Wicked Ugly Weather Friday In Vermont. Stay Home!

Storm total map for snow accumulation, updated early Friday
morning. Snow could reach a depth of more than a foot
across the northwest.  Strong winds will blow
the snow around, too. This comes after freezing rain
and sleet early this morning. 

On this February Friday in Vermont we're faced with a storm in which forecasts issued early this morning for your area will probably be at least a little wrong.

However, any little inaccuracies don't really matter with this storm.

The bottom line is, it's a very ugly out there an it will get even uglier as the day wears on.  This is totally a day that you will either want to work from home or just call in sick, if possible.

You won't want to be out in the roads anywhere in or near Vermont today.

In most of the state and surrounding areas, you will experience sleet, freezing rain, then heavy snow, blowing snow, whiteouts, strong winds and plunging temperatures.

The combination, at least in my opinion, makes this just about the worst type of storm to be caught out in.

But, you're perfectly safe if you just stay home.  I just went through the list of today's school closings at the Vermont Public Radio web site and it's an awfully long list.  I'm pretty sure your town's school is closed today.

The overall forecast scenario for this storm is the same as last night with one big question: What will be falling from the sky and when?  That will have a big influence on how much ice accumulates on roads, trees and power lines. It will also determine whether you get only a few inches of snow at your house or a foot and a half. We do know precipitation, whatever it is, will come down really hard at times.

There are big timing questions as to when mixed precipitation will go over to snow in any one spot in Vermont today.  If it changes over even an hour later than forecast, you get more ice, but much less snow accumulation.  If the change comes an hour or two earlier than predicted, you get a few inches of extra snow.

It's really impossible to time the changeover super accurately with this type of storm.

Like I said, though, it doesn't really matter what falls from the sky at any given minute today.  No matter what, it's beyond lousy.

THE DETAILS:

Ice accumulations in central Vermont might be enough to break
some trees and power lines. (Red areas especially).

Overnight, the mixed precipitation, though light, made it northward all the past the Canadian border.

At my house in St. Albans, we had a glaze of freezing drizzle overnight. As of 5:30 a.m., that changed to heavier showers of mixed sleet and freezing rain.

Snow was increasing in northern New York as of 6 a.m. today. Radar indicated the rate of snowfall was rapidly increasing over northwestern New York.

As this heavy band of precipitation becomes established, it will intensify and move east into Vermont.  It will bring sharply colder air with it, changing mixed precipitation to snow over northwestern Vermont first. Then the snow will head south and east across the state.

For this morning's commute, things will go from iffy to much worse as the morning wears on. The best guess from the National Weather Service in South Burlington is that snow will reach the Burlington area by around 9 or 10 a.m. today, Montpelier around noon, and early to mid afternoon in southern Vermont.

As of 6:50 a.m., at least, this scenario seems pretty accurate, as snow was beginning to mix in with the sleet and freezing rain up here in St. Albans, the northwestern corner of Vermont.

As this changeover happens, the rate of precipitation will increase as this storm, already strong, really cranks up. Whatever falls from the sky will come down pretty hard. This type of storm  often sets up narrow, intense bands of precipitation  on its northwest flank, which we will be in.  So, one town might end up with say, 15 inches of snow, while a community just 20 miles to the west or east gets maybe six inches.

Before the changeover, ice could accumulate on trees in power lines in south central Vermont enough to create some power failures, so be ready for that. In the north, there won't be enough ice to cause many problems in tha regard, but high winds later today could be an issue.

The intense storm center will move over western Massachusetts and into coastal Maine this afternoon. If  you have a barometer, check it out this afternoon. It will be awfully low. Strong storms usually create strong winds, so you'll feel that later today.

By the time the wind begins to howl by this afternoon, it will have snowed quite a bit in northern Vermont, and many areas in northern Vermont will see snowfall rates of one or two inches per hour. That's very heavy snow. Those strong winds, gusting as high as 40 mph risk causing whiteout conditions this afternoon and evening. Yet another reason to not go out.

By the way, this winter storm is not just a Vermont issue, of course. Southern Quebec, northern New York, much of New Hampshire and most of Maine also face heavy snow, strong winds and ice.

Back here in Vermont, It'll be rough this evening, but snow will taper off and end overnight, as it gets very cold.  If you're digging out Saturday morning, dress for it.  The day will start with temperatures of near zero degrees.

