Vermont Snowfall Mostly Over; Cold Coming, But Roller Coaster Continues

The light, fluffy nature of the snow that fell last night on my
St. Albans, Vermont property meant I was able to make
quick work of it. I managed to get a lot of shoveling
done before work. 

Last evening, the forecast out of the National Weather Service in South Burlington said my area, St. Albans, Vermont, would get four inches of snow overnight.

Lo and behold, I went outside to measure this morning and we had precisely 4.0 inches of new snow. So yeah, they did a great job forecasting this.

The National Weather Service did scale back the expected scope of the storm, last evening, as heavier totals had been forecast. 

As of 8 a.m. this morning, there were numerous reports of five or six inches of snow. Waterbury Center has the most new snow so far with 10 inches. West Haven reported nine inches.

There's also quite a few seven and eight inch totals across Vermont.

There was news of several tractor trailers off the road on Route 22A early this morning near West Haven. I understand that has since been cleared up.

 Roads were still snow covered and slippery this morning. Wouldn't you know the place where thiere is still snow falling is the Champlain Valley, which has the state's biggest population and potentially the biggest commuting headaches. You'll need to take it easy going into work this morning. Some schools are closed, too.

The new snow has a high fluff factor. When I tried to shovel this morning I was happy to note it was like moving the lightest of feathers. That's the good news.

The bad news is this new snow is so fluffy that there will be TONS of blowing and drifting snow later today and tonight as the winds pick up. Those winds will also introduce us to a glancing blow from that incredible Arctic air out in the Midwest.

There are widespread areas with temperatures in the 30s below zero, with wind chills in the 50s and even 60s below out in Minnesota, the eastern Dakotas, Wisconsin, Iowa and Ilinois this morning.  It's awful out there.

Judging by the national weather maps it looks like about 25 percent of the Lower 48 is under some type of wind chill alert. That's a big area.

The Arctic cold front will come through Vermont the day today.  It might be accompanied by a quick burst of light to moderate snow showers. A snow squall can't be ruled out. But the best chances of dangerous snow squalls today will be in southern New England and southern New York and New Jersey.

As I said, the winds will pick up this afternoon, By tonight, we'll be in the Arctic air. Compared to the Midwest, this will be a piece of cake locally, but we still have to watch it. The air and wind will be intense enough so that you will risk frost bite and/or hypothermia if you go outside too long tonight and tomorrow.

Wind chill warnings are up for the Adirondacks and Northeast Kingdom of Vermont where wind chills could sink to 30 below or a bit under that. Elsewhere, we've got wind chill advisories, with slight "better" wind chills of around 25 below.

It will stay cold through Saturday. But, as you know, the character of this winter has been that of a roller coaster. We keep getting quick changes from cold to warm to cold again, and this will continue.

Early next week looks warm, with decent chances of rain again, I'm afraid to say. It's too early to tell how much, but there will be some

If you're tired of this ride, I've got a couple of very subtle signs of spring for you. The normal mean temperature today in Burlington is 19 degrees. That's a subtle change, since the normal mean was 18.5 degrees from January 9 through yesterday. I guess that means we're through the heart of winter. Though I know it will be a long climb to spring temperatures and there's plenty of winter left.

Also, the sun will set in Burlington at 5 p.m. tomorrow. That's the first time the sun has set at 5 p.m or later since November 4. The days are getting longer.