Stormy East, Fiery West Continues Today

Tornado damage Monday in South Carolina

The well-advertised storminess in the East is continuing today with lots of rain, wind and maybe even a couple of tornadoes.

And out west, so far, there's been no gigantic wildfires as of early this morning, but the danger is still extremely high.

Let's tackle the details of the eastern storm first.

Several tornadoes spun up in the Carolinas Monday. There was damage around Spartanburg, South Carolina and other areas of the state, but no serious injuries were reported.

Today, the action shifts northward toward us here in Vermont and the rest of New England. Flash flood watches are up for the Berkshires of western Massachusetts and far southern Vermont as the rain is expected to come down hard at times.

A few thunderstorms could become severe from southern Vermont on down into New Jersey. There could even be an isolated tornado in this zone, especially from the Hudson Valley of New York southward.

Heavy rain is also a good bet outside the flash flood watch zone, including all of Vermont, but flooding won't be widespread. That is except in urban areas, where fallen leaves clog storm drains a the downpours move in.

The heavy rain band, over central New New York and eastern Pennsylvania early this morning, will slowly shift east and reach Vermont and the rest of western New England by afternoon. From there, the downpours will slowly shift eastward across the region.

The wind was picking up outside my house in St. Albans, Vermont before dawn today and it's going to be quite the windy day. That's especially true in the higher elevations and in the Champlain Valley, where southerly winds will funnel through between the Green Mountains to the east and Adirondacks to the west.

Gusts will easily reach 45 mph or more in some locations, so I expect some scattered power failures during the day today.   I think the strongest winds will come just ahead of that band of heavy rain that is slowly trudging eastward.

Also ahead of the rain band, it's incredibly warm for this time of year. At 6 a.m. it was 70 degrees in Burlington, Vermont, just five degrees shy of the record high for the date. And the sun wasn't even up yet!

I actually think Wednesday afternoon will turn out fairly decent as a pocket of dry air moves in. There will be partial sun and temperatures will be in the 60s. Definitely toasty for this time of year.

Lighter showers move in Thursday, then it will be pretty nice Friday and Saturday before another, potentially very wet storm comes in later Sunday or Sunday night.

WESTERN FIRE ALERTS

Southern California dodged a bullet Monday, with no major fires reported despite an incredibly high fire danger, but they are not at all out of the woods yet.

Santa Ana winds are continuing today, with temperatures topping 100 degrees in many areas. The relative humidity is under 10 percent and winds are gusting to 50 mph or more in some areas. Southern California could still ignite today.

The high plains of Montana and Wyoming  are under the gun for wildfires tomorrow. Strong winds, very warm temperatures for this time of years, and bone dry air will make rangeland fires likely in that area.