Record Highs Again, And Cheated Out Of Rain Again?

There's a slight risk of flash flooding today in southern New England
(in yellow) with a marginal risk in green. Less rain will
fall in northwestern New England, where precipitation is really needed.

It was raining hard enough in far southern Vermont this morning to prompt flood advisories for an expected one to three inches of rain in a short period of time.

The flooding, if any, was expected to be minor, and the rain was needed.

Up here in northwestern Vermont, it was beginning to look like we would be cheated out of a soaking rain again. Sure, it was raining some early this morning, but it's looking less and less likely it will amount to a  whole lot today.

After a batch of light rain goes through by 8 or 9 a.m., there's not much upstream on the radar heading this way.

Still, there is the risk of rain through the day, as more showers and storms could develop before the cold front comes through. But we are just not getting as deep a rinsing as I'd hoped.

The southeastern half of Vermont, and the eastern half of New England in general today have the highest chances of decent downpours, and maybe some local flash flooding and a risk of a few severe thunderstorm.  More rounds of storms are almost a certainty today in southern Vermont

Here in northwestern Vermont, we're also recovering from a record hot day that was a bad combination for dryness. Yes, we had the record heat, but we also had the almost wall to wall sunshine, and most importantly, it wasn't humid at all, at least until last night after sunset.

Slight risk of severe storms today in much of New England
(yellow shaded area) Less of a chance to the west.

The dry air and the heat really combined to evaporate a lot of water out of the soil and such. It just made things worse.  A dusty day indeed in the garden!

Burlington's record high yesterday was 96 degrees, besting the previous high for the date of 94, set in 1969.

Burlington has now had nine days this summer with temperatures at or over 90 degrees. That's nowhere near any kind of record, by the way.


The National Weather Service office in South Burlington tells us the year with the most 90 degree readings was 1949, with 26 such days.

That must have been a brutal summer!

There are probably no more 90 degree days on the immediate horizon, though with forecast highs in the mid to upper 80s on Friday and Saturday, it could be close. And who knows what will happen as we get into the end of July and August?

The next chance of any rain after today will come along Sunday or more likely Monday.