Gorgeous Day in Vermont, But A Gusty Surprise To End It?

May continues on, green and lush in St. Albans, Vermont.
No frost here, but there was patchy frost elsewhere in the
state. A nice day today, capped by the chance of a quick,
gusty evening shower or storm.

As expected, there was scattered frost around this morning in virtually all of Vermont except the Champlain Valley.  

The very coldest spots included 25 degrees in Saranac Lake, New York. It got down to at least 28 degrees in Island Pond and Gallup Mill, Vermont. But almost everybody else stayed near or a wee it above freezing.

It was hit or miss frost, with some spots seeing a bit of iciness on the grass, while others just down the road got away scot free.

Speaking of hit or miss, there's actually a chance a few places could get some interesting weather to close out the day. 

Overall, today will be gorgeous, with a good amount of sun, pleasant temperatures in the 60s and a nice breeze. Perfect May weather. 

I mentioned earlier this week, though, we're getting into that summertime pattern of weak disturbances setting off showers and thunderstorms. The kind of weather we get all summer, really. 

Well, a weak weather front is forecast to sneak down from Quebec this evening. That just might be enough to trigger some evening showers and thunderstorms, some of them gusty. 

The air ahead of the front is dry, and the air behind it is even drier yet. So any showers and storms that form won't have a lot of rain with them. 

However, the dry air could help foster some gusty winds with a few of these showers and storms. As some rain falls out of the clouds, a lot of it will evaporate in the dry air on the way down.  This will help foster some gust fronts with the stronger cells. 

It doesn't look like any of the storms would actually be severe, but a few could briefly contain gusts in the 35-40 mph range. Enough to cause a minor moment of drama for us weather geeks. 

If these storms develop, they are most likely in the northern half of Vermont. They'll tend to weaken as they head further south after dark. 

Lightning Strike Hurls Asphalt At Motorists, Injures Two

You're really not supposed to be outside when there's lightning.

However, you are considered safe from lightning strikes if you're inside a sturdy building or inside a vehicle with the windows rolled up. 

All that is almost always true, except in the case recently of two people in a pickup truck traveling along Interstate 10 in Walton County, Florida.  

There, lightning seemed determined to hurt the couple in the truck, even if it could not strike them directly. 

According to television station WTSP in St. Petersburg, Florida, here's what fire/rescue found when called to the Interstate:

"There, they discovered lightning had struck the interstate, causing a chunk of roadway to fly right through the windshield of the pickup truck. Photos posted to Facebook shows glass shattered in front and back."

The pair in the truck were taken to a local hospital.  They suffered relatively minor cuts from the shattered glass in the truck and will be fine, says the Walton County Sheriff's office, via the Jacksonville Democrat. 

 Although a patch of the roadway needed repairs, luckily they didn't have to shut down a section of this busy interstate.

Just think if that powerful bolt of lightning had actually struck a person directly. I don't even want to think about it. 

 

Frost Advisory In Vermont As We Get Clipped A Bit By Large Cold Spell

My lilacs in St. Albans, Vermont starting to make an 
attempt at blooming, despite some damage from a 
hard freeze in late April. A frost advisory is up
for much of Vermont tonight, but won't be intense
enough to cause further damage to lilacs.
However, sensitive plants should be covered up
or brought indoors this evening

 A heads up for gardeners and such in Vermont and surrounding areas:

There's a frost advisory up for most of the state tonight. 

This won't be a hard, killing freeze by any stretch of the imagination, though the usual cold spots will probably get below freezing.  

Areas near Lake Champlain are not covered by tonight's frost advisory, because current forecasts have temperatures staying warm enough to avoid frosts there. We hope. 

Temperatures elsewhere in Vermont will be marginal, and frost could easily form as skies clear overnight and winds slacken off. If you already planted tomatoes or other really sensitive stuff in your garden, a dope slap to you!

It's too early. You should have waited. Cover them up if you have them out there. For those who are hardening off their sensitive plants, bring them indoors this evening, just in case. Large scale crops, like apples, should be fine as the cold will not be intense enough to cause problems with blooms or anything like that. 

After tonight, you should be fine for awhile as it looks like a bit of a warming trend will set in.

The risk of frost in mid-May around Vermont as you might well know, is pretty common. It's rare not to have a night or two with a frost risk this time of year .

It's been as low as 25 degrees in "tropical" Burlington as late as May 31 and frosts away from Lake Champlain sometimes happen in early June. 

This cool weather is part of a large cold snap that affected much of the northern tier of the nation.  It snowed in northern Pennsylvania Sunday, and Colorado got a late season snowfall yesterday. 

