New England's Winter That Wasn't Soon To Be Kinda Is

Incredibly, I was able to dig through
unfrozen ground, with no snow in sight
Thursday to start building perennial beds
at my house in northwestern Vermont.
I've never been able to do something like
that in Vermont in early February. 

UPDATE:


As has often been the case with winter storms across the nation this winter, the storm in parts of the Northeast today overperformed.

Upwards of a foot of heavy wet snow fell in parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts, as opposed to the 4 to 6 inches previously forecast.

The snow was very wet and heavy, which meant many, many trees and power lines collapsed under the weight of the snow.

The storm, as intense as it was, was rapidly moving away to the north and east late this afternoon. eastern Maine is still getting hammered as of late afternoon, but that will taper off tonight.

As have often been the case this winter, the latest storm pretty much completely missed the ski resorts in northwestern New England. The ground remains free of any snowcover in most of Vermont's valleys.

Better luck next time.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

Up here in northwestern Vermont, it's been spring for a couple weeks now.

We've actually only got a couple weeks of actual winter weather in mid-January, the rest has been fall and spring.

Winter is finally set to arrive in New England in the next couple of days, but I'm still not seeing anything extreme. More on that in a minute.

In Burlington, Vermont, the major weather station closest to my house, February has seen three of the first four days establish record highs for the date. Yesterday reached 54 degrees at 12:01 a.m., so the day started with a record high.

It was still just above freezing early this morning, making today the 12th day in a row that's gotten above freezing. Awfully rare for midwinter.  We're still waiting for our first subzero morning of the this winter. By this date last winter it had already been at or below zero 14 times, with many more to come.

At my house in St. Albans, Vermont, in the normally frigid northwestern corner of the state, there's no snow on the ground. Nearby St. Albans Bay in Lake Champlain is pretty much ice free, unheard of in mid-February.

Yesterday, I was digging out rocky, clay earth near my new deck to make room for shrubs and perennial beds I plan to install in the spring. Yes, I was digging up unfrozen earth in northern  Vermont in February. Incredible! (Plus, I was building a stone wall, and raking some leaves and plant debris away from another garden bed.)

Winter is finally about to descend on New England, although grudgingly for the next few days. Grudgingly, with one glaring exception.

A nor'easter with an awesome supply of moisture is clipping New England now, and wet snow is falling heavily across southeastern New England. The cement-like snow will accumulate to more than 10 inches in spots. Thundersnow was reported around New York City and that could easily spread into New England.. Downeast Maine is also under a winter storm warning for up to a foot of snow expected.

The snow-starved ski area of northern New Hampshire, Vermont and northern New York are pretty much missing out on this badly needed storm. Mad River Ski area in Vermont is still closed due to a lack of snow. Other ski areas are hanging on with man made snow, but many recent days have been too warm to make snow.

That's about to change. Temperatures the next few days in northern New England are only going to be slightly above normal through Wednesday. That's an improvement over the recent record highs, at least if you're a winter sports lover.

It'll be cold enough to make snow in the mountains. Plus there are several chances of snow for the North Country through next week.

'm not seeiing any blockbuster heavy snows, but there's a slight chance a complicated weather pattern toward Tuesday or Wednesday could yield some decent snows. Even if that doesn't come to pass, the mountains at least will pile up several inches of natural snow over the next week, and the valleys will turn white, or at least white-ish again.

There are also still signs some true winter weather will arrive toward the middle or end of next week and stick around New England for awhile. In fact, in about 10 days, the first subzero readings of the winter might finally arrive in Burlington, Vermont. Maybe.

Stay tuned.