Don't Worry: Spring Returns To Vermont Today. It's Already Started

Hyacinth in my St. Albans, Vermont garden buried under
snow this morning. It should be freed from its icy prison
by this afternoon as temperatures warm into the 50s. 

Well, that was something.  

The past two days in Vermont were more wintry than a fair number of days were this past January. 

Trust me, though. It's ending. Now, actually. 

The worst of the cold air actually started to lose its grip on Vermont last evening.  

Places east of the Green Mountains finally rose a bit above freezing at sunset, at at time of day when temperatures would normally start to drop for the night. 

Last night was not nearly as cold as the night before. Many places in the Green Mountain State actually stayed a bit above freezing. That means there was no additional damage to garden plants, but that fact is a bit too little, too late. 

 It's too soon as of this morning to assess garden damage, at least where I am, as everything is still buried in snow.  Snow depth at my house in St Albans, was still three inches this morning. 

Plus, there hasn't been an opportunity for things to fully thaw out yet. but by afternoon, I'll be able to look and assess. The snow will be largely gone for me, and most of us by evening. At least those of us who live at relatively low elevations. 

Unlike the frigid February stuff we had to deal with Thursday, it'll get up into the 50s today. That's not super warm, but it's still well within the realm of what we should expect this time of year. Winds will still be gusty, but it definitely won't snow. 

Given the ongoing shift in the weather pattern toward a warmer one, finger crossed, I'm pretty sure snow for the season in Vermont is done, except maybe in the high elevations.

Final snowfall for 2020-21 will thus come in at 63.1 inches in Burlington,  which is 17.5 inches below normal.  It was a mild winter. And spring for that matter, with notable exceptions like the past two days. 

Tomorrow - Saturday - looks even better.  Most of us should get into the 60s by afternoon. Any lingering snow in shadows will disappear.  

A daffodil, defeated by two days of snow and subfreezing
cold, slumps and dies in my St. Albans, Vermont
garden this morning. Warmer days are ahead, though.

One frustrating thing I've noticed this spring is the only time we get any badly needed precipitation, it comes in the form of a cold storm that involves a bunch of snow.  This has happened three times this month, with snow on April 1, 15-16 and 21-22.

When it turns warmer, it dries out.  We can't seem to muster any warm rains. 

We still need a boatload of rain. The recent storms helped a little, but we need several inches of rain to erase lingering dryness.  As of yesterday's weekly report, the U.S. Drought Monitor still showed virtually all of Vermont still experiencing moderate drought. 

Lo and behold, now that it's warming up, the precipitation for us is shutting down again.  

Forecasts for rainfall with Sunday's expected storm system keep going lower and lower.  Early estimates were for nearly an inch.  It's beginning to look as if we'll be lucky to get a quarter inch. At least it will be rain, not snow, right?

Sunday and especially Monday will be chilly and raw, but again, not anything unusual for this time of year.  At least it will get up into the 50s by day.  

It'll warm up dramatically during the upcoming week.  We even have a shot of touching 80 degrees next Thursday.  

However, I don't see many chances of substantial rain coming up next week. And longer range forecasts look "meh" in the precipitation department. At least we won't have to deal with more snow, though. 

Update: Winter In Spring Day 2 In Vermont. Spring Warmth Returns Soon Though!

A blinding snow squall with zero visibility and winds to 
40 mph blasts through St Albans, Vermont late this morning.

 I'm still not over the dynamic storm that struck the Northeast yesterday and today.  

The snow and oddly intense cold it caused in much of the nation, including here in Vermont and the entire Northeast is pretty incredible. 

The storm was so energetic that its cold front produced not only severe thunderstorms in the Mid-Atlantic States and southern New England, but also at least two tornadoes.

According to the National Weather Service in Albany, New York, an EF-1 tornado touched down in Amenia, New York, which is near the Connecticut border about 25 miles northeast of Poughkeepsie. 

That tornado, with estimated winds of up to 100 mph, damaged ten homes, ripped the roof off a restaurant, but caused no injuries.

