A May Winter Throwback In Vermont? Yes, Snow, But It Won't Be Too Bad

Snow on Mount Mansfield, May 2017.  A few flakes were also
coming down on the high elevations of southern Vermont
this morning. 

We've entered a chilly spell for May here in northern New England and on this Mother's Day, there's actually a little bit of snow to report.

And some more snow is coming this week.  

Before you panic, few if any of us will get an epic May storm. But the mountains are prone to some accumulations, and a cold rain will discourage our usual outdoor fun, especially Monday afternoon through Tuesday.

Today, Mother's Day, a storm is moving by to our south, spreading a chilly rain across southern and central New England, including southern Vermont.  The rain won't move too more to the north today, possibly making it as far as Route 4.

This morning, in the  upper elevations of southern Vermont, it's snowing.  So far, I haven't heard of much in the way of accumulation, and there probably won't be. Just some flakes in the air.

Snow in the southern Vermont mountains on Mother's Day isn't unheard of at all. There have been some pretty nasty statewide snowfalls on Mother's Day in the past, even in the valleys. I remember one such storm in 1996.

More recently, mid and high elevations in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine had accumulating snow on Mother's Day 2017.

The storm on Tuesday will be a dreary one, and will dump a prolonged period of snow on the highest elevations.  I imagine places above 3,000 feet could get several inches of snow. Mount Mansfield still has 50 inches of snow at the summit, so this will add to it.

It'll gradually warm up later in the week, but still be a little on the cool side for this time of year.

Yep, That Was Snow Higher Up On Mother's Day. Next Up: A Heat Blast

This photo was taken from inside a New Hampshire DOT truck
that was salting snow-covered roads in Plymouth, NH. Sunday. 

On Sunday, some higher elevation towns in parts of the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the Green Mountains of Vermont and especially mid and high elevations of northern and western New Hampshire got an unwelcome Mother's Day treat: Snow.

A few towns in New Hampshire were surprised by  four inches of it.  Along with power outages caused by wet, heavy snow weighing down foliating trees.

The summit of aptly named Mount Snow in southern Vermont got at least six inches.

This isn't the first Mother's Day with snow in New England and it probably won't be the last. I do remember a more widespread snow on Mother's Day, I think in 1996.

New Hampshire in particular had the snow because they were in the core of the weekend nor'easter's  heavy precipitation. The heavier precipitation cooled the atmosphere to the point where it was able to snow. It helped that the bulk of the precipitation came through New Hampshire at night, when it would have been cooler anyway.

You can see the results on a WMUR news clip on the bottom of this post.

The snow quickly turned to a light rain Sunday and the snow on the ground melted away.

New England is still under the influence of this nor'easter today, but luckily, no snow, except maybe in places like the tippy top of Mount Washington.

The problem today will be wind as there's a squeeze play going on between the departing nor'easter and high pressure coming in from the northwest.

Winds could gust to 40 mph throughout New England today, which, with trees now leafed out, ould bring down some branches and cause some local power failures. Leaves on trees act as little sails on trees on windy days, bending branches more than they otherwise would.

After that, we get another dramatic change. That high pressure in Quebec will drop down to a spot off the United States East Coast and strengthen. Southwesterly winds will pump summer air into New England by mid-week.

Quite a few 80s will pop up Wednesday, and if there's enough sunshine, a few spots could hit 90 degrees Thursday.

By then, a cold front will be approaching and thunderstorms could erupt by late afternoon, especially in northwestern New England, New York, southwestern Quebec and Ontario. A few storms could end up being strong. That'll be something to watch.

At the end of the week and next weekend, the weather will turn just about normal for this time of year, which will be nice after such a topsy-turvy weather week.

Here's that snow video from New Hampshire:

Mother's Day Weather: Nice Where I Am; Extreme Elsewhere

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

From @Basehunters via Twitter, an amazing looking
rotating supercell thunderstorm Saturday evening
near Hunter, Kansas. More severe weather is
expected today. Add caption

Up in my neck of the woods in Vermont, moms are going to be treated by probably the nicest day so far this year. Temperatures under quite a bit of sunshine will get up into the 70s.

It's probably a good idea to take mom to an al fresco lunch somewhere in New England. She'll enjoy the fresh air. Enjoy!

Not so in much of the rest of the country. Moms -and everyone else - will have to watch out for sometimes dangerous weather as our nation's bursts of extreme weather seem to be continuing.

The biggest danger spot is in Iowa, and in parts of eastern Nebraska and Kansas. There's a risk of strong long lived tornadoes today in that part of the nation, which of course are always dangerous.

There were several tornadoes Saturday, including one that caused a lot of damage in Orrick, Missouri. Luckily, in Orrick, population 800, there was a warning well ahead of the tornado, giving people time to take shelter. No injuries were reported. 

Just because Orrick had a warning, and people could see the tornado coming from a far distance, doesn't mean that will happen today. If a tornado drops suddenly, or is wrapped in rain so you can't see it, people won't see today's tornadoes coming until it's too late.

Let's hope they pay attention to warnings.   Normally, I don't suggest shoving mom into a basement for Mother's Day, but if you get a tornado warning, definitely do that. It'll be the best Mothers Day gift you can possibly give.

Even in places around Iowa that don't get tornadoes, huge hail and strong damaging winds are definitely worth worrying about today.

More to the west, winter is making a triumphant (??) return to Colorado. The Denver metro area is in for several inches of Mother's Day snow today, with a foot of snow expected in some of the higher elevations just outside Denver.

A Mother's Day snowball fight maybe?

Down in the Southwest, strong winds and the risk of wildfires is the worry. It's wicked dry in southern California, Arizona and New Mexico. Winds to 60 mph in that area won't help as the wildfire season gets off to an early start.

In southern California, record heat and strong Santa Ana winds are expected through midweek. You'll probably hear about some wildfires out there over the next few days, unfortunately.

Last night, I posted a video of that tornado hitting Orrick, Missouri.

Here's another view of that storm: