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| Anvil clouds from the top of thunderstorms over the Adirondacks loomed over my house last evening in St. Albans, Vermont. The clouds were welcomed as they ever so slightly tempered the record heat that baked my town and the rest of Vermont Wednesday |
To recap:
Burlington's temperature rose to 95 degrees on Wednesday, breaking the old high record for the month of 93 degrees. The quote, unquote low temperature for the day was 72 degrees, also the hottest for the month of May.
Many, if not most years in Burlington see entire summers that don't reach as high as 95 degrees, so this is really something.
On Mount Mansfield, records don't go back nearly as far as Burlington's, but the top of mountain set a really impressive record. It reached 85 degrees there, the hottest temperature recorded for ANY month. Records go back to 1954 up on Mount Mansfield.
Montpelier, Vermont also set a new record high for the month of May with a reading of 91 degrees.
If anything, the heat was even more intense in soutbern Quebec, where some incredible records were set. The Montreal area seems to be the epicenter of this heat wave
As Dennis Mersereau writes in Forbes, it got up to a shocking 98 degrees at the Montreal-Trudeau Internation Airport. That's a record for the month of May and comes very close to the city's all time record high of 100 degrees on August 1, 1975.
STORMS, TOO
The heat contributed to enough instability to trigger some spotty severe thunderstorms where mountains managed to create updrafts.
A storm toppled numerous trees along and near Route 107 in Bethel. Other tree damage was reported near Waterbury and in Roxbury. The slow moving storms also dumped torrential rains in a small number of spots. The rain was heavy enough to prompt a flood warning for a time in and around Hancock and Granville, Vermont Wednesday afternoon.
HOT RECORDS KEEP FALLING
This week's amazing heat is in step with some wild record highs in recent years around Vermont.
For instance, Christmas Eve, 2015 saw temperatures approach or even reach 70 degrees in parts of Vermont. Burlington had its warmest December day then, with a high o 69 degrees.
In February, 2017, Burlington's temperatures soared to 72 degrees, shattering the previous all-time high for tha tmonth, which had been 63 degrees.
On July, 2, 2018, the minimum temperature in Burlington was 80 degrees, the first time on record that a day's low temperature failed to drop below 80 degrees.
We still get cold spells, of course. Witness the snow earlier this month. But, consistent with climate change, the extreme warm spells are often getting more extreme, while the sharpest cold spells have for the most part lost some of their bite.
LOOKING AHEAD
The worst of the heat here in past, though it will remain oddly warm and humid for May today and tomorrow. Clouds, in part from surprise Tropical Storm Bertha yesterday that came ashore in South Carolina, should keep temperatures below 90 degrees in Vermont today. Still, it will be in the 80s, so it will feel uncomfortable. Little or no rain is expected.
Another very warm and humid day is on tap Friday, but changes are afoot. Those changes come in the form of some cold fronts approaching us. The weather system should set off some badly needed showers and thunderstorms.
The drawback to this is that some storms may approach severe levels on Friday, with gusty winds being the main threat.
Storms might also drop some heavy rain. If several storms run over the same spot or two on Friday, which is possible, local flash flooding could ensue. However, it has been very dry, so flooding, if it happens, will be isolated at best.
That anticipated cool snap, with highs in the upper 50s to mid 60s and lows near 40, still looks like a good bet Sunday and Monday.
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