not going to see any rain of note until Wednesday or Thursday at the earliest.  Even then, it will be in the form of just scattered showers and thunderstorms. It won't be until Friday when we see a shot at any substantial, widespread rain in the Green Mountain State. 

Today, Mother's Day, will be the last genuinely cool spring day we'll see for awhile.  Don't get me wrong, the weather today is delightful. But it is brisk for the season out there.  Highs should only get into the 50s, with some low 60s south. The fresh north breeze should continue all day, keeping things feeling cool. 

But set yourself up outdoors out of the wind and in a sunny corner and it will feel nice. 

As I have been advertising for days, we have a week of at least sort of summer coming up. Every day from Monday through Saturday will get at least into the 70s, and I think we'll see some low 80s thrown in there from time to time later in the week. 

Tonight - as you can imagine - will be chilly, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear of a patch or two of frost away from Lake Champlain. Nothing widespread, though. 

After that, we'll have mild nights to go along with the warm days. With all the moisture in the ground now and the balmy temperatures, Vermont's forests will continue greening up fast, and your garden plants will be growing like crazy.

Of course, all the wet means the black flies are going to be awful for the rest of the month, too. And the mosquitoes aren't far behind.  

At least the strong May sunshine will make things less squishy underfoot as we get through this week.  I guess we finally get to enjoy spring. 

Vermont March Weather: Warm And Weird

A warm March sent daffodil shoots growing much
earlier than normal in Vermont this year. This new
spring greenery had to endure occasional wintry
setbacks, as seen here on March 21. That state
of affairs will continue into April. 

 Well, we got through another month, so it's time to look back at our overall Vermont weather in March, which, as you might have noticed was weird. And warm. 

MARCH TEMPERATURES

Burlington came in with a mean temperature for the month of 38.0 degrees. That puts us in a three way tie with 2010 and 1902 for the sixth warmest March on record. 

It's also the sixth time in a year a month in Burlington was in the top ten warmest list. 

This March was even warmer than the one a year ago, in 2024 which was merely the seventh warmest on record. Yeah, we've had a lot of hot Marches lately. A lot of hot months and years, actually, thanks to climate change. 

The entire rest of Vermont was much warmer than average in March, too. But figures are incomplete, as I noticed missing data on a few days from several of our regular long standing weather stations like Rutland and St. Johnsbury. 

The warmest March day in Burlington was 72 on the 19th and 20th.  This makes March, 2025 one of only 11 Marches in the past 140 years or so to get that warm.  It was not close to the hottest March day on record, though. It was 84 degrees in both March, 1946 and March, 1998.

Rapid snowmelt and some rain led to widespread, but minor flooding across Vermont around St. Patrick's Day. 

You could see the effects of such a mild March by the unusually early signs of spring. Crocuses were blooming by mid-month in a few locations. Green daffodil shoots poked up all through the second half of the month. The sound of returning red wing blackbirds filled the air in marshy areas way earlier in the month than usual. I even had a report of two of people in southern Vermont hearing spring peepers yesterday. That's really early for the season. 

Burlington had its final zero degree reading of the season on March 3. That meant nine days this past winter got to zero or below.  Historically we'd have roughly 20 or more such days per winter, so the downward trend in very cold days continues. 

MARCH PRECIPITATION

It was a little wetter than average virtually everywhere in Vermont in March, which is a good thing since we still have lingering effects from last autumn's drought. 

Precipitation wasn't overwhelming, though, as Burlington had 2.81 inches of rain and melted snow and ice. That's just a little over half an inch above average. By my count, Burlington had its 37th wettest March on record, so not all that impressive.

Precipitation around the state was similarly above average, but not to an extreme extent. 

Winter this March was notably absent until the end of the month. Early in the month, the summit of Mount Mansfield did have its highest snow depth since at least 2019.

But in most of Vermont aside from high elevations, very little snow fell into the end of the month. 

As we just saw, the last weekend of the month brought a big thump of five to nine inches of snow to the north, and a quite damaging ice storm to parts of central and southern Vermont.   

The snow and ice melted quickly during another very warm final day of March, though as of early yesterday, there was still 89 inches of snow near the Mount Mansfield summit. 

APRIL OUTLOOK

April is often regarded as a cruel month, as you think spring is coming, but you always end up getting slapped in the face with winter. 

That's no different this year. 

