Stormy Here, But At Least It's Not Snowing (Yet)

At my place in St. Albans, Vermont, we awoke to a stormy morning at dawn, with lots of wind and rain, occasionally heavy, whipping the greening trees.

It's expected to be on the wet and cloudy side all day today, and after an OK weekend, the gloom will return next week.  But it could be worse. Ask anyone in Duluth, Minneota.

In this photo by Derek Montgomery for Minnesota Public Radio,
we have an aerial view of cars making patterns in the snow
at a University of Minnesota/Duluth parking lot Thursday. 

It's supposed to be well into spring, including in the nation's icebox of northern Minnesota. But a storm Wednesday night and Thursday morning in Duluth dumped more than 10 inches of snow.

According to the Duluth News Tribune:

"All told, 10.6 inches of snow accumulated at Duluth International Airport, a record for May that also included a single day record of 8.3 inches on Wednesday alone. It was the snowiest May day on record since 5.5 inches fell in 1902."  

Many other areas of northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin picked up two to nine inches of snow.

That area wasn't the nation's only wintry spot. Much of Colorado, including the Denver metro aera had a snowy Thursday. Some mountainous areas picked up more than a foot of new snow.

It does snow in and around Denver occasionally in May. Still, it was a spring setback. Probably nobody felt the snowy chill more than college graduates at the University of Colorado at Boulder, which held its commencement ceremony outdoors despite the snowstorm. 

The weather in both Duluth and Colorado are improving today, mostly because conditions couldn't really get worse this time of year. High temperatures around Duluth for the next few days should be in the 50s to low 60s with no sign of additional snow.

In Denver, readings should climb into the 50s today after a frosty start, and reach the upper 70s by Monday.

We here in Vermont might get in on the snowy times, at least in the mountains. A chilly storm will meander through Monday, Tuesday and into Wednesday. It might get cold enough Tuesday and Tuesday night for snow to accumulate in the Green Mountains and Adirondacks.

So far at least, it looks like the valleys will be spared the snow, but it will be unseasonably cold during the storm, with highs on Tuesday only in the 40s.