Snow Squalls Threaten Vermont This Evening

A snow squall last winter reduces visibility to a few hundred feet
last winter in St. Albans, Vermont. Similar conditions might
happen in northern Vermont this evening as there is a risk of
snow squalls.  These will make the roads dangerous 

Just a quick Wednesday evening alert: Snow squalls are bearing down on Vermont, especially the north.

Things are aligning pretty well for snow squalls this evening, any of which can produce brief whiteout conditions, and rapidly icing roads.  Which of course is a perfect recipe for pileups and crashes on Vermont roads later on.

As of 4:20 p.m., a snow squall warning was already in effect for the northwestern Adirondacks, as a dangerous snow squall moved into that region.

The National Weather Service in South Burlington warned of potentially life threatening travel in the path of the snow squall.

Here's what's going on:  West to southwest winds have been producing narrow bands of lake effect snow off of lakes Ontario and Erie.  A cold front is moving into this mess, and picking up the moisture and the snow from these bands.

The cold front is providing lift in the atmosphere, which helps produce and maintain precipitation.  With this situation, you end up with relatively narrow lines of intense snow. These are the kinds of things that are especially dangerous on the roads.

In one second, everything's fine: Visibility is good and the road is clear. The next minute, you can't see anything through your windshield and everything is iced up.  This is a great recipe for car crashes.

Those bands of snow that are producing the New York snow squall warnings are heading east, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if we get some snow squall warnings in northern Vermont.

Snow squall warnings are much like severe thunderstorm warnings in the summer. They cover a few counties at a time at most, and warn of a short period, usually lasting under an hour, of severe weather conditions.

If you hear a snow squall warning for your area, postpone travel until well after it has gone by. Also, if you are still at work, wait until well after it goes by and the state salt shakers and plows can get out there and clear the roads.

It usually doesn't snow much after a snow squall has passed, so visibility will greatly improve too one the squall goes by.

The snow squalls that were in New York last this afternoon might become a bit more disorganized when the come into Vermont. That means they will probably be hit and miss, again, much like summer thunderstorms.

None of the squalls will dump much snow, an inch or two at most, but they will be dangerous as they pass through.  The biggest threat for these snow squalls will be between 5 and 9 p.m. this evening, with the earlier times in northwestern Vermont and the later times toward the Northeast Kingdom.

"Historic" Oregon Storm Could Have Vermont Effects, Too

When the national map of the National Weather Service home page is
very colorful, you know it's stormy and there are lots of hazards.
This year, just in time for the Thanksgiving travel week.

Our stormy Thanksgiving week continues apace in the United States as two large storms continue to have a big impact on travel and in some cases, just the day to day life for people.

Fellow Vermonters might be asking me what the hell I'm talking about, since the weather Monday was so mellow, and nothing special is going to happen today in the weather department.

 (Burlington, Vermont made it to 50 degrees Monday, which is no big deal for this time of year, but still the hottest day since way back on November 4.)

But, as noted yesterday, two big storms are affecting other parts of the United States, so us Vermonters are kind of getting spared this time.

 The first storm coming across the United States is a strong one, the second one even worse.

There's a remarkably broad strip of the central United States stretching from Colorado and Wyoming all the way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that's under a winter storm warning for the first storm. A blizzard warning is up for parts of Colorado.

 I guess my in-laws over in Yankton, South Dakota are going to have a white Thanksgiving, since they are under that winter storm warning. Expect four to nine inches of snow there, with winds of up to 40 mph. Ugh.

Another big area just to the south of this storm is under high wind warnings and wind advisories.  Also, a few severe thunderstorms and a tornado or two could pop up today in the mid-Mississippi Valley today.

For us in Vermont, this first storm won't be too bad. We'll get a decent slug of rain Wednesday afternoon and night. Falling temperatures on Thanksgiving will change the rain to snow showers, but accumulations won't be all that much -- maybe a couple inches in the mountains.

It will be quite windy Wednesday night and Thanksgiving with this storm, so there might be isolated power outages. But it won't be anything close to what we had to deal with in that epic Halloween storm a few weeks back.

Then it's that "historic" storm in Oregon.  A powerhouse of a tempest is coming ashore in Oregon today, with hurricane force gusts along the coast and heavy inland snows. In many areas of Oregon and northwestern California, this has the makings of being among the worst storms in decades. Power will be out for some people in that region through Thanksgiving.

This storm will remain very powerful as it crosses the Lower 48 between now and Sunday. Expect severe weather in the South, and blizzardy weather in the northern Plains and lots of wind in between.

For us, this storm has an uncertain future. Some computer models have the storm producing another snowstorm for Vermont on Sunday. Other models take it too far south to give us much of anything, and a few models take it far enough north to give us mixed precipitation.

Stay tuned, is what I always say.

Vermont Flood Waning. Does Another One Loom?

In this photo from VTrans, water from the White River beginning to
overtake Route 107 in Stockbridge on Monday. 

It has definitely stopped raining in Vermont and the rivers are receding after yesterday's floods. 

There's a couple videos at the bottom of this post showing the Vermont flooding.

It was nothing at all like the flood disaster in Nebraska earlier this spring, but the Vermont water was certainly high.

There were still some flood warnings out there this morning, including along the Winooski and upper Connecticut River and the Otter Creek in Center Rutland.

While the Connecticut River crest will continue downstream from the Northeast Kingdom, the other two rivers are receding and should fall below flood stage later today. Clearing skies, gusty winds and dry air today should help with the drying process. It's also too cold today for much of the remaining snow in the mountains to melt, so we don't have to worry about that runoff.

Luckily, this flood stopped short of damaging many houses. There were a handful of evacuations, and I know some basements in parts of central and southern Vermont were flooded. Most of the problems came along roads.

I was impressed by how many major state highways were closed by high water yesterday - probably at least a dozen.

Back roads took a hit. It's mud season, so dirt roads were soft and squishy and the soil was easily moved. Most heavy storms in April feature a steady soaking rain. This one included torrential downpours in thunderstorms in the southern half of Vermont, so many rural roads were washed out and closed. Quite the mess, I must say.

One person had to be rescued from a parking lot at the Killington Ski Resort. The resort is still open, and skiers sometimes sleep in their cars to save money during local skiing and riding exursions. While Anthony Szeliga, 23, of Niagara Falls, New York slept in the only car in the lot, waters rose overnight, trapping him in his SUV, according to the Rutland Herald.

Szeliga was rescued, uninjured and taken to a local hotel, the Herald reported. 

Northwestern Vermont, where I live, lucked out.  A lot of us had only roughly half an inch of rain, and it really caused no problems. Everything is high and dry today around my house in St. Albans.

Looking ahead, though, there might be more trouble. Wednesday will be dry and sunny, with normal temperatures in the 50s - no problems there.

There might be a little rain Thursday and Friday, and temperatures will rise sharply by Friday, so runoff from mountain snowmelt will pick up.

Then there is an interesting looking storm on Saturday. It's too soon to tell whether Vermont will be targeted by the storm's heavy rain or will the downpours go by to our west or east?

The storm looks like it's going to grab a plume of deep, rich moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and push it northward somewhere along the East Coast on Saturday. But the fine details aren't there yet.

It looks like we in Vermont would be on the warm side of the storm. If that comes to pass, we'd be at risk of thunderstorms with heavy downpours once again. Sharp rains like that would cause more back road and driveway washouts and such. So stay tuned.

Lake Champlain this morning was closing in on flood stage. It was 99 feet above sea level this morning and rising. Flood stage is 100 feet.  There's only minor flooding at 100 feet, but if it gets to 101 feet, you run the risk of shoreline damage, especially if strong wind whip up big, battering waves.

We'll have to keep an eye out on the lake over the next couple of weeks to see what it does.

Some video:

Scenes of flooding from various parts of central Vermont:



The Vermont Department of Agriculture took a drone over the flooding Winooski and Mad rivers in central Vermont Monday. As you can see, there was a lot of lowland flooding but the houses all looked safe. This flooding hit early enough in the season so that the agricultural fields you see under water should be fine when planting season hits:

Yet Another Overperforming Snowstorm Socking Vermont, Surrounding Areas

A long line of cars slogs through heavy, wet snow at Exit 19 of
Interstate 89 in St. Albans late this afternoon. 

