Welcome Warmth Is Also Bringing Ice To The North Country

A dangerously icy staircase. Watch out overnight and
Sunday for ice underfoot as freezing rain and
then a thaw will make things slick underfoot

That just-ending cold wave here in Vermont and the rest of the Northeast keeps getting more impressive, in terms of new records set.

The record low in Burlington, Vermont of 1 below on Friday was the earliest subzero reading in the record books, which date back at least to the 1880s. The previous earliest subzero reading was on November 25, 1938.

That is quite a record to set given the overall climate is a little warmer than it was decades ago.

Plattsburgh, New York had a record low of 5 below and Saranac Lake, NY chilled our hearts with 20 below.

Temperatures are still expected to get to near or above freezing this afternoon, to the record cold is over. Although we'll have chilly spells, there's no sign of bitter Arctic air returning at least through early December.

The price we'll have to pay for this warmup is ice. Rain will start spreading into northern New York late this afternoon and into Vermont this evening and continue overnight. Temperatures will be within a few degrees either side of 32 degrees overnight statewide, so that means freezing rain will be a problem.

As such, there's a winter weather advisory for all of Vermont except the Champlain Valley and western Rutland County. The winter weather advisory is also up for the Adirondacks and northeastern New York.

Ice accumulation on trees and such won't be enough to bring down branches and power lines, but will be more than enough to create dangerous driving conditions overnight.

Air temperatures will probably stay a little above freezing overnight in the Champlain Valley, which is why there's no weather alerts. But it's been so cold lately that rain will freeze on untreated surfaces even with "balmy" air. Pavement, sidewalks and such have been chilled to below freezing and it will take awhile for all that to warm up.

We're not even completely out of the woods Sunday afternoon. It will be thawing, and light rain will be drawing to a close. But hard-packed snow on driveways and walkways tends to turn into an especially slick type of ice under these conditions, so if you like falls and broken bones, I guess it will be your day. Be careful!

Another stronger storm that will cause a winter snowstorm from Nebraska through Iowa and on up into Michigan will affect us in New England Monday. It'll be mostly a cold rain here, with some snow mixed in, especially in the higher elevations and in the Northeast Kingdom, on up into northern New Hampshire and northern Maine.

The remains of the storm will linger into midweek, with lots of snow showers around then, mixed with cold raindrops in the valleys. That's actually pretty typical weather for the close of November