Vermont To Get A Share Of Big Maine Snowstorm After All

National Weather Service in South Burlington is  upping
expected snow accumulations. Now 6-10 inches of snow expected
above 1,000 feet in northern Vermont, two to six inches
northern Vermont at elevations under 1,000 feet away from
Lake Champlain and dusting to two inches Champlain Valley. 

UPDATE, 3 PM WEDNESDAY

The snow forecast has been updated for the worse in parts of Vermont.

The winter storm watch that had been in effect for much of Maine and the northern tip of New Hampshire has now been extended westward to include northeast and north central Vermont.

Two to six inches of wet snow are now forecast between Thursday afternoon and Friday evening in the valleys of this region with six to 10 inches above 1,000 feet.

Travel will of course be hazardous and the wet snow could snap trees and power lines.

It now looks like there will be some light accumulations all the way down into the Champlain Valley, which is another change.  At this point, the Burlington area is expecting an inch-ish covering by Friday morning, with up to two inches near St. Albans.  Light mixed rain and snow will probably continue Friday in the valleys, with additiona snow in the higher elevations

Winter doesn't want to give up quite yet

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION:

Gawd, yesterday was a gorgeous spring day, especially in the northern half of Vermont. We enjoyed lots of sunshine, dry air, temperatures well up into the 50s and a bit of a pleasant breeze.

Daffodils in my yard are this close to blooming, and my lawn is rapidly turning green up here in St. Albans.

Time for a good slap of winter to get me and everybody else out of their spring stupor.

That dynamic storm system that will blow up into a powerful nor'easter near Maine turns out to have a few tricks up its sleeve for Vermont, it seems.

While the storm's wintry fury will focus on Maine and maybe northern New Hampshire, Vermont is in for some snow out of this, too. Not nearly as much as Maine will get, but still some for most of the state. Higher elevations could get quite a bit out of this.

Peaks in the northern Green Mountains could wind up with up to a foot of new snow by Friday evening.  Elevations above 1,500 feet are in for two to six inches of wet snow, says the National Weather Service in South Burlington.  Some of these spots could get more.

Little snow is expected in the Champlain and lower Connecticut River Valleys, but even there, Vermonters could well wake up to a slushy coating Friday morning.

THE SET UP

As the storm hits its early stages on approach to New England today, it'll help create a broad area of severe thunderstorms risks centered on the mid-Mississippi Valley. Huge hailstones are the biggest threats with these, along with strong winds. A tornado or two might also touch down in this region.

While we're waiting for the storm, today's weather will be OK. It'll get to near 50 degrees, and there will be a fair amount of sun, especially north. Enjoy it while it lasts.

The developing storm will have plenty of energy to work with as it crosses New England roughly from west to east Thursday. Here in Vermont, a cold rain will break out with this. But as the storm begings to consolidate along the coast the air above us will cool.

Precipitation will still be coming down at a good rate Thursday evening, and especially above 1,500 feet in elevation, rain will turn to wet snow.

This lovely white crocus now blooming in my St. Albans, Vermont
garden might get an unwelcome coating of more white from
possible snow Thursday night. 

Combined with gusty winds, the wet snow in mid and high elevations might be substantial enough to bring down some trees and power lines.

Thursday night, the storm will explode along the Maine coast, and that state is in for a literal blast. Much more than we Vermonters are in for.

Inland Maine could easily get up to a foot of wet, heavy snow out of this along with strong winds, so this will be really disruptive there.  Winter storm watches cover all of Maine except the coast.

The Maine coast doesn't escape the problem, though. There, high winds and coastal flooding are the major threats.

As the storm slowly grinds northeastward into the Canadian Maritimes Friday, moisture wrapping  around the back side of the storm will keep the snow going in the Green Mountains and Adirondacks, with several more inches of snow likely.

Even in the valleys up in the Northeast Kingdom, storm total snowfall looks like it could be around six inches, which is fairly impressive for mid-April.

This certainly won't be the worst Vermont April snowstorm on record. Not even close. On April 16-17, 1983, Burlington got more than 15 inches of wet snow, part of an April total that year of 21.3 inches. Burlington got 14.3 inches of snow on April 9, 2000. So you see it could be worse.

Another pretty strong looking storm looks like it might swing through Sunday night and Monday, but that one looks like it will produce mostly or exclusively rain around here.