Ain't No Sunshine In Vermont When Summer's Gone

Another cloudy, gloomy commute to work in Winooski, Vermont
this morning. This is usually the cloudiest time of year, and
the past month and a half have been even worse than usual.

By my count, Sunday was the ninth day in a row in which it was overcast. The sun has disappeared, it seems, and it's getting depressing.

November and December are always very cloudy here in Vermont. There's usually lots of storminess, which of course brings clouds.

The Great Lakes and a lot of lakes and other bodies of water in southeastern Canada aren't frozen yet. Moisture coming off those ice-free waterways helps keep us cloudy. 

Temperature inversions are common this time of year, too. That's when a warm layer a few thousand feet above us traps a layer of low overcast to block the sun. When the sun is stronger in the summer, the heat usually breaks up the inversions and the clouds and it gets bright out. The weak sun this time of year can't break those inversions, so we're stuck under the clouds.

Days are short too, so even a clear day doesn't offer that many hours of sun.

This year seems worse than usual. It's been remarkably cloudy by my estimation. The last sunny days we had were November 22 and 23, but you couldn't really enjoy tht sunshine because we were also enduring record cold temperatures. 

The last day I could find that had a fair amount of sun and was actually warmer than normal was back on October 20.

There was a glimmer of hope Saturday morning, when satellite images showed some clearing wanting to sneak in. But a low overcast hung on all day, except in the highest elevations, which were above the cloud layer.

It's been a particularly stormy pattern since mid-October, which has contributed to our gloom. The weather pattern this week is temporarily less stormy, so there is hope for some sun here and there. I don't anticipate any stretch of crystal clear skies, but glimpses of sun would be nice.

We have a shot at seeing breaks of sun Tuesday afternoon and again on Wednesday. After a cold front with clouds and snow showers goed by Thursday and Friday, there's a chance we could see a little more sun next weekend.

That is, if a storm in the southeastern United States stays far enough to our south. Right now, that's in the game plan according to forecasts. But there's always a chance that the storm could surprise us, and throw yet more clouds our way.

If you really want sun, you'd probably almost have to go overseas. Outside of South Florida, the only storm-free, sunny area I can find for the upcoming week in the United States is in the northern Plains. But it's going to be cold there, so that's no fun.

Out of desperation, I looked up the weather forecast for the week in Barbados. Not bad. A few showers here and there, but the sun will be out most of the time with daily highs in the mid-80s.

Too bad I can't afford to book an emergency trip there.