Busy, Icy Vermont Weather Continues: An Update

Same view of my deck in St. Albans, Vermont that I posted this morning.
Only now, instead of clear, blue skies, you can see a high, thin overcast
The clouds are a harbinger of our next messy storm, due tomorrow
into Thursday. 

The busy weather pattern we've got in Vermont forces me to do another quick update this Tuesday evening

You probably noticed the high, thin clouds spreading over the sky late this afternoon, dimming the sun and heralding yet another storm.

As I mentioned this morning, the new storm tomorrow and Thursday   won't have any blockbuster accumulations, it will still create a real mess.

That's why there's now a winter weather advisory in effect for all of Vermont from 5 a.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m. Thursday. I think that advisory might also get extended later in eastern Vermont.

Snow will come into Vermont during the day Wednesday, and pretty quickly go over to  a mix of sleet and freezing rain. In the Champlain Valley, the freezing rain will change to a cold rain by mid-afternoon, but that won't help.

I'll repeat what I've said earlier: The ground is cold after that sub-zero spell, so even if the temperature is a little above freezing, rain will still ice up on the ground.

Worse, there's still a lot of compacted snow on roads, sidewalks and driveways. That rain will form a slick layer on top of that compacted snow and we'll have a real set of skating rinks on our hands. And that mess on the ground won't be as easy to get rid of with salt because it's so thick. This will continue to be a problem well after the storm is over Thursday night.

East of the Green Mountains, temperatures in most places will stay below freezing for most if not all of Wednesday night, so the freezing rain will continue.

In the Champlain Valley, strong winds from the south Wednesday will cause a lot more blowing and drifting snow before the freezing rain and warmer temperatures set in during the afternoon.

Driving conditions won't be great Wednesday morning, so take extra time to get to work. Coming home in the afternoon won't be a picnic, either, especially if you're outside the Champlain Valley. Even in the Champlain Valley, you'll want to watch it, especially if you're not on a main road.

Thursday the rain will change to snow as cold air comes in. The snow will be wet at first, then dry out. The snow won't amount to too much. Probably two inches or less.

As temperatures fall, all this mess on the ground, the driveway the sidewalks, etc will be even thicker in many places, and everywhere it will freeze hard and solid,

I think for most of the rest of the winter, hospital emergency rooms across Vermont will be busy treating lots of people who will have fallen on the ice.

This really is a rough winter, isn' t it?