Today will be much colder than yesterday as many of us won't get out of the 30s. 

And, of course, Wednesday night, we're in for yet another round of snow, sleet and freezing rain. Though it won't be as bad as the last one, eastern Vermont in particular will likely see a glaze of ice, slick roads, and maybe an isolated power outage or two by early Thursday. 

The precipitation should change to rain on Thursday. 

Long range forecasts also call for mostly chillier than normal weather around here through at least the first half of April. We shall see. 

Even if it's a cool April, the forces of spring will win out. Normal temporaries rise rapidly. Today, the normal high temperature in Burlington is 48 degrees and the low is 30. By April 30, the normal high and low temperatures are 63 and 42 degrees.

You're going to see a much greener Vermont landscape by the end of the month compared to what it looks like now. 

Vermont February Was Snowy, Stormy, Still Not Historically Wildly Out Of Whack

A snow squall cuts visibility in St. Albans to near zero
on February 7.  This year brought Vermont one of the 
snowier Februaries on record. 

 The February climate data is in for Vermont, and as you've probably already guessed, we had a true winter month for a change. 

Even so, it wasn't really that out of the ordinary compared to past Februarys in the state.

Temperatures.

We were pretty consistent statewide, with pretty much all weather stations running between about 1.5 to 2 degrees cooler than normal, give or take. 

Remember, though, "normal" is the new normal. It's based on the average of the years 1990 to 2020. Those years were already warmer than the 20th century average, thanks to climate change.

Based on this "new normal," February, 2025 in Burlington came in at 1.7 degrees chillier than average. But had this exact same month occurred in the 1960s or 1970s, it would have been regarded as slightly warmer than average. 

Still, the month just ended was Burlington's coldest February in a decade.  

Temperatures never went to extremes at any time in February, really. February temperatures historically in Burlington have ranged as high as 72 degrees (in 2017) to as low as minus 30 (in 1979).

This year, the highest it ever got in Burlington was 47 and the lowest was 8 below.  No daily record high or low temperatures were set. 

Climate change has made daily record highs in Burlington generally more frequent. But we haven't had a record high since December 30. I wonder if we're overdue for that. 

Snow

It took a lot of shoveling to keep up with the snow in
Vermont during February, 2025

As you might have noticed, we definitely had a snowy month. Burlington accumulated a total of 33.2 inches in February, making it the fifth snowiest February on record. (Top spot goes to the very snowy year of 2011, when 43.1 inches of snow fell in February). 

The snow depth atop Mount Mansfield reached 98 inches by February 27 and 28. That's far above the average depth of 65 inches there for late February. 

I hope all this snow gave a boost to Vermont's economy. There were no thaws in Vermont to the very end of the month, and even then, temperatures weren't that hot.  Which means snow conditions for all kinds of winter sports were primo. 

Even though February was snowy, low elevations have not had a particular snowy winter. Burlington through February 28 has had 64.4 inches of snow since the first flurries came in November. That's jus slightly below the average for this date of 65.

Melted Precipitation

With all that snow, the water equivalent of the frozen precipitation and any rain that fell was above normal for February across Vermont.  That's a good thing, since most of the state still has a few lingering effects from last autumn's drought. All this snow melting in the spring will help with replenishing ground water. 

Burlington had 2.58 inches of rain and melted snow in February, which is a little over three quarters of an inch above normal. By my count, this February was Burlington's 21st wettest out of the past 141 years. 

Most everyone else in Vermont had about the same amount of precipitation as Burlington, except of course in the mountains, which had more. Most Vermont weather stations had about a half to two thirds of an inch more precipitation than average.

Looking Ahead.

More than perhaps any other month, March is a weather wildcard in Vermont. Early indications are this month will be no exception. 

We woke up this morning in much of the state with a little new snow on the ground, which is starting to melt as temperatures briefly rise above freezing. Then, temperatures will horrible crash starting this afternoon and continuing into Monday morning. 

After some below zero temperatures Sunday and Monday morning, it looks like we'll warm up to thawing and rain by midweek. From there, I imagine we'll have the kind of roller coaster we almost always have in March: One day wintry, the next springlike then back to winter.

"Upside Down" Weird Storm In Northeast Now Straightening Itself Out; Vermont Gets Just Light Stuff

Satellite photo from Friday afternoon. Click on image
to make it bigger and easier to see. Center of
upper level low pressure seen as swirl in central
New York. Thick clouds there and to its south and
west were dropping snow. to the north in
Vermont and New Hampshire, breaks in the 
clouds and warm east breezes made for
pleasant weather for late November, Odd day.

