Vermont Weather All Over The Place Rest Of Week, Including Some Bad News

With at least a foot of snow on the ground  in St. Albans, Vermont
and morning temperatures well below zero, our back deck was
not exactly an inviting place for breakfast al fresco, but
at least the sun was shining brightly. 

This  morning was Vermont's coldest of the winter so far, at least west of the Green Mountains.

We surely know cold air was in place heading into last night, as Monday's high temperatures topped out within a few degrees either side of zero.

Overnight, the coldest places were not really were they usually are.

For temperatures to really bottom out, you need light winds. Breezes help keep nightime temperatures up a bit.

Those bitter north winds we endured Monday kept going all night east of the Green Mountains, but slackened off in the wee hours of the morning west of the Greens.

The result was those traditional cold spots in the Northeast Kingdom stayed relatively warm. By that I mean it "only" got down to between 8 and 15 below - not a big deal for them.

The light winds, clear skies and an 18 inch snow cover in Burlington allowed temperatures to get to a frigid 16 below. That's easily the coldest morning of the year. Today was also the fourth consecutive day of subzero temperatures.

The coldest reading I saw this morning so far was 27 below at Saranac Lake New York.

The good news is today was the last subzero day for a little while in Vermont. The bad news is our nice deep powdery snow is going to get hit with some rain and freezing rain.

I know winter sports types like this powder, and the prospect of rain and ice is not good. But think of it this way:  During the upcoming rain, it won't get warm enough for that much snow to melt. Most of the rain will soak into the powder. That will establish a much deeper base on which more powdery snow will fall.

Depending on the eventual conditions and whether we eventually get more thaws, this could be good. A thick base of compacted snow could extend the winter sports season further into the spring than it otherwise would be.

Of course, I'm not happy about the prospect of more ice underfoot. It's already slippery beneath the snow. Compacted snow has turned to ice in my driveway, sidewalks, parking lots etc. The last thing I want is more ice to slip and fall down on.

But that's what we'll get. Now I'll get into the details:

REST OF TODAY: At least the sun is out, which helps. These bitter subzero readings are rapidly evaporating, and we should get to around 10 above this afternoon. That's still cold, but nothing like the misery of yesterday's 20 to 30 below wind chills and blowing snow. So enjoy!

TONIGHT: Clouds and wind will increase. Blowing snow will once again start to become a problem in the Champlain Valley as the south winds blow, especially late. Some snow showers might sneak in toward morning, too.

WEDNESDAY: Here's where it gets ugly. Early on, winds will keep blowing the snow around. Falling snow will turn to sleet, freezing rain and maybe rain west of the Green Mountains.  It's been so cold that even where temperatures rise above freezing, any rain that does fall will still freeze on cold surfaces, like your driveway or sidewak or the roads. It will get very slippery.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Air temperatures will stay near or above freezing as the rain continues to fall. The best chance of freezing rain will be east of the Green Mountains, where up to a tenth of an inch of glaze might accumulate on trees and power lines. A couple power outages might happen, but I don't think it will be widespread.

West of the Greens, it will be a plain rain. Again, due to the cold weather we've just had, the rain will freeze on many driveways, sidewalks and other cold surfaces.

THURSDAY: Rain will change to snow, then taper off as a cold front comes through and temperatures fall. We won't get much snow out of this -- mostly a dusting to two inches, with maybe a little more in the mountains.

FRIDAY: A normal Vermont January day for once! We'll have clouds, some snow showers around, and near average high temperatures in the 20s.

SATURDAY: Briefly colder with more chances of snow showers.

SUNDAY AND BEYOND: Really uncertain. There will be chances of snow Sunday and early next week. At this point, it doesn't look super cold through Tuesday, but things could change as the weather pattern stays active.