Winter (With Hints Of Spring) In April: Wednesday Morning Update

No redux of 1974. This F-5 tornado in 1974 trashed the city of Xenia, Ohio.
Same area was hit by a possible tornado Tuesday, but it wasn't nearly as
bad as this. Speculation: Does that mean snowy weather pattern of April
1974 won't repeat itself in Vermont? Nobody knows for sure.

On April 3, 1974, a huge tornado all but destroyed the city of Xenia, Ohio.

It was among the worst single tornadoes in U.S. history. It destroyed 1,400 Xenia homes and killed 33 people in the city. It was part of a "super outbreak of 148 tornadoes.

On April 3, 2018 - yep, the anniversary - a possible tornado hit Xenia.

This time, it was much better. There was a fair amount of damage to some buildings, but nobody died. And the heart of the city escaped destruction this time. And so far, fewer than a dozen tornadoes were reportee in the U.S. on Tuesday - certainly no "super outbreak."

So history sort of repeated itself on Tuesday. Let's hope the "sort of" continues. A few days after the Xenia tornado in 1974, we here in Vermont got up to 18 inches of snow. Snow is in our forecast, but so far, I don't see signs of a major snowstorm, but it is going to snow.

Kind of a mini version of 1974 repeating itself? Who knows? These questions aren't exactly based in science.

As you might have noticed, it's rainy here in Vermont this morning as this storm's sharp cold front approaches. You might even end up hearing a rumble of thunder or two as the cold front comes through.  There's not enough rain to cause any flooding, so we're good there.

It's still going to be a pretty damn gusty afternoon and night once the front passes, though. Winds in northern New York and possibly southern Vermont could gust to 60 mph, with 45 mph gusts relatively common elsewhere.

It's actually already windy ahead of the front, especially in the Champlain Valley. I'd guess the wind was gusting to around 35 mph at my St. Albans house early this morning.

Don't be surprised if some of us lose electricity for a little while when the winds pick up  even more later on.

After a cold, blustery Thursday, it still looks like it's going to snow on Friday. There's still questions on whether it will mix with rain in the warmer valleys or not, but I'm increasingly leaning toward snow.

Early projections by the National Weather Service suggest perhaps an inch or two in the Champlain Valley with two to four inches a little higher up. That's subject to change.  At least it won't be a foot or more of snow. Take what you can get.

Yet another storm Sunday will pass too far south and east of us to make much difference in the weather. It's looking more and more like this weekend in Vermont will be unseasonably cold, but mostly dry. (With a volatile weather pattern, though, there's always a slim chance of a surprise. So far I don't see it, but stay tuned.)

Our next shot at snow would be Tuesday. There's a slight chance that the Tuesday storm could get its act together and give us an April, 1974 deep thumping of snow, but right now the odds seem stacked against that scenario. Maybe some rain, maybe some snow.

It's too soon to tell exactly what's going to happen Tuesday, so we'll sit tight and wait and see what happens