Hot Times Continue Here In Vermont; Record Winter Heat and Very Warm January

Here's something you don't see often: Pretty much snow-free
ground in my yard in St. Albans, Vermont, in the
northwest corner of the state on Feb. 1.  Usually this time of
year there's at least a foot of snow on the ground, but
record winter warmth has gotten rid of the snow.

I woke up before dawn to take the dogs outside my St. Albans, Vermont home this February 1 and the air felt and smelled like spring.

No wonder. The temperature has already set a record high for the date. It was 52 degrees in nearby Burlington, Vermont at 4 a.m., besting the record high for the date of 50 degrees set in 1988.

And, so, the hot times continue in my home state of Vermont. 

Let's go over some of the latest stats, based on data collected from the National Weather Service in Burlington, Vermont.

The mean temperature in January was 24.9, or 6.2 degrees warmer than normal. That's way warm, but not quite warm enough to crack the Top 10 list of hottest Januaries.

Still, this was the third month in a row that had a mean temperature five or more degrees above average. That's quite an extreme warm streak. Especially if you consider that December was by far the warmest on record -- a blistering 13.4 degrees milder than the average 12th month.

By my calculation February need only be 0.6 degrees warmer than average to make this winter the hottest on record in Burlington.

So far, the only winter on record in which Burlington never reached zero degrees or lower was in the record hot winter of 2001-02. It hasn't been down to zero yet this winter in Burlington, too, though I think the chances are very strong we'll go below zero sometimes in February.

There's no guarantee February will be warmer than normal by a fraction. There some very uncertain indications it might be on the cold side for much of the month, starting in about a week.

On the other hand, February is starting out toasty, as I've noted. We had that record high today. It did peak at 53 degrees in Burlington this morning, but a weak cold front will make temperatures slowly fall the rest of the day.

It also hit a record high this morning in Rutland, Vermont, where it was 57 degrees.

After a somewhat cooler but still warmer than average day Tuesday, we'll come close to record highs Wednesday. And temperatures will remain a little bit warmer than normal after that until at least Sunday.

This winter warmth is heaven for those of us who have to pay our fuel bills. But the unseasonable heat is screwing with Vermont's economy.   I don't think the stats are in yet, but I bet rooms and meals tax collections here in the Green Mountain State are down in recent months.

We depend upon skiers to boost our tourism industry in the winter, and the snow has been iffy at the resorts because of the warmth and frequent rains. (The forecast in Vermont for this coming Wednesday: Surprise! More rain.)

I know that some ski resort workers, many of whom don't make great money to start with, are working fewer hours than they want.

Maybe winter will arrive in February or March, maybe not. But if it doesn't, you'll sure to hear some Vermonters loving the winter that wasn't, while others will curse it.