A second tornado, an EF-0 with winds up to 85 mph, damaged trees near South Kent, Connecticut. This tornado was a little southeast of the first one mentioned above.

Given the fact we already had a tornado in Middlebury, Vermont back in March, it's beginning to look like this is getting ready to be at least the third busy tornado year in a row in the Northeast, at least by the standards of this region. 

Today, the storm that cause the snow, the tornadoes and general ruckus in the Northeast was departing, but it still had a huge impact on Vermont and surrounding areas. Especially for this time of year. 

Snow showers and snow squalls spun through Vermont, New York, Quebec and a few other places today, keeping winter firmly in place.   

A sad, frozen daffodil lies crushed beneath the snow 
in my St. Albans, Vermont garden today. 

Late this morning, one of the most intense snow squalls I've seen in any season -  including in the depths of winter - roared through here in St. Albans. 

It dropped visibility to a firm zero and produced wind gusts in the 40 mph range. There's a video of it at the bottom of this post. 

I was also impressed by how long temperatures stayed below freezing. Burlington, Vermont was at or below freezing for a full 24 consecutive hours before finally sneaking up to 33 degrees at around 2 p.m. today.

Some places east of the Greens and north of Route 4 had still not risen above freezing as of 5 p.m. today.  

Updated snowfall totals have come in, too. These include 8.8 inches in Greensboro, 8 inches in Hardwick, 7.4 inches in Nashville, near Jericho and 7 inches in the towns of Sheffield, Waitsfield and Cabot. 

Thankfully, any further snow showers will be confined to the mountains tonight. Valleys should expect nothing more than flurries. 

As many of you can see, the snow was still holding fast on the ground in much of Vermont as today drew close to an end. 

Don't worry, I'm still insisting a lot of the snow will go disappear quickly tomorrow. It still won't be necessarily warm, but good enough to get rid of much of that white. 

In a potential hint of what's to come, some forecasters are hinting that high temperatures in the warmer valleys of Vermont exactly a week from now could touch 80 degrees for the first time this year. 

Ahhhhhh.

Two videos:

The first shows the progression of the storm as snow accumulated in St. Albans, Vermont Wednesday:

Second one is the snow squalls today. The first snow squall in the video is incredible. Note the sound of panicked birds shortly before 1 minute in.  At 1:15 in, you would normally very clearly see a house right across the street. Not a sign of it during the squall. Here it is:

Winter In April: Get Through Today, And Spring Returns, Promise

A very wintry scene for April 22 this morning in St. 
Albans, Vermont. 

 I almost killed myself taking the dogs out for their business this morning in St. Albans, Vermont. 

Turns out the driveway froze solid and would make a perfect ice hockey rink.  Almost landed on my butt.

Spoiler: Our two pups weren't exactly thrilled by outdoor conditions, either. Wonderful for April 22 huh?

If we can endure one more wintry day, spring will return to Vermont. I promise. I can't guarantee the return of your early garden plants after this spell of Great White North weather, but we'll see.

With some added snow showers overnight, the storm total here in St. Albans ended up at 5.3 inches. That's near the top snow amounts reported so far in Vermont. The most I've seen anywhere in the state is 6 inches in Greensboro.

Large areas of Vermont reported three to four inches of snow. That's fairly impressive for late April. 

An uninviting morning today on our deck in St. Albans,
Vermont. Buried chair, frozen, dead plant, 
iced over dog's water bowl. 

Burlington's total snow came in at 2.8 inches, which broke the snowfall record for the date of 2.2 inches, set in 1988.

This was by no means the largest, biggest late season snow on record, despite the late season nature of it all. 

The latest three inch snow on record in Burlington came on May 9, 1966.  

The average date of the last three inch snowfall in Burlington is March 19, and the average last one inch snowfall is April 5, so yeah, this was a late one. 

More impressive than the snow is the cold. Not the intensity of it, we didn't come that close to a record low this morning. The length of time it has been below freezing is something.  As of 9 a.m., it was still 29 degrees in Burlington, which was the 20th consecutive hour of subfreezing air. 