Frost advisories and local freeze warnings covered areas extending from Nebraska to Maine.  Just like in Vermont, all these areas are expected to warm up over the next few days, minimizing the risk of frosts heading into the weekend. 

Freezing levels were low enough in the atmosphere yesterday so that some of the showers that developed in Vermont Tuesday contained pea sized hail. I got pelted briefly by such hail while working in a South Burlington garden, and there were at least a dozen reports of the hail elsewhere in Vermont. 

All the hail was brief and the hailstones were all much too small to cause any damage. 

Signs Of Summer: Scattered Afternoon Showers, Lots Of Bugs, And Far Away, A Tropical Storm

We're getting into the season when most of our rain comes
from scattered showers and thunderstorms instead of 
dreary day long rains. Here's a view of an isolated 
thunderstorm in 2019 over southern Quebec, as 
viewed from Georgia, Vermont. 

It didn't feel like it outside this morning, but we're watching the weather pattern turn into a summer type regime before our eyes. 

It's Vermont, so summer-ish weather isn't always warm, but it has its distinct character.

Earlier in the spring, when we get rain (or, dreadfully snow), it's usually in the form of steady precipitation that lasts for hours as a large scale storm system passes by. 

Think back to last Wednesday, when we had a day-long soaking rain.  That's the cool season type of storm I'm talking about. 

Once we get toward summer,  the jet stream becomes a little more sluggish, and the large scale storms tend to be weaker. You can still get day long rains any time of year, but starting now, that kind of weather becomes much less likely.

Instead, we're moving into the time of year where most of our rain comes from scattered showers and thunderstorms. Most of those hit in the afternoons and evenings.  This is what we have to look forward to for the next few months. 

This is starting right away. A cold pool of air aloft set off some afternoon and evening showers yesterday, and will do so again today.  Here was already a couple showers around this morning, but they will be more numerous this afternoon. There's even a chance one or two places could hear a rumble of thunder. 

The showers will be hit and miss.  Some places won't get any rain at all.  Some places might get several showers today.  Nobody will really get a lot of rain out of this. If you have outdoor plans, you probably might have to sneak inside to wait out a shower, but it won't last long. 

There's a lesser chance of afternoon showers Wednesday, but they could still hit here and there. 

After a dry Thursday, weak disturbances will give us the risk of daily afternoon and evening showers through the weekend and into next week. 

Given that we've lost these big large scale storms, timing these small disturbance is tricky.  So is gauging their ability to produce lots or few showers or storms. At least well in advance, anyway. Just take it one day at a time. 

This being Vermont, we're not exactly getting into the summertime warmth and humidity anytime soon. It'll be cool for the season today and tomorrow, and in the near normal range of upper 60s to around 70 by Friday and the weekend.

I always look forward to this type of showery and thundery time of year.  The gray skies of a day long rain are more often than not kind of boring looking. 

Spring and summer showers and thunderstorms create blossoming and billowing tall clouds that are much prettier and interesting to look at than the dull stratus clouds. It's why people lay back in grassy fields in the summer and watch clouds go by. 

Also, it can get pretty dramatic under a particularly strong thunderstorm, so that's fun. Note: I see no signs of any severe weather coming up with the showers and rumbles of thunder we can expect over the next several days. 

The drawback to this new season is, of course, bugs. 

We're getting into the heart of black fly season in Vermont, and they're SO annoying, as everybody knows. 

It tends to be less windy the later you are in spring.  You wish for gusts of winds to blow the black flies away, but they are usually not forthcoming this time of year. You have to deal, I guess.

Far, far, away, there was another sign of summer over the past few days. A weak tropical storm formed off the west coast of Mexico over the weekend. It didn't amount to much. But since tropical storms and hurricanes are mostly creatures of summer and early autumn, that was a sign of a change of seasons. 

Still, this tropical storm, named Andres, was the earliest on record to form in this part of the world. Hurricane season in the eastern Pacific Ocean off Mexico doesn't even start until May 15, so this one was definitely an early go around. 

Cool Regime Continues This Week; Warm Up Later?

Despite relatively cool weather in the past week, the woods
and fields near my house in St. Albans, Vermont
continue to green up quickly.

 It's been a relatively cool May so far here in Vermont. Not that cool, mind you.  Just lacking in the types of spurts of 70 degree weather we saw in April. 

This state of affairs looks like it will continue this week.  However, due in part to the fact that normal temperatures are still rising with the season, it will get somewhat warmer by the end of the week. 

