Tuesday Evening Update. Snow In New England Ain't Over Yet

Southern Quebec has been sharing in the snowfall that has
hit northern New England today. This is a view
of Montreal today. 

The mid-sized snowfall we're experiencing is still behaving according to plan as of 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

As noted yesterday, the most snow so far in Vermont  has been along the eastern slope of the Green Mountains, with 10 inches reported around Ludlow, 7 inches in Waterbury Center and 8 inches at Braintree Hill.

Also as expected, the western slopes of the Green Mountains have largely missed out so far, with as little as one inch of snow in places near Underhill and Jericho. Compressional warming down the slopes of the Greens has actually allowed the snow to mix with rain in places in the western slopes.

The western slopes will still get blasted later tonight and Wednesday.

Temperatures across many areas of Vermont hovered around 32 degrees this afternoon. The relative warmth helped keep road conditions not so bad in many places - with a big assist from Vermont Department of Transportation road crews.

Now, as night falls, temperatures are falling a bit and roads are getting more slippery in time for this evening's commute.

It'll keep getting worse. A cold front of sorts will come through a bit later this evening, say 6 to 9 p.m. which will create a slightly more intense burst of snow and a quick temperature drop of several degrees. That'll freeze things up pretty good, so the roads tonight will get worse.

We're still looking at a lull in the snow late this evening before we get more of an upslope storm along - yes it's your turn - the western slopes of the Green Mountains. If you western slope dwellers feel cheated by today's lack of snow, don't worry. You'll get yours.

I think Wednesday morning's trip to work will be tricky. This Phase II snow will be peaking at the morning rush hour, and I believe even places in the immediate Champlain Valley will be picking up  fair amount of snow. And it will be turning colder and windy at the time, so increasing ice and blowing and drifting snow will be an issue. It even looks like some parts of the Champlain Valley might get a bit of enhanced snow Wednesday morning as lake effect from Champlain kicks in for a little while.

I think the snow will become lighter and a bit more sporadic in the Champlain Valley during later Wednesday afternoon, but it will keep cranking up in the Greens. The forecast stands: The storm total is still looking to be three to seven inches in the Champlain Valley, six to 10 inches in the rest of northern Vermont. Some of the northern Vermont mountains, like Mansfield and Jay, could pick up a total of a foot and a half.

Beyond this snowfall, the weather pattern looks unsettled from Friday onward. It's still hard to tease out when it will snow, how much and whether it will mix with anything going into next week, but be prepared for continued winter weather.