As Expected, Vermont Is In The Midst Of A Snow Thumping This Sunday Morning

Hard to tell because it's snowing so hard, but this is a traffic cam
image of Interstate 89 in Georgia, Vermont mid morning Sunday. 

After throwing a few curve balls at us last night, our big winter storm is now behaving about as expected this Sunday morning.  It's really nasty out there.

As of 9 a.m. we were in the midst of it. We have a few more hours of moderate to sometimes heavy snow to go, and then it will get windy and much colder, with lots of dangerous blowing snow to look forward to.  

It hasn't really gotten windy yet so conditions outside aren't as terrible as they will be. We're not experiencing hideous wind chills yet, and the snow isn't blowing around much - yet.

Snow totals across Vermont are pretty impressive, given that more will accumulate before it's over. As of 7:45 a.m., Chelsea reported 15 inches of new snow. Lyndonville came in with 14 inches. I'm seeing several reports of around a foot of snow.

Needless to say, roads are terrible across Vermont. It's snowing really hard in many places, and visibility is often near zero. Don't travel. I'm getting plenty of reports on social media of cars getting stuck.

CHAMPLAIN VALLEY ODDITY

For weather geeks like me, the Champlain Valley has so far been the most interesting aspect of this storm. There is a mass of cold, dense Arctic air hugging the surface of the Earth in Quebec.  North winds are pulling that cold air down the Champlain Valley.

The result is it's still much colder than forecast. Readings remained stubbornly below zero as of 9 a.m. Readings might briefly go above zero, but that's it.

So it's been a particularly unusual storm in the Champlain Valley. At 9 a.m. it was 1 below in Burlington with heavy snow, and near zero visibility. That's about as bad as it gets. If you're out on the roads driving this morning, you're nuts, let me tell you.

The especially cold air in the Champlain Valley has created slightly lower snow totals so far. Not because precipitation is lacking, but because the cold is making the snow more dense.

We know wet snow, when it comes down at temperatures near 32 is quite heavy and dense. Usually, when it's colder, like in the teen and 20s, the snow is light and fluffy. That's been the case in most of Vermont with this storm.

When it gets really cold, like in the Champlain Valley, the snow takes on the form of little flakes. If you look at individual flakes closely, they look like little needles. This type of snow is more dense than the fluffy stuff elsewhere. So as of midmorning, snowfall in the Champlain Valley was mostly less than 10 inches.

I'm in this especially cold zone, in St. Albans, Vermont. The snow when I tried to shovel it had the  consistency of somewhat packed talcum powder.  It's powdery but dense. Unlike dense, wet snow, this "talcum powder" is perfectly capable of blowing around just as much as the fluff that's coming down elsewhere. The Champlain Valley will still suffer through the blowing snow later today and tonight.

While winds are coming from the north in the Champlain Valley, winds high above us have been from the southeast, transporting in all the moisture we need for the snow to continue this morning.

Not many people out on the snowy roads of St.
Albans, Vermont this morning. 

That has helped keep temperatures in the teens across eastern and southern Vermont. In the far south, around Bennington, mixed precipitation has temporarily developed as forecasters said it would in Saturday evening forecasts.

As the storm moves along and then past the New England coast today, those southeast winds aloft will turn to the north, and everybody will share in this Arctic blast. The cold will intensify everywhere, including in the already frigid Champlain Valley.

By this afternoon, it might not be snowing as hard, but the blowing and drifting will be horrendous as winds gust to at least 30 mph if not more.

Wind chills tonight will be in the 20 to 40 below range. Just ugly. Light snow and snow showers will continue in this frigid regime. That's especially true in the mountains and downwind from Lake Champlain.

So, steady as she goes. If it all possible, stay home today and tonight. And Monday for that matter. If you have to go to work Monday, like I do, plan on spending a LOT of time getting your vehicle revved up in the cold, and clearing the snow off it. Then, you'll look forward to bad driving conditions.

Monday morning, compacted snow on the roads will have turned to ice. Salt won't work in such cold, so that won't help. Blowing and drifting snow will greatly reduce visibility in spots and leave big piles of snow on the road that you'll have to bust through.

Put a bunch of blankets and spare food in the car before you set off, in case you get stuck. And make sure your gas tank is full.

ELSEWHERE

The storm is also behaving mostly as expected elsewhere in the Northeast, and of course that's not good news.

Freezing rain is coming down in parts of interior southern New England and southeastern New York. Tree damage and power outages are being reported.

Along the coast, it's raining hard, as expected. There is some minor flooding going on.

The big trouble comes later today when all that water in communities along the coast from New Jersey to Massachusetts abruptly freezes as it turns suddenly much colder. The flash freeze will be at absolute mess.

LOOKING AHEAD

Forecasts still call for temperatures here in Vermont to moderate by midweek. A complex bout of storminess looks like it will begin Wednesday and continue Thursday. It's still unclear what will happen, but there's a good chance all this snow we got today will be topped with a mess of mixed precipitation. Stay tuned on that one.

I'll have updates today. Look for quickie updates on Twitter, at @mattalltradesbv