 Friday was certainly a weird weather day here in the Northeast.  

A winter storm that proved even snowier and then expected hit places like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, southwest New York, Maryland and West Virginia with widespread snow. Some of it amounting to a foot or so in the high spots.

Even low elevations in that region shared in Friday's snowy experience. A dusting to three inches coated many places from western Connecticut to Maryland

One area of mountainous West Virginia went under the state's first blizzard warning since 2012. Video of the West Virginia blizzard showed drifts, near zero visibility and powerful winds. 

If that region had such a bout of wintry weather, you'd think we in Vermont would really be embracing winter, right?

As you probably know, that didn't happen. Friday was quite a nice day for late November, especially in northern and central Vermont. 

It got partly sunny, with really strikingly pretty clouds gracing the skies as temperatures in some areas in northern Vermont reached the low 50s. 

So yeah, things really were upside down. 

The culprit for this upside down weather was that strong upper level storm that pulled in surface low pressure into the Mid-Atlantic. The very cold pool of air aloft associated with that upper level low created lift in the atmosphere to create precipitation. The cold pool provided more than enough chill for snow.

So, points well south of Vermont had their first real bout of winter weather oddly before Vermont could do the same.

East winds north of that upper low pulled mild air from the Atlantic Ocean inland to northern New England. A wedge of dry air caught up in that flow was able to partly clear the skies, even if there were a few showers mixed in with the sunshine. 

So not only was it relatively mild and pleasant, some very nice rainbows got into the mix across northern Vermont too. 

THE NICE ENDS

Now, welcome back to reality. 

While the Mid-Atlantic States warm up slightly - enough to start melting that snow - Vermont finally gets a chance to cool down toward a belated start of winter. 

It will be an uneven path to winter over the next several days, but we'll get there. 

Today

As expected, more moisture from a new storm has been pulled westward all the way into Vermont and eastern New York, so there was some rain and snow out there this morning. 

While points well south of Vermont dealt with snow
Friday, we hear in St. Albans had patches of blue
sky, pretty clouds and mild temperatures.

Precipitation isn't turning out to be as consistent as initially forecast, so many of us won't get all much rain today. Perhaps a quarter inch or less. Mostly less. 

Light rain will be pretty widespread in the valleys the first half of today, with the steadiest precipitation in northeastern Vermont. Which is good, since that region got cheated out of Thursday's rain.

The atmosphere is cooling, so snow levels were declining in elevation this morning. As of 7 a.m, traffic cams at high elevation roads like Route 17 in Buels Gore, Route 302 in Topsham and Route 242 in Westfield were showing snow on the ground.

I think a lot of places at elevations of 1,000 feet or more will see snowflakes, but don't expect much accumulation. Possibly a few inches near the summits of the central and northern Green Mountains.

Sunday

Sunday is still looking like a classic, blustery late November day.  Daytime temperatures will only be in the 30s, maybe low 40s in southern Vermont valleys. Northwest winds gusting past 30 mph in many areas will add to the chill.

There won't be much sun, if any, and scattered cold rain and snow showers will still be around. The central and northern Green Mountains look like they might see a few more inches of snow. 

Upcoming week

A modest storm is still due to come through Monday night and Tuesday. After a generally fair, cool Monday, enough warm air will come in to make most of this little storm come in the form of rain. 

A little snow might enter the picture again, especially in high elevations and when the precipitation winds down Tuesday night. There might even be a dusting in the valleys by Wednesday morning if things work out the way forecaster think it might. 

After a quiet, cold Thanksgiving, there's big question marks for the end of the week, for Black Friday fun. 

Some computer models bring a mid-size snowstorm through Vermont, other models depict a swing and a miss, with the storm going too far south to give us much of anything. I guess we'll find out eventually. 

Whatever happens, it looks like the cold wintry air that should arrive by the middle of the upcoming week should last a long time, at least through the first week of December and quite possibly beyond.

Looks like winter is finally on Vermont's doorsteps, folks! 

Vermont Experienced One Of Its Warmest Mays On Record. Entire Spring, Too

May, 2024 was great for lilacs in Vermont, though they
came early and didn't stick around for long since it
was such a warm month.

