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| Midwinter conditions: I took this photo of my St. Albans, Vermont yard today, April 15. I swear I did not take this image on January 15, but it sure looks like it. |
On this Sunday morning, we're still stuck here in frigid temperatures - in the 20s. Most of us are getting light snow, sleet and freezing rain, and that state of affairs should continue all day.
Temperatures which should be in the 50s by afternoon will stay stuck remarkably below freezing all day.
Some parts of far northern Vermont will have close to 48 hours of continuously below freezing temperatures before this is over -- in April!
I guess I try to console myself by saying it's worse elsewhere and it is (I've got news and video at the bottom of this post to prove it. You'll want to take a look.. However, it's not much worse elsewhere than it is here in Vermont, I'm afraid.
Still, we don't have all that much ice on the trees. At least not yet. And snowfall has been relatively light. Most areas in the north received 2.5 inches of snow and sleet or less. Here in St. Albans, I was at an even two inches as of 7:30 this morning
Today, precipitation won't come down particularly hard, and might stop altogether for some brief periods. But it'll all be snow, sleet and freezing rain, with less snow and more freezing rain by afternoon.
More occasional freezing rain, possibly turning into a cold rain later on, should continue tonight.
However the worst is not here yet. It turns out the worst isn't going to be ice or snow or flooding. It looks like high winds will be the most dangerous and destructive aspect of this storm.
DANGEROUS WINDS MONDAY
Things are coming together to produce a destructive high wind event, mostly along the western slopes of the Green Mountains. This one could turn out to be as dangerous and damaging as the epic wind storm last October, and the extreme nor'easter winds that trashed Rutland and surrounding areas in April, 2007.
The wind direction, the pressure gradient between the storm approaching from the Ohio Valley and that frigid high pressure system in Canada that has been torturing us this weekend looks like they might come together perfectly to create very strong downslope winds Monday along the western slopes of the Greens.
There's danger anywhere in that range Monday from east of Bennington to northeast of St. Albans. At this point, the National Weather Service in South Burlington is saying the worst of the wind might end up in eastern Rutland and Addison counties, where winds in some spots could gust to 75 mph.
Elsewhere along the western slopes in Vermont, winds could gust to 60 mph or higher. There are also signs that some gusts could "bounce" further west into western Vermont. That's what happened in 2007 in Rutland, when those downslope winds extended westward into the city's downtown, which caused a LOT of damage.
This also happened last October, when those winds extended westward, especially into places like Colchester, Milton and Georgia, where there was a lot of tree and structural damage.
There's no guarantee these winds will extend into more populated areas, but it's something to watch.
A couple of other things that are expected to make this wind storm even more dangerous than it otherwise would be: The soil is saturated, and thus softer, making it easier for winds to push over trees. (The soil didn't freeze in this snow and cold snap, or if it did, only the top inch or so is frozen, so that doesn't make much of a difference.)
Also, there might also still be ice clinging to the trees in some areas when the wind gets cranking, making it all the more likely they'll topple in gusts.
If you live along the western slopes of the Green Mountains, definitely get your flashlights and your LED candles ready. And charge up your devices. I guarantee power failures on Monday.
I would also repeat that the wind could get strong enough to cause scattered power failures and tree damage away from the western slopes of the Green Mountains, too.
If there's any good news in this awful weather and awful forecast, it's that it looks like the flood threat on Monday is definitely diminished. So much so that the National Weather Service has dropped the flood watch.
It won't rain as hard as originally anticipated on Monday and Monday night. Plus, it won't get as warm as originally forecast. And what warming we do get was originally scheduled to start coming in today, but has now been postponed until Monday.
That means less runoff from melting snow and ice, so rivers won't rise so much. There might be localized minor flooding, but it won't be that huge a deal.
LOOKING AHEAD
If you want full-blown spring here in Vermont, keep waiting. It's going to be awhile. That said, things will get better than they have been this weekend. Temperatures will still stay a little colder than normal all of this upcoming week, but it won't feel like mid-winter. Maybe like March, with highs mostly in the 40s most days.
It'll stay unsettled with scattered rain and mostly mountain snow showers Tuesday and to a somewhat lesser extent Wednesday. It looks like another storm is coming in Thursday or Friday, but it's unclear at this point if we'll get a lot or a little precipitation out of that one.
The good news is it looks like whatever comes Thursday and Friday will be mostly or exclusively in the form of rain and not ice and snow.
Unfortunately, at the moment I'm not finding many hints of any springtime warmth of note in any of the long range forecasts
MISERY ELSEWHERE IN U.S., CANADA
The blizzard in the northern Plains and into the western Great Lakes area is finally beginning to diminish today.
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| Tornado damage in Meridian, Mississippi on Saturday. Photo by Paula Merrit/Meridian Star |
There have been some incredible snow totals out there, especially for mid-April, and in some areas it's still snowing.
Some examples so far: Tiverton, Wisconsin got 24.` inches of snow. An even 20 inches came down in Okreek and Winner, South Dakota. Canby, Minnesota got 19 inches.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota got 13.7 inches of snow Saturday, it's snowiest April day on record. So far this month in Sioux Falls, they've had 24.9 inches of snow, making this by far the snowiest April on record there.
Minneapolis got 11 inches of snow through midnight Saturday, bringing this month's total to 22.5 inches, to create that city's snowiest April, breaking the old record set in 1983. It was still snowing in Minneapolis this morning.
Between the heavy snow and winds gusting past 50 mph, many Interstate and other highways were shut down in the region Saturday.
Meanwhile, freezing rain was causing car crashes and power outages around Toronto, Ontario, Canada and in western New York.
In Oklahoma, wildfires have killed two people and burned over 366,000 acres. Wildfires there spread as fast as a mile every ten minutes. Several homes were destroyed by wildfires in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.
Winds have calmed down out there temporarily, but very high fire danger is expected to resume Monday and Tuesday.
Severe storms and tornadoes continued in the South Saturday, with one tornado in particular causing a lot of damage around Meridian, Mississippi. (one of the videos below shows it.) Today, severe weather and possible tornadoes could develop in the Southeast, especially in the Carolinas.
Some videos now.
We'll start with a couple of moments of tornado drama. The first was a giddy guy being way too close to an Arkansas tornado on Friday.
Next, we have some people in a house in Meridian, Mississippi as things get bad in a hurry as a tornado comes over. Pretty terrifying!
Here's a news clip of lovely blizzard weather in Nebraska:
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