Snowstorm Now Beginning In Vermont; Might Be Bit Bigger Than First Thought

The National Weather Service in South Burlington,
Vermont has tweaked the expected accumulation
of snow from today's storm up slightly. Generally
six to 12 inches statewide. 

As of 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, snow was spreading southwest to northeast across New York State and was beginning to reach into Vermont.

This marks the start of what promises to be a pretty decent snowstorm across the Green Mountain State.

Total snow accumulations now look like they will be a bit more than first thought.

The storm causing this isn't a real big powerhouse and it's not that organized, either. But it does have plenty of Gulf of Mexico moisture to play with. And it's causing quite a surge of warm air to ride over some cold air near the surface.

No wonders there's winter storm warnings extending from northern Kentucky through Maine. There's lots of snow and ice flying out there. This storm is wet enough so that flood watches are up in the warmer air over southeastern Kentucky and in West Virginia. There's also an ugly mix of snow and freezing rain from this extending from the Mid-Atlantic states to southern New England.

Here in Vermont, the latest estimates are that the southern and central parts of the state will get a good 8 to 12 inch thumping of snow, with up to 15 inches in some favored mid and high elevations in and near the Green Mountains. Think Ludlow, Weston, Londonderry, Plymouth, Cavendish, Mount Holly, Shrewsbury, that neck of the woods.

Off to the northwest, in the Champlain Valley, there will probably be a respectable six to 10 inches of snow out of this. It's possible that far southeastern Vermont could get a mix of freezing rain for a little while, but don't hang your hat on that just yet.

The snow as it begins is rather light, so you'll look out the window before noon and say, "Meh, so what? This is it?"

But, as all the forecasters have been promising, things will really pick up this afternoon. Snow will come down at a rate of an inch or more per hour, which isn't record breaking but still pretty damn impressive.

That rate of snowfall is heavy enough so that road crews will have a hard time keeping up with it. Plus visibility out there will be awfully crummy.  That's why so many schools are closed today. Understandably, nobody feels like hauling the kids from school to home in such heavy snowfall.

My husband opted to work from home today in part so he doesn't have to deal with the heavy snow on the roads. I hope you were able to do the same.

One thing that is preventing this storm from being a huge blockbuster is that this thing will be rocketing past us. It ain't going to linger, folks. (Interesting that this storm is coming on the 40th anniversary of the Great Blizzard of 1978 in New England. The 1978 storm DID linger around here, to devastating effect.)

Anyway, the heavy snow from this current storm will rapidly shut down overnight as the storm zips on up to eastern Canada.

As promised, tomorrow will be a great time to either enjoy a powder day on the slopes or shovel away the snow from your driveway. Highs will be in the teens in the mountains, 20s in the valley. Winds won't be all that ridiculous, either, generally 10 mph, gusting to 15 mph in the valleys, and just a little stronger than that in the hills.

That's actually different than in most decent size storms. They normally crank up and give us strong, biting cold winds the day after the heavy snow. Not this time.

If this snowstorm isn't enough for you, there are chances for even more snow. Just not that much. A pretty lame system Friday still looks like it could give us anywhere from one to five inches of new fluff.

There's still another smallish storm Sunday that could give us snow, rain or a mix. No promises, but some of the computer models are starting to trend colder with the Sunday storm. If that comes true, we'll get more snow, and less rain. Or even no rain at all. We'll see.