Yep, May, 2024 Vermont climate figures are in, and we've had yet another really warm month. There's been a lot of those lately. 

 Burlington clocked in with its second warmest May on record, with a mean temperature of 63.3 degrees. That's 4.9 degrees above the "new normal." 

 I keep calling it the new normal because average is based on the aggregation of 30 years of data ending in 2020.  

That period was warmer than previous thirty-year intervals because climate change had already begun to take hold in the late 1990s and first two decades of the 2000s

In Burlington the only May in the past 140 years or so that was any warmer than this one came in 2015, which was just 0.3 degrees warmer than this one. 

What is now #3 on the list on warmest Mays isn't even close to being as warm as 2015 and 2024. 

Statewide the figures were pretty consistent, with most stations running somewhere around 4.5 degrees above our "new normal." 

Montpelier reported its eighth warmest May on record and St. Johnsbury had its fifth balmiest May. 

WARM NIGHTS

Following a trend I've seen frequently in the past couple of years, nights were especially warm in May. 

This was another month in which nights in particular were particularly warm, running a full 5.5 degrees above average in Burlington. 

The warmth was consistent. 

The coolest it ever got in Burlington during this May was 44 degrees on May 1. I checked back as far as 1900 - all I had time for, I'm afraid, and the closest Burlington came to such a warm monthly minimum in May came in 1904, when the coolest night reached 42 degrees. With this year included, there have only been four Mays that failed to at least get into the upper 30s if not colder in Burlington. 

All the other weather stations in Vermont had warm May nights this year. Except for Burlington, the chilliest morning of the month came Friday, May 31.  You'd normally expect the coldest readings of May to come near the beginning. Oh well. 

Unlike in most of the rest of the United States, there
wasn't much in the way of severe weather in Vermont
during May. There were some strong to severe
storms in a few Vermont towns on May 21, though.
Photo here is a storm moving into Georgia, Vermont that day.

Frosts and freezes in May are pretty common.  This year, we largely escaped that. 

Since 1900, 89 of the 124  Mays saw temperatures of 32 degrees or cooler, so you can see how odd a month's low of 44 is.  

In Burlington, May, 2024 joined the 90 degree club, as it got that warm on 22nd.  I looked back over 132 years of records in Burlington and found only 23 Mays that had a maximum temperature of 90 degrees or better. 

Probably with the help of climate change, 90 degree weather in May is beginning to get more common. Seven of the 23 Mays with 90 degree weather have happened just in the past quarter century. 

We've had a string of warm months. The last time we had a cooler than "new average" month was in November. 

RAINFALL

As with temperatures, precipitation was pretty consistent across Vermont. It was around an inch or so drier than normal in most places, give or take. The rainfall was on the light side, but it was frequent enough to keep things wet enough for spring blooms. Burlington had 13 days with measurable rainfall in May, all pretty evenly distributed through the month.

Overall, precipitation amounts were sort of in the middle of historical averages. Of the 140 years since records began in Burlington, 77 Mays were wetter than the one we just had and 63 were drier. 

May, 2024, blessedly, was not a month for weather extremes in Vermont, which was a nice break. While  repeatedly rounds of tornadoes, very severe thunderstorms, derechos, giant hail and flooding afflicted huge sections of the United States, we pretty much sat all that out. 

The only severe weather of note was in eastern Franklin County on May 21, when a severe storm threw down trees and power lines and tossed down a bunch of hailstones. 

The one other big event in the skies over Vermont during May wasn't exactly meteorological. Much of the nation - including Vermont - enjoyed a spectacular display of northern lights on May 10.  Leading up to the event, skies had been expected to remain mostly cloudy, so we'd miss out on the display.

But skies largely cleared, especially in the northern half of Vermont, leading to quite a show.  This was the second time this spring we lucked out with weather for a big celestial event. Skies over northern Vermont also remained mostly clear for the total eclipse of the sun back on April 8.

NEAR RECORD WARM SPRING

Meteorological spring runs from March 1 through May 31. In Burlington, it turned out to be tied with 1903 as the second warmest spring on record, with a mean temperature for the three months of 49.3.  The only spring that was warmer was 2012, with an average temperature of 50.3 degrees.

We've had a string of very warm springs. 2021 and 2023 are also in the top ten list of warmest springs, at least as measured in Burlington. 

