Winter In April Vermont Sunday Evening Update: Snow Mostly Done, But The Cold Will Intensify

A patch of miniature daffodils endures Sunday's snow
in St. Albans, Vermont. Unfortunately, intense cold
tomorrow night will probably kill them off 

 It was a wintry day here in Vermont as we start the third week of April. It snowed much of the day across most of the state. 

The snow came during the middle of the day after a warm spell. The ground was warm and some sunlight was trying to get through the clouds. 

Those two factors prevented a lot of accumulation. Had this been a month or two ago, we would have had several inches of snow in the valleys .

The fact that snow accumulated at all testifies to the intensity of it for awhile today. 

In the valleys, the roads stayed mostly wet, maybe with a few slush patches during heavier bursts of snow. Higher elevation roads got slick and slushy, which is incredibly uncharacteristic for an April afternoon 

Route 15 near Rowell Road in Walden had to be closed due to slide-offs. Interstate 91 in Sheffield Heights in the Northeast Kingdom also had some crashes. 

The cold, elevated surface of my truck accumulated 1.6 inches here in St. Albans. Of course, there was less snow on the ground, but it did accumulate on grassy surfaces and trees. Burlington reported just 0.2 inches of snow. .

The snow pretty much ended here shortly around 3 p.m.m but as of 5 p.m. there is surprisingly sone snow still in the ground. It's not melting all that fast. 

The last and of heavier snow was in central Vermont late this afternoon and heading east. 

A few breaks in the clouds were appearing over western Vermont, so that might melt the rest of rte snow before sunset.  New snow showers have developed in New York, so we'll probably see some of that in Vermont this evening. Some of the snow showers could be very briefly heavy early this evening, but they won't lead to any new accumulation. 

TONIGHT, TOMORROW, TOMORROW NIGHT

A reinforcing cold front late tonight and early tomorrow morning could reinvigorate the snow showers briefly, but again they won't amount to much. 

But early morning commuters will start the day amid subfreezing temperatures. Left over water might freeze, and any snow showers might briefly stick to the pavement better than it did today.  Monday continues to continue blustery and cold. 

Unfortunately, we've gotten no good news for Monday night cold temperatures in the afternoon forecast updates  The forecast lows for Tuesday morning still look to be in the 15 to 25 degree range. Lots or spring garden freeze destruction looms.

I'll have more updates on this cold weather tomorrow morning, of course!  

Out Of Season "Winter" Storm Blasts UK, Disrupts Peak Tourist/Festival Season In Scotland

Satellite view of powerful Storm Floris blasting the
northern British Isles earlier this week. 

A type of storm that usually hits the British Isles in the winter just blasted parts of that region in full summer. 

The system, Storm Floris, swept across mostly Scotland and Northern Island and northern parts of England earlier this week.

Some 70,000 homes and businesses in northern Scotland were without power, which brought gusts to over 100 mph in some areas. a gust to 134 mph was reported at the summit of Cairngorm in the Scottish Highlands.

In lower elevations, Wick airport in Scotland had a gust to 82 mph, with several other stations going over 70 mph according to the Met Office, which is the British equivalent to the U.S. National Weather Service. 

SSEN, the electric utility in northern Scotland, said Floris was "the most damaging summer storm in recent memory, " reported the BBC.

Storm Floris was the equivalent of a strong nor'easter hitting New England this time of year, something that just doesn't' happen. 

Train services and some ferry crossing were canceled in much of Scotland, which happens from time to time in winter storms but rarely in the summer,

The storm really affected Edinburgh, not because it caused a huge amount of damage, but it disrupted the peak of its summer tourism season. 

Some venues and performances at the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival had to be canceled because of the unseasonably stormy weather.  Edinburgh Military Tattoo, massed ranks of bagpipers and drummers at Edinburgh Castle that's one of the city's biggest tourist draws, canceled its outdoor performance on Monday. 

An Oasis concert in Edinburgh did went ahead as schedule.   . 

DEXTER 

Meanwhile, a former tropical storm from waters near the United States is forecast to briefly become an oddly intense non-tropical, more winter type storm in the central North Atlantic. 

Tropical Storm Dexter formed off the North Carolina coast and moved northeastward, out to sea. It will become a powerful storm with top winds of 70 mph roughly halfway between Newfoundland and Ireland. Luckily for the British Isles and elsewhere in Europe, former Dexter should weaken quite a bit on approach to the continent. 

 

Hoping This Nor'easter Is Vermont's Last Mention Of Snow Until Autumn

If you're bummed by the forecast of a little snow in the 
mountains the next couple days, it could be worse.
This is Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks
on May 26, 2013.

After a mediocre day of weather on Wednesday - I guess the best we can hope for lately - we're back to the deep chill and rain. And snow. 

The snow is still forecast to be limited to the highest elevations of Vermont and New Hampshire, but it's a little disconcerting to have this issue on the cusp of Memorial Day.

True, this kind of thing has happened before this time of year, but it doesn't make it any easier. 

THE FORECAST

For the vast majority of us in Vermont who will not see snow, we get to endure another three day spell of temperatures reminiscent of late March than late May.  

The dampness and mostly light rain and chilly easterly breezes will add to the misery. We are still forecast to have near record low high temperatures today. 

Burlington won't set the record today. It was in the low 50s before dawn and the record low high for the date is 49 back in 1917. Monpelier so far has tied its record low high for the date of 46, but it will probably get a little above that today, so no record.

If anything, though, Friday might be even a bit chillier. 

At least here in Vermont, forecasters have backed off a little on precipitation amounts. It'll be close to an inch in far southern parts of the state and maybe a third of an inch in the far northwest.

The nor'easter will be especially felt in eastern New England, where one to three inches of windswept rain is due, along with gusts along the shore to 55 mph, where minor coastal flooding is likely.  

Back here in Vermont, this will be a long lasting affair, starting today and going through Saturday. I think that makes this Saturday the ninth in a row with at least some rain. The stubborn storm will stall near eastern Maine and only grudgingly start to move away on Sunday. 

The snow, such as it is, will hit all the peaks of the Green Mountains but focus on central and southern Vermont where the precipitation will be heavier. I still think some of the summits down there will see up to three or four inches of snow. 

Worst case scenario, a few wet snowflakes will make it down to as low as 2,000 feet above sea level

COULD BE WORSE

If you think this is bad, harken back to May 2013.  On Memorial Day weekend, May 25-27, the mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire and New York got absolutely buried in snow. 

Mount Mansfield had 13.2 inches of snow. Jay Peak accumulated 18 inches. Mount Marcy over in the Adirondacks received three feet of snow 

The snow at times ventured down to valley floors. Snowflakes fell in elevations as low as 750 feet in Vermont, and accumulations were reported at elevations of 1,500 feet. 

Right before the the May, 2013 snow developed, in some cases serious floods hit parts of Vermont. Homes were damaged in some spots, and several roads closed. About 7.5 inches of rain poured down on Burlington between May 21 and 26,

And you thought this May was wet?

The 2013 late May storms set the stage for repeated flash floods in Vermont through June and the first half of July that year.

By the way, the latest in the season Burlington has ever seen snowflakes is on May 31, 1945.

So you see, this latest bout of cold rain and mountain snow won't be setting any records. Cold comfort, indeed.