Saturday Update: Surprise Friday Snow, Temporary Spring Still Coming

After much of the snow in my St. Albans, Vermont yard
disappeared in 50 degree temperatures on Thursday,
 an unexpected 3.3 inches of new snow that fell Friday
returned my property to a wintery look Saturday morning.

I was frankly a bit dismayed Friday evening as I drove home from work in Burlington, Vermont, which barely got a dusting of snow during the day, to my house in St. Albans, Vermont, where I measured 3.3 inches of new powder that came down during the day. 
Some northern areas of Vermont, like St. Albans, got more snow than expected as a cold front came through during the day. There was enough moisture in the air to wring out when the cold front invaded.

When I said yesterday that, regarding this early preview of spring, results would vary. They did.

A more expected storm is still expected to hit southern New England tonight, with a quick burst of five to 8 inches of snow likely in most of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Similar amounts are likely near or just north of New York City. 

But that will be it for winter for the next several days as the long awaited big thaw is still coming.  The new snow in southern New England will almost certainly be melting rapidly by Sunday afternoon.

It's already developing as warm air builds in the Southeast and off the Southeast coast. There were record highs in the low 80s Friday in North Carolina. While that warmth has temporarily subsided down there, it will resurge - all the way to New England next week.

All the picky details still need to be worked out. Nobody knows exactly where warm fronts and cold fronts will set up, and when they will go through our region.

If fronts stall close to Vermont Monday through Wednesday, the warmth will be tempered by clouds and rain, but it will still be warm -- with unseasonable readings in the 50s. If the sun breaks through, it could get ridiculous, with temperatures maybe topping 60 degrees.

Places as far north as southern New England could reach 70 degrees. Like I said, insane!

Also, like I noted yesterday, despite the oncoming warmth, winter is NOT over. I'm absolutely certain we'll have at least an occasional bout in March with mid-winter style cold and snowstorms.