In Vermont, September Was Dry, And Wore Two Temperature Faces

On the last day of September, fall foliage
in Richmond, Vermont.  

If you thought September was nice in Vermont, you're right. We had lots and lots of sunny, dry days and not much rain.

Which of course could be a problem.  Yes, I can find the dark side even in pleasant weather.

Much of Vermont had about half, or even less than half of its normal precipitation in September.

For instance, Burlington clocked in with a month's total of 1.63 inches, which was a good two inches below normal.

In case you haven't noticed, it's getting rather dusty out there.  We really could use the rain.

True, it's definitely no crisis yet. Only parts of Vermont and New England are "slightly dry" according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and part of southeastern New England has fallen into "moderate drought."

A few good nor'easters in October and November will take care of the dry problem, but we do need the nor'easters. Or some type of good, repeated soaking rains.

Temperatures for September in Vermont were close to average, but the month really wore two faces. At the beginning and end of the month, it was like August. The middle was like October. We didn't have much in the way of normal September temperatures.

For the record, from the National Weather Service, Burlington's mean temperature for September was 1.6 degrees above normal. However, Montpelier was one degree chillier than normal and St. Johnsbury was almost two degrees on the cool side. Morrisville and Springfield were less than a degree warmer than normal.

The temperature got into the 80s seven times during the month in Burlington, which is more than we usually get. A record high for the date of 83 degrees was set on Sunday.

On the other hand, the temperature dropped to a record tying 32 degrees in Burlington on September 19. That was the earliest freeze there since 1964.

As always, who knows what the next month will bring. I'm sure something interesting will happen in the weather department. It always does.