A Warm Vermont Weather Record In The Middle Of A Cold Snap

Thin sheets of ice from Wednesday's snow began sliding off my roof in
St. Albans, Vermont then froze in place Thursday afternoon as
temperatures dipped below freezing. Pretty odd for an
afternoon in October. 

No doubt we in Vermont know it's been cold lately. A couple weeks after we endured or enjoyed humid, record warmth in the 80s, it's been generally cold, drizzly and at times snowy.

But yesterday, on what was the coldest day of this chilly period so far, Burlington, Vermont set yet another warm record. The city somehow made it through the day without getting below freezing.

The temperature dipped to 32 degrees in Burlington early this morning, making it the latest first freeze of the autumn on record. Or at least the latest since 1941, when weather record keeping moved away from warmish Lake Champlain to the Burlington International Airport.

The relative warmth also tied the record for the most number of days between the last spring freeze and the first autumn freeze. That's 184 days, tying the record set just last year.

Most of Vermont, most of New England for that matter, has had freezes already. Burlington hung in there above freezing in recent days due to both its proximity to Lake Champlain and an overabundance of cloudy nights. Cloudy nights tend to be warmer than clear ones.

I had to laugh a bit as Burlington set that "warm" record. The "high" temperature at my house in St Albans barely rose above freezing and only briefly. Much of the afternoon was a bit below freezing. Some snow that fell Wednesday lingered on the ground and on my roof all day.

I was surprised by a thin crust on the top of the soil in my raised beds late yesterday afternoon. Yes, the top layer of that soil froze yesterday afternoon here in St. Albans. I don't remember if I've ever seen frozen ground like that in October, especially in the afternoon.

Today will be a bit better, with some sun boosting temperatures to the upper 30s to low 40s. That's still really chilly for this time of year, but an improvement over yesterday.

Then, on Saturday, we'll still have to contend with that nor'easter coming up the coast. Near the onset of the precipitation Saturday morning, it will probably snow in many locations, even in the valleys.

 It will change to rain pretty much everywhere during the afternoon, but there will probably be a period of slippery roads for a time Saturday as it snows fairly hard, and accumulates on roadways, especially in higher elevations.

There's little if any chance of truly sunny weather at least into the middle of next week, but at least it's going to warm up slightly. By midweek, highs will reach the low 50s. Not totally impressive, but at least that's close to normal for this time of year and an improvement over my frozen raised beds and icy walkway.