Back To Vermont Snows Any Minute Now On This Saturday

Here's the snow forecast map we always display from the National
Weather Service in South Burlington when snow is in the forecast.
Dark blue areas should get 3-5 inches of new snow. 

For the first time in this relatively young winter season, the total snowfall for the winter so far in Burlington slipped to a bit below normal yesterday.

So far since the flakes started flying in November, 25.4 inches of snow had fallen in Burlington as of last night. That's 0.4 inches below normal for the date.

Snow cover is thin in the valleys, too, which probably frustrates places like cross country ski centers.

It still looks like snowfall will go back to a little above normal for the season as a light to moderate snow is still coming, starting any minute now on this Saturday, if it hasn't started yet where you are.

It was still warm early this morning, and precipitation was starting as rain in southern Vermont. The southern half of the state will see a fair amount of rain or a rain/snow mix for the first several hours of this storm, so that will cut down on accumulations there.

In the north, some areas, especially the Champlain Valley, might see some rain or mix at the start, but it will go quickly to a wet snow.

Now, wet snow is more slippery than powder, so that will have an effect on road conditions this afternoon and evening. That's why a winter weather advisory is up for the northern half of Vermont until early Sunday morning.    

Early January snow cover was very thin in my St. Albans, Vermont yard
this morning, but an expected three or four inch snowfall this
weekend should at least partly fix that. 

As we go into tonight and tomorrow morning, the wet snow will turn into more powdery flakes as the temperatures continue to go down.

When you shovel out tomorrow morning, you'll find a nice light powder on top and heavy wet cement type stuff underneath to clear, which of course is unpleasant.

In general, the National Weather Service is going for one to two inches of new snow south of Route 4; two to four inches roughly between Route 4 and Route 2; and three to five inches north of Route 2.

Of course, mountain areas (Read: Ski areas) will get a little more than that.  The flakes will fly pretty much most of the day in many of the mountains, but taper off to basically nothing additional during the day Sunday.

To add to the snowpack, light snow is likely Monday, and we have a shot at another moderate snowfall on Wednesday.  After that, with this active and relatively warm for winter pattern going, it's unclear if the next storm in the series coming along next Friday and Saturday will be rain, snow, or a mix.