April Vermont Summary: Another Warm Month; Precipitation Pretty Average

Though April was a rather warm month, a big snowstorm
on April 4-5 didn't inspire much hope for spring. 

 The figures are in for April and, despite a big snowstorm toward the beginning on the month, we had another warm one.   

The Warmth

Most weather stations in Vermont averaged around a degree warmer than normal, give or take. But this is a "new" climate change normal, which takes into account the mean of the past 30 years.  Those years are warmer than what was typical of the 20th century, so the figures are a big skewed.

Let's take Burlington for example. The average temperature for April, 2024 was 46.9 degrees, or 1.3 degrees warmer than this "new" normal. But of the past 133 Aprils in Burlington, I could only find 17 Aprils that were as warm or warmer than this one.

Five of the Aprils that were warmer than 2024's version have happened since 2008.  

Also note that under this "new" normal, only one of the past eight months has been cooler than average. El Nino, which tends to warm us up, no doubt contributed to the warmth over the past year. Still, this isn't your grandfather's climate here in Vermont. 

Precipitation

Rainfall in Vermont was a little below average in the east of the Green Mountains and perhaps in some sections of central Vermont. Much of western Vermont was a little one the wet side, but not by much. 

For instance, Burlington clocked in with 3.21 inches of rain, which is just 0.14 inches above normal. There's been a mini-trend toward wet Aprils in recent years. Six of the past eight of them in Burlington were on the wet side. 

But spring did arrive amid consistently mild 
temperatures most of the month. A hard freeze on
April 25-26 didn't cause much damage. 

It seems like it's been a wet year so far, and it has. However, it's not that wet. Precipitation in Burlington through April 30 is 10.92 inches, or 1.71 inches above normal for this spot on the calendar. 

The only extreme weather in Vermont during April, 2024 was the big snowstorm on April 4-5.  Burlington collected 10 inches of snow in that episode, which means the month tied for the tenth snowiest April on record. 

Most of central and northern Vermont had at least a foot of snow in that storm, with several spots closing in on two feet. That's very impressive for an April snowstorm. The storm left 33,000 Vermont homes and businesses without power.

Almost equally as impressive is how fast the snow melted away. Snow depth at my house in St. Albans, Vermont went from 14 inches on the morning of April 5 to pretty much nothing by the time the total eclipse of the sun arrived on the afternoon of April 8.

A little more snow announced the start of a spell of hard freezes o April 24, but pretty much nobody saw any accumulations. Most gardens managed to survive the subsequent two nights with temperatures well down into the 20s and even upper teens.

The Big Event

Ah yes, the eclipse.  Certainly the big event of April, 2024 and a huge event in our lifetimes.

Climatologically, we had an 80 percent chance of overcast skies at the time of the eclipse. Literally for years before the eclipse I was pessimistic about how cloudy the skies would be. 

During the total eclipse of the sun on April 8, shown here
in St. Albans, high thin clouds added some color to
the skies near the horizon, as if it were a sunset. 

 In the months leading up to the eclipse, I kept saying the weather on eclipse day would feature dense fog with freezing drizzle.

The forecast on the morning of April 8 was a nail biter, as clouds began to encroach in the hours before the big event. 

In turned out the clouds only enhanced the experience. The clouds didn't cover the whole sky, and they were quite thin and wispy.  They formed a neat halo around the sun as the moon's shadow began to take bites out of the sun's disc.

When the total eclipse hit, the high clouds added some beautiful colors to the horizon as northern Vermont plunged into darkness. You could still clearly see the edges of the sun peeking from behind the moon during that incredible afternoon. We got totally lucky, pardon the pun, with the weather on the afternoon of April 8. 

Looking Ahead

As I say every month, it's hard to tease out what the upcoming months weather will be like. Long range forecasts through most of the first half of May suggest temperatures and rainfall might be close to normal. But as always, there will be some surprises in that department. 

Usually, May brings us our first taste of true summer weather. You know, 80s with noticeable humidity. 

That kind of weather knocked on our doorstep early this week, but got cut off at the pass so that most of New England stayed cool. 

I don't see any signs of such summer weather in any of the forecasts for the foreseeable future. Enjoy the temperate weather while it lasts. Long range forecasts from the National Weather Service suggest we'll have a hot summer.

We shall see! 

December In Vermont Was Wet, Mild And Wild

A heavy, wet snowstorm mid-month in December cut
power to over 100,000 Vermonters. A second storm
consisting of high winds caused another big round
 of power outages a week later. 

