Another Over-Performing Storm Causes Vermont Problems; Deep Chill On The Way

An ice jam Thursday in Woodstock, Vermont. Photo via Twitter
from AccuWeather 

Well, that storm yesterday was certainly worse than many of us thought, wasn't it?

We knew it would rain really  hard in southern New England, enough to cause flooding there, but the relatively heavy rains extended up through Vermont.

Most of us received more than an inch of rain Thurday - which is unusual for January, traditionally a dry month. A few places got close to two inches.

As already noted, that caused flooding in parts of Vermont as the runoff moved the ice in rivers and caused some ice jams.

The worst flooding was around Brattleboro, in southeastern Vermont. Water is receding everywhere this morning, as temperatures fell below freezing.

Since everything froze up last night, I'm sure the roads and sidewalks and such aren't in such great shape this morning. I'd leave early for work, so you can hack your way through the ice to get into your car, then drive carefully on the potentially slick roads

Snow showers, some of them with snow coming down at a pretty good clip, were adding to the drama on some roads around Vermont this morning.

I guess Thursday was our January thaw, brief as it was, and it's back to winter conditions. It will be pretty damn harsh at times, probably at  least into the middle of February.

During that time, the snow pack will build back somewhat, and the ice will re-form in the rivers. Which of course leads us to the risk of more ice jam flooding when and if spring finally arrives.

As it looks right now, repeated bursts of Arctic air will plunge into the United States via the northern Plains and Great Lakes and head east through us each time. This state of affairs looks like it could last as long as a couple weeks.

The overall result will be bitter subzero days and nights with breaks in between the Arctic pushes where temperatures go up to more normal levels - 20s to low 30s.

This fast flow of Arctic pushes will have plenty of weather disturbances and cold fronts and weak storms embedded in them. So here in Vermont, it will snow frequently for the next couple of weeks.



A pretty hefty snow shower in Burlington this morning was
making already iffy roads more slick.

Most of these snowfalls will be light, more of the nuisance variety. But for winter sports enthusiasts, the small snows will help re-establish some powder atop what will now become a rock hard base of icy snow.

It's possible one or two of these could organize into a more substantial snowfall, but that's hard to tease out in this weather pattern.

The worst of the Arctic pushes is coming in next week. They're still saying parts of the Midwest could see the worst cold wave in at least two or three years.  Some areas in North Dakota and northern Minnesota would see high temperatures - highs! in the teens below zero. Ugh.

Ahead of that Arctic blast here in Vermont there's the potential for a decent snowfall coming up on Tuesday. Possible, but not definite. If a storm can get going near the coast, we'd get several inches of snow with this. That's a HUGE if, but it's worth watching out for.

It's interesting that so far this winter, temperatures have not been too far from normal overall. Snowfall is above normal but not record-setting. We've had more precipitation than normal, but again, we're not breaking records in that department. But it just seems like it's been a long, tough winter so far.

We're a wee bit past the midpoint of winter, so hang in there. Spring will (maybe) come eventually.