The only comparable or worse spell of this type of cold I could find was in April, 1919. That year, the high temperature in Burlington on April 25 was only 27 degrees. It looks like the temperature went below freezing that year late on April 24 and didn't get above freezing again until the afternoon of April 26.

So, yes, it could be worse. 

Back to the here and now, snow showers are still scattered about this morning, especially in the mountains, where there's still probably some light additional accumulation going on. The snow showers will gradually retreat more and more into the mountains today. 

Frozen, snow capped and possibly destroyed lilac flower
buds in St. Albans, Vermont this morning. 

Those of you who received snow will hang onto it for another day. 

Oh, sure some will melt. Ground temperatures are warm, so part of it will melt from below. Afternoon temperatures in valleys will get a little above freezing. 

A little sunshine will poke through at times today, and that sun is strong. So yeah, it'll look a little better by the end of the day.  

But with temperatures holding for most of us between 30 and 40 degrees, it's not exactly a mega thaw. 

You'll wait until tomorrow to really clear the snow.  It won't exactly be balmy, but it will still be reasonable for April, for a change. Under variable clouds and still gusty winds, we should at least make it into the low 50s, which should get rid of most of the valley snow, anyway.  

Temperatures in the 60s Saturday should get rid of anything that's left, except for perhaps a few sad snowbanks. And there will still be snow left in the mountains. 

The next storm on Sunday doesn't look like it will bring especially heavy precipitation. Better yet, it will be all rain, except for maybe a bit of snow in the high terrain toward the end early Monday morning. 

Next week is looking decidedly warmer and springlike. We have that to look forward to! 

 

Today's Wild Vermont Plunge Into Winter Really Impressed Me

My garden shed and yard as it looked yesterday in St. 
Albans, Vermont........

 Today's snow was pretty amazing here in Vermont and northern New York. The amounts were pretty impressive but the low temperatures that accompanied it are off the charts.   

By late afternoon, when temperatures this time of year should be in the mid and upper 50s, it was actually below freezing across most of western and northern Vermont.  

This includes the normally warm Champlain Valley.  Bursts of heavy snow accompanied these cold temperatures. 

A for example: Burlington at 4 p.m. was 30 degrees with moderate snow and a wind chill of just 19 degrees. 

That's a very rare feat for a time of year when strong spring sunshine can filter heat through the clouds, keeping us at least above freezing.

This left us with a rare late April spectacle of icy, slippery roads, including the main ones. With warm ground, too, combined with the time of year, this should not have happened. But there you go. Be careful out there through this evening. 

This will surely go down for one of the coldest storms for so late in the season.  Not the coldest, though. I managed to find a day in late April with a high temperature of 27 back in 1919, but with less snow. Storm total in that spell was 0.6 inches. 

Snowfall with this storm has been pretty impressive for this late in the season. As of 4:45 p.m. 3.8 inches of snow had accumulated outside my doors in St. Albans, Vermont.  As of 4:40 p.m. Burlington had 2.3 inches. That made today their eighth snowiest day of the winter. 

So far, the most snow reported in Vermont is four inches in Walden, but I'm sure we'll get subsequent reports of deeper snow than that.  

.....and the exact same view this afternoon

It was warmer in southeastern Vermont where it rained, and warmer still in southern New England, where a band of severe thunderstorms rumbled through this afternoon. 

As the cold front smacked into eastern Vermont and changed the rain to snow mid to late afternoon, some residents had the luck to enjoy some thundersnow.   (Thunder and lightning while it was snowing).

Mercifully, the steadiest snow was getting ready to taper off as we head into the evening, especially in the valleys.  

There will be snow showers all night, but accumulations in the lowlands will be pretty minimal. 

It'll still continue to pile up in the mountains, though. Way up at the ski areas, it'll be six inches or more in the northern half of Vermont. 

Fingers crossed, it also might not get too much colder than it already is overnight. The lower the temperature the more damage to outside plants.  Most of us will keep hovering in the mid and upper 20s through dawn, but a few colder places will get down near 20.