 We closed out the year in Vermont on a very mild note on New Year's Eve, which ended a mild, wild December, 2022 in the Green Mountain State. 

I'll have info on the year 2022 and how it sugared out in an upcoming post. But for now, we'll focus on a pretty extreme, eventful December. 

First, let's look at the mild aspect of the month. The mean temperature in Burlington was 31.6 degrees. That was good enough to place December, 2022 as the fifth warmest December on record. 

This is the third December in a row that is in the top ten warmest for Burlington. December, 2020 was seventh hottest and December 2021 as fourth hottest.

Eight of the top 10 warmest Decembers were since 2000. Though a note: There are actually 15 Decembers in the top 10 warmest list due to some ties. 

Six days during December in Burlington reached into the springlike 50s for highs. Only 12 days failed to go above freezing. 

Burlington is also one of the few cities in the northern tier of the United States that never saw subzero temperatures in December. 

It was warm elsewhere in Vermont, as you'd expect. Montpelier was a whopping 6.9 degrees above normal St. Johnsbury was a solid 4.7 degrees on the warm side. Southern Vermont wasn't as warm relative to average, but still on the mild side.   

It was a wet month, too, though amounts were really variable. Rutland and St. Johnsbury each received about 4.2 inches of rain and melted snow, which for them was at least an inch above normal. Burlington was only slightly above average for precipitation.

I'm not really trusting the Montpelier December precipitation total of 1.38 inches. I don't think the melted snow from the slushy storm on December 16-17 was fully captured there. 

December in Vermont was a month of power outages. Two storms within a week of each other each cut power to more than 100,000 Vermonters.

The first, on December 16-17 was a wet snowfall that accumulated to as much as 22 inches in Warren. The heavy, wet snow cut power to people across the state, especially in southern Vermont. Power was barely fully restored on December 23 when the second storm hit. 

That was the infamous "bomb cyclone" that affected most of the nation with snow, high winds and other dangerous conditions.

The storm caused every imaginable weather in Vermont it seemed. It started with a thump of wet snow. Then, the worst of it came with the high winds that were most responsible for the new round of power outages.

Winds gusted to as much as 71 mph in Burlington, its second highest wind gust on record.  The winds were accompanied by thunderstorms, breaks in the clouds and large rainbows.  The day also featured bursts of heavy rain. That, combined with melting snow from the previous week's storm led to flooding that closed roads in parts of central and southern Vermont especially.

Then, in the evening, Vermont saw crashing temperatures, white outs and black ice that made roads virtually impassable. 

After a few cold-ish days, springtime hit about four months early. Record high temperatures were recorded region-wide, including 58 degrees in Burlington and 61 degrees in Montpelier.

The low temperature in Burlington on December 31 was 51 degrees, the second highest "low" temperature for any date in December. 

As always, it's hard to predict how the next month will turn out.  Generally speaking, long range forecasts call for above normal temperatures more often than not during the first half of January. After that, it's anyone's guess.

March Was Another Warm, Dry-Ish Month In Vermont

After a relatively warm March, crocuses were popping
up on the final day of the month in St. Albans, Vermont.

Notwithstanding a few wintry interruptions, March weather in Vermont followed a trend we've seen very often in the past two or three years: It was warm, and at least in a good portion of the state, it was on the dry side. 

Temperatures were uniformly warmer than normal across the Green Mountain State. ranging from about 2.5 to 5.5 degrees warmer than average, depending upon where you were.  

This wasn't anywhere near record warmth - Burlington scored well below the top ten warmest - but it was an early spring. 

The early spring was aided by a continued lack of snow. St. Johnsbury, for instance, had 9.8 inches of snow for the month, which was six inches shy of normal for March.

The story was about the same in Burlington, where they had just under 10 inches of snow for March, which was 7.7 inches below normal for the month. Snowfall for the entire winter season as of last night in Burlington was 66.5 inches, far behind what should be the normal 83.4 for this late date in the snow season.

This will be the third winter in a row with pretty far below snowfall, unless we get a huge, surprise dump of a couple feet of snow in April, which is highly unlikely. It will almost definitely snow in April, it pretty much always does. However, it won't be enough to bring the entire snow season up to what is considered normal. 