More importantly the weather pattern is adjusting to something in favor of bringing us weather a little closer to summer like.  At least eventually. 

Though the weather was fairly pleasant in Vermont Sunday, chilly weather  especially near the Great Lakes illustrated the cool weather pattern the Midwest and Northeast is in. 

Snow fell in parts of northern Pennsylvania on Mother's Day.  Frost and freeze warnings and advisories were up this morning in Michigan and Wisconsin. 

For us Vermont, we're getting another shot of chilly weather for the first half of this week.  The storm that caused the Pennsylvania snow was bringing a cold rain to southern Vermont this morning. Cold air aloft will contribute to scattered showers this afternoon.

On Tuesday, an even colder pocket of air will come in aloft over Vermont and surrounding areas. This will make instability even greater in the atmosphere, so there should be a fair number of showers around, especially in the afternoon. 

Expected high temperatures only in the low 50s Tuesday would be a good 15 degrees colder than normal. Stiff northwest winds will make it feel nippier than that . By Tuesday night, mountain summits will probably get another dusting of snow. 

Wednesday will be brisk, too, but not as bad as Tuesday. 

The second half of the week looks milder.  Temperatures will get well into the 60s which is a bit below the "new normal" temperatures that are out now. But it will basically be seasonable - pretty normal by mid-May standards. 

Long range forecasts are hinting at warmer than normal temperatures starting in about a week and continuing for a spell afterwards. That could be our first real taste of summer. 

Mother's Day Flowers, And A Few New Leaves And Buds

 It's Mother's Day, so most of us give our mothers flowers to mark the day. 

Crocuses emerging in late March, St. Albans, Vermont

In terms of weather, it's been a tumultuous spring, with early heat, drought, then snowstorms, frosts, and rains. 

There was even a tornado thrown in there!  

But, hearty Vermont flowers and plants and trees made it through as always, so this post is just an assortment of blooms, buds, new leaves and the like to celebrate our mothers. 

All these flowers are strong, a lot like Vermont women and mothers.

I guess you have to be tough to be a mom, or a flower, if you live in Vermont. 

Enjoy the day moms! 

Billowy spring clouds and a few early daffodils
on April 19

A hyacinth enjoys some April sunshine. 

Daffodils dance in the breeze on a sunny late 
April day in St. Albans, Vermont

More spring daffodils

That Must Have Hurt: Likely New Record Sized Hailstone In Texas

This hailstone, found near Hondo, Texas on April 28, was
6.4 inches in diameter, likely the largest hailstone
in Texas history. 

They say they make everything bigger in Texas.

Including hailstones, apparently. 

During a barrage of Texas hail storms on April 28 that likely caused well over $1 billion in damage, a giant hailstone fell near Hondo, Texas, and it is likely a record big one. 

The hailstone was measured at 6.4 inches in diameter, or about the size of a honeydew melon. 

The hail fell from an immense supercell thunderstorm near Hondo, Texas, west of San Antonio.  That storm - at least on radar and satellite, was one of the largest, most intense supercells I have seen.  It produced a tornado, winds of more than 80 mph and lots of giant hail stones, many of them as big or bigger than softballs. 

The storm weakened a bit by the time it got to the major city of San Antonio, but still caused a lot of damage there. 

In Hondo, which experience the supercell at peak strength, the wind driven, gigantic hail was so intense that the stones crashed through roofs and even walls of some homes. 

As soon as the storm passed, a woman retrieved the big hailstone from her property and threw it in her freezer. 

The National Weather Service office in New Braunfels, Texas helped dispatch the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety to check out the big hailstone. 

The IBHS has a fancy 3-D image scanner that can examine hailstones in detail.  They used the scanner to measure the hailstone at 6.4 inches in diameter. 

Radar image of the intense supercell storm over Hondo,
Texas on April 28 that likely produced the largest 
hailstone in Texas history. 

If you're wondering why an insurance related company would buy and expensive 3-D  scanner and go around measuring hailstones, it's because they want to reduce hail-related costs.  

The scanners can help the insurance industry understand the density and shape of hailstones and how they cause damage. 

Perhaps from there, roofs, windows, vehicles and other objects can be designed in ways to minimize hail damage, especially in areas of the country that are most prone to such storms. Hail typically causes more than $10 billion in damage annually in the United States.

As big as that Hondo hailstone was, it's still not the biggest on record for the United States. A hailstone that fell from the sky and onto Vivian, South Dakota on July 23,2010 measured a huge eight inches in diameter. 

That's about as wide as a sheet of standard printer paper, but lord knows that Vivian hailstone was a lot heavier than that!