Saturday, December 22, 2018

Rain Ends, Floods Conitinue Today In Vermont, New England

The Winooski River in Winooski was running very high this morning.
A flood warning was in effect.
One last round of downpours swept across Vermont early this morning, adding to all the water that is out there from the warm, wet storm that is finally departing.

The early rain will be pretty much it for this storm as far as precipitation goes, aside from some lighter rain and then snow showers from time to time.  

But runoff from the rain and the snowmelt continues, and flooding will be a problem in spots for much of the day. Although the flooding in Vermont isn't really extreme, it's affecting quite a few spots.

Including my property. A large section of my driveway in St. Albans, Vermont collapsed over a culvert after a small stream flooded overnight.

Before dawn, flood warnings were up along the Otter Creek in Rutland County and the Winooski River in Chittenden County. Flooding was reported around Lyndonville, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's lowland flooding along other rivers, too, like the Lamoille and Mississquoi.

The Mad River in central Vermont was above flood stage last night, but seems to be receding. Flood warnings were also flying for the Ausable River in New York's Adirondacks, and in several spots across New Hampshire.

You know the drill: Stay out of floodwaters and for gawd sake's don't drive through it. If the road is flooded and/or closed, don't be stupid. Turn around and find some other way to get to where you were going.

Temperatures were still in the 50s in many areas across Vermont before dawn, but those readings will be crashing downward through the 40s and 30s during the day today.

The warmth overnight was weird. Last evening, in St. Albans, the storm's "dry slot"  was overhead, and it had stopped raining. Skies partially cleared. A full moon revealed clouds racing at top speed south to north. You could actually hear the wind rumbling a few thousand feet overhead.

On the surface, winds were light. A puff of wind mixing down from above would spike temperatures into the humid 50s, making it feel like May. Then a puff from another direction would bring it down to 40 degrees in an instant. You stood outside and it was back and forth. 55 degrees one minute, 40 literally seconds later. Very strange.

The weather after today will stay pretty quiet until next Thursday night. There might be light snow and flurries around from time to time, especially Christmas Eve, but it won't amount to much at all, if anything.

It's looking like another warm, wet storm will affect us toward the end of next week, but after that, it looks like a pattern change is in the offing, with a return to harsh winter conditions to welcome the New Year.

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