The snow won't melt too fast tomorrow, as temperatures stay in the 30s to near 40 under mostly cloudy skies and continued snow showers. Still, with warm ground and a bit of the sun's warmth poking through, a fair amount of it could disappear. 

By Saturday, temperatures should bounce back up to the mid 60s, so this snow will by then be a forgotten spring nightmare. Except for the frost bitten, snow-smushed outdoor plants you'll be trying to revive.

After a cool, rainy spell Sunday (with no snow!) we have a shot of rebounding up to the mid 70s by Wednesday.  Winter to summer in just a week, how's that for ya?

A Wild Daffodil Destroyer Storm Today/Tonight Northern New York/Northern New England

Green grass and an abundance of daffodils surrounded my
garden shed in St. Albans, Vermont Tuesday. Incoming
daffodil-destroying storm will unfortunately 
change this scene for the worse over the next 24 hours.

I picked some daffodils from my gardens in St. Albans, Vermont last evening for an indoor flower arrangement. 

I did so because I suspect the dozens and dozens of daffodils blooming outside my house will be dead by tomorrow morning, I'm afraid.  

A daffodil destroying winter storm is set to pounce. 

Here in Vermont, we can expect some accumulating snow today and tonight, accompanied by a harsh freeze overnight and Thursday morning. Light snow had already started here in St. Albans as of 6 a.m. 

So much for spring. 

I'll get more into Vermont's wintry outlook in just a bit. But I have to say how chillingly impressed I am by the wintry weather extending across most of the nation east of the Rockies. The early spring this area has had so far has come to a screeching halt. 

 A swath of snow yesterday extended from Oklahoma through the Midwest and Mid-South.  Kansas City, Missouri collected 3.5 inches of snow Tuesday. Flurries dusted parts of Oklahoma. Paducah, Kentucky and Evansville, Indiana had their latest snowfalls on record Tuesday, though there might have been earlier snows before records started being kept there in the 1930s.

Freeze warnings continue to extend across a vast part of the country from most of the southern and central Plains all the way east to places like North Carolina and New Jersey. Snow will continue in parts of the Midwest, New York, northern New England and a good chunk of Ontario and Quebec. 

The dynamic storm and cold front are causing quite a contrast in conditions in the Northeast today. While northern and western Vermont and northern New York deal with snow, temperatures ahead of the storm's cold front will climb to near 70 in southeastern New England. 

The strength of the storm and this temperature contrast will help trigger some severe thunderstorms this afternoon from coastal Virginia to western Massachusetts.  A marginal risk of severe storms even extends as far north as the southern third of Vermont and the southern half of New Hampshire.  

VERMONT IMPACTS

As noted, rain and snow had already developed across much of Vermont and eastern New York early this morning. Winter weather advisories (sigh) are up for much of northern New York and northern Vermont north of Route 15 and away from Lake Champlain. 

However, many parts of Vermont outside the winter weather advisory will see accumulating, flower stomping snow and cold with this storm.  

The dreaded National Weather Service/South Burlington
snow forecast map is back today. Areas in dark blue
can expect at least three inches of new snow by
tomorrow. Yellow areas should see more like
six inches or more.

It'll snow most of the day in the Adirondacks.  In Vermont, it will be warm enough for a mix of rain and snow for this morning,  with all rain of course in southern parts of the state.

This afternoon and evening, the storm's powerful cold front will come in with a burst of heavier snow, especially in northern Vermont. 

It'll likely snow hard enough, even in the Champlain Valley, to perhaps mess with the roads for your late afternoon and evening commute.

If you already took your snow tires off, it sucks for you. Be careful on those roads later today and tonight. 

It looks like one to four inches of snow will accumulate in northern and central Vermont valleys through tonight.  This includes the Champlain Valley, especially north of Burlington. 

Places in the winter weather advisory in Vermont can expect three to six inches of new snow, says the National Weather Service in South Burlington. 

Higher mountains, where last Friday's snow hasn't entirely melted yet, can easily expect six inches to perhaps a foot of new snow through Thursday, especially along the peaks from about Killington north.

