Back Here in Vermont, Weather News And Changes During Michael Disaster

A hosta that hasn't been nipped by frost yet shows its fall colors
in my St. Albans, Vermont garden. It'll shrivel up with the
upcoming cold weather.

While we were watching the jaw-dropping disaster that was Hurricane Michael, we here in Vermont had some interesting weather for this time of year. Next, big changes are on the way.

Of course, our interesting weather in the Green Mountain State is nothing  like the extremes of Hurricane Michael. Which I'm sure is fine with every one of us.

Here in Vermont, we had a couple more record highs this week.

On Tuesday, Burlington tied its record high of 80 degrees for the date. Then Wednesday, we broke the record high by reaching 82 degrees, besting the previous record by two degrees.

Massena, New York also broke a record high with 82 degrees and Plattsburgh tied its record high of 81 degrees.

The 80 degree weather this week in Burlington means we've had 84 days this year with temperatures of 80 degrees or more. I think that's the second most on record, behind last year. I'll have to double check.

We have a new trend it seems for 80 degree weather in October. Six of the past eight Octobers in Burlington have had temperatures at or above 80. Before that, such warm weather will hit in roughly one of every six or seven Octobers.

Thursday was cooler with all the rain, but still humid. Dew point, which tell you whether it's uncomfortably humid or not, were in the upper 60s. So yeah, it was uncomfortably humid.

Plus, we set a new record. Burlington had 1.46 inches of rain, a record for the date. The northern Vermont drought stubbornly continues to hang on, at least somewhat, despite some rainy weather in recent weeks. So this helped.

If you like warm weather, I hope you liked this week, because a long lasting, cold change is on the way. The weather pattern is shifting big time, and a cool regime looks to take over. This generally cooler than normal regime looks like it could last at least to the end of this month, if not beyond that. That is at least if some of the long range models are correct.

By next week, most daily high temperatures across Vermont will be in the 40s, which is about ten degrees below normal. The mountains will become snowcapped. For the first time this autumn, the National Weather Service in South Burlington, Vermont last evening mentioned snow in the forecast, even in the valleys.

Don't worry, if it snows, it won't amount to much. But much of northern Vermont, including the lowlands, face a chance of snow and rain showers Wednesday night and Thursday. There might even be a few wet snowflakes mixed with light rain showers tomorrow morning.

There will be no heavy precipitation, either in the form or rain or snow, is coming anytime soon. The northwesterly flow that is bringing in this colder regime blocks moisture from the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico, so we'll have to wait some time for another burst of decent precipitation.