Vermont, Northeast Snow Lovers Now Have Some Reason For Hope

The weather pattern across the country has changed, temporarily at least,  to one that is a little warmer and wetter than we've seen in Vermont and surrounding states recently.

A cold setting sun casts long shadows across the thin
snowcover in my St. Albans yard earlier this week.
A slightly warmer, stormier weather pattern
might thicken up the snowcover a bit.  

That's potential good news for snow lovers and winter sports enthusiasts who have had lackluster conditions so far this winter.

It doesn't look like it will warm up spectacularly, just into the 20s to a few low or mid 30s over the next week or so.

Since it won't be super hot out there, chances are any storm coming along won't come with  burst of very warm weather and rain, followed by a flash, below zero cold snap, like we've see often this winter.

That's no guarantee each storm to come along will be this nice powder dump, but there's hope.

The new pattern favors a series of storms coming out of the Midwest into the Northeast. Aside from an inconsequential thing with a few snow flurries Friday night, the first storm system looks like it will come along Saturday night.

It won't be any kind of blockbuster, and how much snow we do get out of it depends on which of two likely tracks it will take.

If, as one computer model has it, it goes across central New England, the northern halfs of New York, Vermont and New Hampshire might get a decent 2 to 6 inches of snow out of this. Again, not huge, but nice.

If it goes a little more to the north, as other computer models have it, precipitation would be much lighter, and might mix with a little sleet or rain. Stay tuned on that one.

Another storm, this one with maybe a lot more moisture riding along with it, might arrive Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. It's way too soon to say how much precipitation we'll get out of it, whether it will be all snow or some kind of sloppy mix.

Just be prepared for not freezing your butt off in subzero weather for the next week or so, which is nice. And be ready for potential bouts of snow or wintry precipitation.

It's only getting into February, folks. Like it or not, there's still plenty of time for more winter.