Monday, February 13, 2017

Big Snow Totals From Departing Storm, E. New England Still In Trouble

My driveway in St. Albans, Vermont was only partly dug out
and I still had to dig out my truck after the latest storm
dumped 13 inches of snow on my property. 
Thank goodness I shoveled the first half of this snowstorm out of my St. Albans, Vermont driveway last evening.

Had I not, I would have struggled with a bit more than a foot of new snow, instead of the five or so inches that accumulated after I shoveled.

As of 6:20 a.m, my house at St. Albans had 12.9 inches of new snow from the storm, and it was still snowing lightly.

That's a little more than I expected, and I imagine we'll hear of several reports across Vermont of close to or even more than a foot and a half.

Snowfall reports are only widely scattered as I write this, and more extensive snow total reports will come in later this morning. However, there are several reports of around a foot of snow in northwestern Vermont, like in Franklin County and Grand Isle.

There are reports of at least a foot of new snow coming in from central Vermont, too.

At last report the National Weather Service office reported 10.6 inches of new snow.

It looks like an upper level low pressure system, moving across Vermont last night as an ingredient to create the big nor'easter now off the New England coast, contributed to the relatively high snow totals.

It won't snow much more today in Vermont, with most places getting no more than one to three inches of additional accumulation, especially this morning.

Winds weren't particularly strong as of 6 a.m today, but they will pick up dramatically this morning and gust over 30 mph, so we're still in for a lot of blowing and drifitng snow.

Roads were already snow covered and slippery this morning, and will remain so with all that blowing snow today. Expect a slow commute to work this morning in most sections of Vermont.  A huge number of schools in Vermont are closed today, or at least have delayed openings. Check your local listings.

While it's practically all over but the crying and the shoveling in Vermont, parts of eastern New England are still in big trouble with this nor'easter.

Across eastern Massachusetts, wet snow clinging to trees combined with strong winds have caused widespread power failures there. It's going to get worse today as winds will get even stronger - up to 55 mph during the day today. 

The nor'easter is generating huge ocean waves, and gale force northwest winds will plow ocean water into the shores of eastern Massachucetts, especially north facing shores on Cape Cod.

During the high tide early this afternoon, forecasters warn of extensive flooding, possible structural damage to homes and evacuations. 

Meanwhile, a full scale blizzard continues to rage today in Downeast Maine and parts of Atlantic Canada, especially Nova Scotia.

So count yourself lucky, Vermonters.

Aside from today's wind, we'll have good shoveling weather, as it won't be all that cold, with highs in the 20s. Tuesday will be an excellent day for continued clean up with some sun, temperatures again well into the 20s and - Bonus! light winds.

THAT STORM ON WEDNESDAY

At this point, it looks like the new snowfall on Wednesday won't be all that extreme, especially the further west you go in New England, i.e. Vermont.

A storm system from the west will cross the state and drop a few inches of snow, as it looks now. Like in the past two episodes, the system coming in from the west will probably trigger a strong nor'easter off the New England coast.

However, this time, the nor'easter will be further east than the previous two, so that its effects on New  England will be less.

After the mid-week episode, we're going to go into a temporarily quieter weather pattern for a few days with little if any storminess next weekend and temperatures starting to get above normal again.

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