The Gales Of November Come Early

November starts tomorrow, and November is the time of month when storm systems truly become winter type, often become mega-weather systems that produce a lot of wind.

The Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a November
gale on Lake Superior in 1975, claiming 29 lives  

And that's what northern New England, and much of the nation for that matter is facing has October closes and November begins.

Often in November, large storms sweep out of the southern Great Plains of the United States and sweep up toward the Great Lakes.

These November storms cause a lot of havoc, and this one will be no exception. Expect severe thunderstorms and some flooding in the central United States with this one today.

Since these storms are often strong, they produce a lot of wind. In Vermont and surrounding states, we often get blasts of strong, strong south winds this time of year as the storms pass by to our west.

That's the situation we find ourselves in today and especially tomorrow. There's a high wind warning for most of northern New York, which will be closest to the storm, and therefore most prone to the gusts. Winds there could reach up to 60 mph.

In Vermont, there's no warnings now, but I imagine they'll put out wind advisories for Friday because I can see how gusts could get into the 50 mph range.

As these Great Lakes storms always do, this one will sweep a cold front through New England eventually. After a very warm Friday (Highs in the 60s in many areas) the gusty winds will shift into a westerly direction, and it will get colder and colder over the weekend.

By Saturday night and Sunday morning, much of northern Vermont could be getting snow showers, even in the valleys, even as the winds of November continue after the passage of the storm.

It's a bit of a yearly tradition with me, but when I talk about these windy November storms, I always bring up the Edmund Fitzgerald.  One of the strongest Great Lakes storms on record struck in November, 1975, sinking the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior, claiming 29 lives.

The tragedy was immortalized by the famous song "The Wreck Of the Edmund Fitgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot. I love the song, it's perfect for a weather geek like me, even if the tune does make me a little seasick.

Sample lyrics:

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
When the wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too
'Twas the witch of November come stealin'
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashin'
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind

So here you go with the song: (Unrelated note: Doesn't Gordon Lightfoot look exactly like Jeopardy's Alex Trebek? Maybe they're the same person?) Anyway, the video: