A Decent Friday Sunset In St. Albans, Vermont

This might be old news, and maybe I should have shared these last night, but I had  pretty decent sunset Friday evening in St. Albans, Vermont.

Skies were still rather dark and cloudy after a weak cold front passed by. As we approached sunset, a narrow band of clearing set up on the western horizon.

First, the low angle sun lit up the trees in the woods in back of my house. Then the sun went below the horizon, and the sky lit up.   It was definitely nice to enjoy this from home!

You can make the photos easier to see and bigger by clicking on them. Scroll down for a look at all of them

Don't Panic, Vermonters, Friday Afternoon Snow NOT Start Of Mega-Storm

About 1.7 inches of wet snow fell around a small brook on
my St. Albans, Vermont property today. This isn't the start
of a big snowstorm. Most of us will total out today at
1-3 inches of new snow.

When the forecasted snow moved into Vermont today, the storm seemed to really mean  business.

Any one location in the Green Mountain State todahy, things would seem to go from just flurries to what appeared to be the start of a very heavy snowstorm in just minutes.

Relax.

This still isn't going to be any kind of mega-snowstorm. This will taper off before it amounts to anything tremendous.  We're still looking at a storm total of one to three inches, with maybe four inches in some of the most favored locations.

As expected, when the precipitation started, the temperature dropped, ensuring we'd get snow. The type of weather set up tends to "front load" the heaviest snow, and then it dwindles off pretty quickly.

What happened with this is a warm front is approaching us from the south. Ha! You say. What kind of warm front is this, that brings us snow in April?

Yeah,  not much of a warm front. But there is big areas of chilly air over the northern tier of the nation, including us. Somewhat warm air is trying to lift up and over the dome of cold air over the North Country. When you get that set up this time of year with air lifting, you often get a brief but relatively heavy spell of snow.  

But how did the air cool off when the warm front was approaching us? Shouldn't it have warmed up and rained instead of getting colder and snowing?

Good question! The air ahead of the snow that arrived in Vermont was indeed above freezing. But the air was dry. The precipitation, falling into the dry air, has a tendency to cool the air as it evaporates in the air at first. That it did. So when the air moistened up enough for the snow to actually hit the ground, it was cold enough to accumulate.

The warm front will probably never actually get through the entire state of Vermont. But it will get close. That rising air on the north side of the warm front will pretty much stop rising at any minute now, if it hasn't already.  If the air isn't rising, you don't get as much precipitation.

As of 5:30 p.m., the precipitation was tapering off, or at least getting ready to. So the pace of the snow that we had this afternoon won't sustain itself. It'll just turn into lighter snow showers. A bit of warmer air is sneaking in to some places, so some of the remaining light precipitation will come down as rain

So, no. No big snowstorm this time. Just a lighter coating. You won't have a backbreaking job of shoveling a ton of heavy wet snow Saturday morning. You can sleep in a bit.

That doesn't mean unseasonable wintry weather is over. Not by a long shot. It'll get windy later tonight as a cold front comes in -- another one! Lighter snow showers will continue into Saturday, and temperatures will remain well below normal. It won't get out of the 30s for most of us tomorrow.

More lingering snow showers could come through Sunday, mostly in the mountains, but they will be light. It'll remain ugly chilly, with highs in the 30s.

Despite a fair amount of cloudiness around this weekend, plus the aforementioned cold air, the high April sun angle will still manage to melt a fair amount of the snow that fell today. Especially in the valleys.

It'll sort of warm up next week, but still stay colder than average. Most Vermonters will see daytime temperatures in the 40s most of next week, which is still at least five degrees chillier than average.

I've been talking about another, possibly bigger snowstorm from a nor'easter around Tuesday. It's still possible, but at this point is looking somewhat less likely. I'll keep an eye on it, though.

Watch Out In Vermont During Friday A.M. Commute: Looks Icy To Me

A rainbow graced the November skies over St. Albans
Vermont Thursday. Snow will probably grace the ground
by Friday morning, with a dusting to two inches
likely in the valleys, maybe more in the mountains.

Today was a pleasant, classic November day in Vermont.

Lots of dark, brooding clouds overlooking a landscape of gray, leafless trees. Shafts of sunlight cut through the clouds, and a few rain showers managed to produce some rainbows to light up the otherwise dark late autumn vibe.

Also typical of November, things are about to change abruptly, as they always do this time of year.

It was pretty mild today, but a sharp cold front is on our doorstep. Upper level support, moisture - a lot of it from the Great Lakes - and favorable winds will give many of us some snow late tonight.

The weather set up looks like that - unlike last Friday - the snow showers will extend into the Champlain Valley. That means most of us are in for a dicey, icy Friday morning commute, not just the people who live up in the high elevations or in central Vermont away from the lake. Those places will get some snow, too, so it looks like we're all in for it.

There's a good chance Burlington could see its first measurable snowfall of the season. It won't be much - probably less than an inch - but with rapidly falling temperatures, melting snow will then refreeze on the roads.

The western slopes of the Green Mountains stand to get more snow out of this, probably one to three inches. And the summits of the central and northern Green Mountains, , like the top of Mount Mansfield and Jay Peak, could come in with six inches of fresh powder.

I'm sure that will encourage the skiers. The resorts are opening at a fast pace, thanks to chilly weather that is encouraging snow making. The snowfall tonight and tomorrow morning will just add to the mood.

Another storm over the weekend will produce first a little mix, then rain regionwide, then mountain snow showers Sunday. The mountains could pick up a few inches on Sunday.

Winter is settling in.

Severe Weather On Friday Turned Out As Expected, But Avoided Northernn New York ,Vermont. Her's Why

Alicia M. Bentley captured this funnel and rotation
not far from Albany, New York Friday. 

As expected, Friday was a day filled with tornado watches and warnings, severe thunderstorms, hail, wind damage, power failures and other troubles across the Northeast.

The exception was northern New York, the northern half of Vermont and far northern New Hampshire, which pretty much avoided the storms.

That break up north wasn't really as expected.

Whether severe storms would form in any given area Friday depended upon whether humid air could zoom north in time to capture a strong weather disturbance coming in from the west.

As things started to come together for storms Friday afternoon, a warm front of sorts formed in northern New York and central Vermont. This  kinda wannabe weather front separated the dry air that lingered to the north, with the humid air to the south.

That meant northern areas, which had been under risk for storms, pretty much avoided them.

The position of this sorta weather front meant basically all the rough weather was south of a line from  Glens Falls, New York, near, or a little north of Rutland, Vermont, and on through most of central and southern New Hampshire.

The humid air eventually surged all the way to and past the Canadian border Friday evening, but by then the most energetic atmospherics for storms had gone by to the east.

It was a fairly robust severe weather outbreak in places that got into the humid air. There was a tornado warning for a time in southwestern Vermont near Arlington, Shaftsbury and Mamchester as  supercell storm moved through in the late afternoon.

I don't believe a tornado touched down, but there were numerous reports of wind damage from that part of Vermont, northeastward toward Springfield and on into central New Hampshire as the supercell marched forward.

Green Mountain Power reported 3,000 customers lost electricity in the storms, mostly in southern Vermont, but by this morning, the juice as flowing again to just about everybody. 

I didn't see any official reports of tornadoes touching anywhere in the Northeast, but there were rotating wall clouds in spots, which are often precursors to tornadoes.

The weather is much calmer today. There might be a few scattered showers in the Adirondacks and northern New England, but they will be light and certainly not scary.  Today will be cool for this time of year, with some upper 60s far north, 70s in most of New England with a few spot 80 degree readings in southern New England.

Partly to mostly sunny weather is due in New England Sunday.