Though western Vermont had near normal overall precipitation in March, eastern Vermont was on the dry side again. Montpelier mustered just 1.43 inches of rain and melted snow in March, which is about an inch shy of normal. St. Johnsbury was nearly a half inch on the dry side. 

By contrast, both Burlington and Rutland were right about at normal with 2.35 inches in Burlington and 2.65 inches in Rutland. Bennington was actually on the wet side in March with 3.46 inches of precipitation, which is about three quarters of an inch above normal.

If March is a sort of prelude to spring, April is the grand opening.  If things progress normally, there's a dramatic difference in Vermont between April Fool's Day and the close of the month.  

In Burlington, for instance, the normal high temperature today is a still-chilly 48 degrees, but by April 30 it should be 63 degrees or so in the afternoon.  A freeze is an almost nightly occurrence now, but becomes pretty infrequent by the end of the month. 

Of course, there's no such thing as a completely normal April. Temperatures have been as high as 91 degrees and as low as 2 degrees in April in Burlington. There's been as much as 21.3 inches of snow in April (1983). Only two Aprils in the past century, 1941 and 2005, brought nary a snowflake to Burlington.

Remember, Burlington is the banana belt, so I'm sure other parts of Vermont had snow those two years.

Of course, we don't know how this April will shape up. Short term forecasts are fairly easy.  We'll open April today with chilly rain showers today. They'll change to snow during the day, starting at the mountain tops and reaching valley floors tonight. 

Us valley dwellers will only see a slushy coating to a couple inches, but high elevations of the northern and central Green Mountains could see three to six inches by late tonight. 

Temperatures are forecast to be pretty close to normal for the upcoming week, with rain chances increasing by the end of the week.

For what it's worth, NOAA's long range forecast for the entire month of April, 2022 give us slightly better than even chances of being both somewhat warmer and wetter than average. We'll see! 

We Hope You Like Wind. And Yo-Yos.

A brief squirt of warmer air today has snow sliding off
my St Albans, Vermont roof. An active weather pattern
will continue probably through next week.

An active weather pattern is taking hold for us here in northern New England, and that means wind.  And we also hope you like temperatures that go all over the place.  

We've been in a regime for a little while in which it stays chilly here while a large part of the rest of the nation basks in near record warmth.

That pattern is starting to evolve.  We're still mostly in that chilly flow through the weekend, although today is briefly on the warm side. Today, though, will be the first of a few warm-ish squirts of air we'll probably see at least into the middle of the month.

That means lots of weather fronts will be coming through. Warm, fronts, cold fronts, occluded fronts, we got 'em all. Lots of fronts means lots of storm systems. None of the storms headed our way for the next couple weeks look as if they'll be super strong, but there will be a pretty steady stream of them. 

The changing air masses mean plenty of bouts with wind, and forecasting challenges for meteorologists in and around Vermont. 

The wind has already started today. A storm is going by just to our northwest, so a surge of gusty south winds is coming through, especially in the Champlain Valley.  This also means the bulk of the precipitation today will be rain. It won't be all that much, but it will be rain. Sorry, snow lovers.

The storm's cold front comes through late today with a surge of chilly air. This surge will create some pretty strong northwest winds overnight and into Friday. Those winds will produce some snow showers, especially over the northern Green Mountains. 

Most of us won't get much snow accumulation, but the mountains could get a few inches. Especially up around Jay Peak.

The next storm is a weak little thing on Saturday that will throw a few snow showers our way - no biggie.

The next one comes fast and furiously on that one's heels on Monday. Monday's system will be stronger,.  This one will go by to our west, with strong south winds Monday bringing us another brief squirt of warm air and rain.  The roller coaster will continue on Monday night with a strong cold front coming with colder temperatures and those gusty northwest winds. 

Some other system comes in next Tuesday or Wednesday, but it's too early to figure out what that one will do. Then possibly another mystery system next Friday - a week from tomorrow.

These likely windy storms won't have powerful enough winds to cause much damage.  At worst, there would be some isolated power outages and a few fallen tree branches here and there.  Precipitation with any of these storms won't be super heavy, either. So at this point, I don't see much of a risk of flooding or excessively deep snowstorms. 

But meteorologists will be faced with the challenges of when rain might turn to snow or back again, when roads might freeze and thaw, and how mixed precipitation might factor in.  These storms will be moving quickly, too, so they're fast moving targets. 

Forecasters will really need to be on their toes for the next week at least.