Wednesday, May 31, 2017

No Strong Vermont Storms Yesterday, But Today Could Bring 'Em

There's a slight chance of severe storms in areas shaded in
yellow today; Dark green has a marginal risk of severe storms
It turns out no strong to severe thunderstorms hit our fair state of Vermont yesterday.

Those storms stayed in New York and especially Pennsylvania, where there were quite a few reports of sizable hail and wind damage.

Here in Vermont, cloud largely hung in, suppressing storms. Also, some stable, cool air from the North Atlantic was brought in by strong southeast winds and made it all the way through Vermont into far eastern New York.

That marine air also did a lot to suppress storms Tuesday.

Today, we're in a similar weather pattern as yesterday with two differences. There will probably be more sun this morning than yesterday. Plus the wind has more of a south to southwesterly component, which means less stable, damp air from the Atlantic.

Yet another disturbance is coming in fron the west, so we stand a better chance of thunderstorms than yesterday. At the very least, there will be quite a few showers around this afternoon.

It's also slightly more likely that a few storms today will get strong to marginally severe. That means a few locally damaging wind gusts and a few towns will get some garden-punishming hail. These strong storms could happen anywhere in Vermont, but as of early this morning, southern Vermont looks like the most likely target.

Even there, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has a slight chance of severe weather.

As is always the case, most of us won't get strong to severe storms. If they occur, they'll be widely scattered, with maybe a couple of reports of wind and damage here and there across Vermont and much of the rest of the Northeast.

The usual safety precaution applies. If you hear thunder or see dark clouds gathering to the west, time to head indoors and wait it out. And postpone that hiking or boating trip until a nicer day. Tomorrow might even work.

If you're sick of rain and cool weather and clouds, I can't help you much. After a break Thursday when most of us won't get rain, showers are a good bet Friday, and then Sunday through Tuesday.

Oh, well.

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