Temperatures by Thursday morning will be between 25 and 30 degrees with the snow and strong winds.  A few places will be even colder than that. 

It'll be interesting to see what early outdoor plants survive and which won't. The snow will crush the daffodils, no doubt, which is why I'm calling this storm the destroyer.  A few might survive, so I'll just have to assess, at least in my yard, once it warms up.

Lilacs, with flowers already budding, might not survive either in the anticipated cold, which is really sad. Brilliant white blooming magnolia trees will be a brown mess by tomorrow. 

In most of the area, apple trees in and around Vermont are budding, but mostly not yet blooming, so the apple crop might just hang in there, fingers crossed. Will the early green leaves on some trees survive, or just turn to black, wilted wreckage?  I guess we'll find out tomorrow. 

The snow will go over to snow showers later tonight, and continue all day Thursday under harsh northwest winds.  Temperatures will stay under 40 degrees in most valleys with winds gusting to 35 mph, so wind chills will be an issue. 

With lighter snow showers, possibly mixed with rain drops, valleys won't see any additional snow accumulation to speak of.  Northern mountains will be in the snow all day and will keep piling it up. 

At least the cold snap won't last all that long.  It'll be cold, but not quite as cold Thursday night and Friday morning, so I don't anticipate additional damage to spring greenery.  Friday will be blustery, but at least we have a shot at breaking 50 degrees in the afternoon.

Saturday actually looks pleasant before the next storm comes along Sunday.  Earlier this week, I had feared a cold shot Sunday night and Monday even worse than the one that's just starting.

Happily, I was wrong! It does look damp and rainy and chilly Sunday, but it won't snow.  It'll be cooler than normal Sunday night and Monday, but nothing horrific, with either a very light freeze or more likely no freeze at all at night. 

Signs point to warmer weather next week.  Not only for us, but most of the rest of the shivering nation as well. 

February Redux: Echo Of Winter Arctic Blast Freezing Much Of Nation, Vermont Included

All that dark bluish color in the middle of the nation
of the NWS home page is an immense area of 
freeze warnings due to a huge record cold surge. That's 
spreading east, so much of the East will have
freeze warnings later this week.
Snow for us in Vermont again 

 You'll remember back in February that big, record breaking Arctic blast that froze much of the nation's Middle and South, killing dozens of people, shutting down Texas and other areas of the South and just being horrible.  

There seems to be an echo of that Arctic blast going on right now.  Except it's April, not February. 

For the most part it won't be a winter storm that shuts down entire states, but it's going to be a widespread crop and plant killer. 

By the way, we here in Vermont get to share in the frigid excitement. More on that in a moment.

Freeze warnings today cover an immense part of the nation from central Texas to Michigan.  Those freezes warnings will be extended later to much of the East Coast as well by the end of the week.

Temperatures in parts of South Dakota were in the upper teens this morning. It was close to 90 degrees there earlier this month. Snow was falling this morning in places like Kansas City, Missouri, which is pretty much off the charts for this time of year.   

What I'd feared would happen this spring is happening. After that February freeze, spring took hold strong and early.  Everything from the Plains to the Eastern Seaboard bloomed way earlier than normal. 

Now, we get an Arctic blast.  (The same thing happened in Europe a couple weeks ago. A much earlier than normal spring, followed by record cold).

In this case, the United States freeze will probably lead to higher prices for fruits and some vegetables. Blooms and early stuff on cherry, apple, peach and other trees are going to be nipped in widespread areas of the nation. 

On a smaller scale, home gardens will be ruined, too. 

Record lows will fall quite a few cities from Texas to the Great Lakes. All in all a depressing state of affairs, but on the bright side it is April. The cold snap will end quite soon and we'll be back to the normal springtime warmth and outbreaks of severe weather in the Midwest and South soon enough. 

VERMONT/NEW ENGLAND EFFECTS

A pretty strong storm is forecast to form along the cold front ushering in this frosty air.  Forecasts keep trending colder and colder with this storm, as it's now expected to move across southern Vermont or western Massachusetts on up through New Hampshire and into Quebec, strengthening all the while.

It'll never really warm up west of the Green Mountains under this scenario, so expect mixed rain and snow for Wednesday, trending more toward all snow in northern New York, especially the Adirondacks. 

The cold air on the back side of the storm will really assert itself more later Wednesday and Wednesday night, bringing snow to pretty much everybody in Vermont again, even on valley floors. 

The only places that might escape any snow are around the lower Connecticut River Valley. 

Wednesday night and Thursday morning will also be the coldest we've seen since the opening days of the month. With the snowflakes flying, it'll be between 25 and 30 degrees for most of us at dawn Thursday.  That's enough to threaten early leaves, flowers, gardens etc.  That's especially true since winds will be howling from the northwest, gusting over 35 mph. 

Most of the snow falling late Wednesday and Thursday morning will be in the mountains, but you'll see flakes in the valleys as well. 

At this point, the National Weather Service in South Burlington isn't expecting any huge accumulations of snow, except in the high country of the Adirondacks and northern Green Mountains, where locally four to eight inches of snow could pile up.

In the valleys, it will be more like a dusting to as high as three inches. Still, the second snowfall in a week around these parts is a bit much for some of us. 

Thursday will be a lousy day with clouds, strong winds, scattered rain and snow showers and temperatures that will stay at or below 40 degrees. Yuck! 

It will sort of warm up again by Saturday before another kind of cold system comes along toward Sunday.  For most if not all of us, the Sunday system looks like it will be pretty much snow-free, except maybe on the highest mountain peaks. 

The Way This Spring Has Gone, Yesterday's "Normal" Weather Was A Real Rarity

Just a few broken daffodils in my St. Albas, Vermont
garden from Friday's snow, but under what for this spring
is rare seasonable conditions, we have a nice recovery.

This spring in Vermont, it's really hard to discern what normal weather should be. Most of the time, temperatures so far this season have been well above normal.  

In the brief interludes where it hasn't been toasty warm, we've had plunges into the middle of winter. We've had drought, some heavy rain, some heavy snow, even a tornado! 

Well, now we have a brief interlude that tells you what normal really should be. Don't blink, you might miss it.  It'll get weird again soon enough.

 If you want some sort of guide as to what we should be experiencing this time of year, Sunday's weather was exactly normal for this time of year,

Both Sunday's low and high temperatures were right where they should be this time of year. There were times where it was cloudy, then it would get sunny.  A few places got some showers.  There was even a lightning bolt or two in some of the stronger showers. This is on the money what this time of year should be like.  

Today and tomorrow look kind of normal too.  Temperatures will be a little above normal this afternoon, but not by a whole lot. There will be more scattered showers and possibly non-severe thunderstorms.  The strongest storms might produce pea-sized hail in one or two spots. Tuesday will be seasonable, too.

Then, poof, it ends. We get back into bizarro world again Wednesday.  A vigorous storm will come by, and the exact track of it will determine what kind of weather we get.  There will be a sharp temperature contrast involved, which makes things tricky. 

To the north and west, it will be dark, rainy, cold, maybe even snowy.  To the south and east, it will probably be balmy.  Where this contrast sets up in or near Vermont is anybody's guess at this point. There might be some thunderstorms in the warm air to the south, who knows?

Not to scare you, but one run of the European weather forecasting model I saw had several inches of snow piling up in the northwestern half of Vermont toward Wednesday night, even in the valleys. That scenario is an outlier at this point, but it's still something to watch, and maybe shudder about. 

If the storm goes by a little more to the south and east, there could be spots that get quite a bit of snow.  Many if not most of us will probably see some snow showers Wednesday night. Winter still wants to keep trying, huh?

Thursday will be cloudy, cold and windy with snow showers, maybe mixed with cold rain drops. It'll be the March weather we largely missed out on back in March. 

Goodness knows what the end of April will bring to Vermont. Locusts? Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs? Volkswagen-sized hail?  

I guess weather excitement does keep things a bit on the interesting, if frustrating side.