Well, this is certainly turning into a doozy of a snowstorm for Vermont and adjacent areas, isn't it.

The first half of the storm, roughly into early afternoon, really hit east facing slopes of the Green Mountains.

Some areas definitely got more snow than expected. Some examples: Marshfield reported 16 inches, Walden, 15 inches, Moretown, 14 inches.

That's a lot of snow.

While it is still snowing along those eastern slopes, it's coming down lighter now. And it probably won't get particularly heavy in those places overnight.

There will be more accumulation there, but it won't pile up nearly as fast as it did earlier today.  The mountain summits, which got tons of snow the first half of today, will continue to pile it up fast, so we'll see some pretty amazing totals up there.

We're now in the second half of the snowstorm,  The wind has shifted and increased from the north and northwest, so it's the western slopes of the Green Mountains that are getting clobbered. Road conditions deteriorated fast late this afternoon in the Champlain Valley as the snow finally started to accumulate.

For several hours at least this evening, the snow will come down at a good clip even in the Champlain Valley. Elevation will still be a factor:

Forecasters think totals will range from as little as three inches along the immediate shore of Lake Champlain, to six inches or so a few hundred feet higher in elevation and a few miles inland from the lake, to a foot or more along the western slopes well east of Burlington -- towns like Underhill, Jericho, Huntington, Bakersfield, East Enosburg, all those types of places.

These are storm totals, taking into account what already fell plus what's expected to accumulate.

Who knows, the way this storm has been behaving, there might be more surprises with even deeper snow in these communities. After all, right along the western slopes, most forecasters think the snow will keep going into Saturday morning.

Winter storm warning have been extended westward to include all of Franklin and Chittenden Counties.

Basically, don't travel anywhere tonight. Also postpone travel until Saturday afternoon, when things will have definitely improved.

It's been bad enough all day. NECN reports roughly 100 crashes and slide offs in Vermont during the day. This includes a fatal crash on Vermont 22A and several multi-vehicle pileups. Interstate 89 near Montpelier was impassable for a time due to crashes.

Power failures with the heavy, wet snow have been a problem in some areas all day. At last check, around 6 p.m. there were about 1,250 homes and businessses without power across Vermont.

I have a feeling these numbers will go up through the evening as the heavy wet snow really starts to pile up in populated areas of Franklin, Chittenden and Addison counties. Gusty winds now blowing aren't helping. If anything, those winds will increase overnight.

At least the snow will turn more powdery as we go through the night, so the chances of further heavy, wet accumulations will go down.

It's still supposed to be cold Saturday. After a mild-ish Sunday, it will be cold again Monday and Tuesday. The late week still promises to turn at least somewhat warmer. Long range forecasts are iffy, but many forecasters are dangling the prospect of highs in the 50s a week from today.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Snowy, Fatal Missouri Highway Pileup Illustrates Danger Of Speeding In Snow

Part of a fatal pileup Friday on Interstate 70 in Missouri. Big part of the
problem was people driving too fast for the conditions

This is really a pet peeve every time we get winter weather.

Why, oh why do people insist on driving as fast as possible when the road is icy or snowy? Why do people who've lived through dozens of winters not understand that ice is slippery?

As a result, there was another awful, tragic highway pileup in a snowstorm. This time in Missouri.

It was cold and snowing along Interstate 70 near Oak Grove, Missouri Friday when 47 cars and trucks piled up on the icy highway. Graphic video from a truck driver caught in the wreck showed vehicle after vehicle bashing into the already wrecked cars.

Sadly, one person died in this crash and several others were hurt.

In the video at the bottom of the post, you can see cars driving too fast for the conditions slamming into each other.

The truck driver who shot video of the crash can be seen trying to seek help for a person in a badly crushed car. I believe the person in that car is the one who passed away. If only the speed demons on highways during winter storms could understand the pain they are causing maybe they would slow down.

Or maybe they don't care.

True, visibility was poor and the weather was too cold for salt to work effectively on the highway, which is all the more reason why people should have been driving more slowly, or if possible, not at all.

It's certainly possible the chain reaction crash started when somebody who was driving slowly enough for the conditions still lost control and hit a guardrail or something. This can happen to the best drivers. But the carnage was certainly compounded by speeding motorists, as is the case in most if not all of these pileups.

This wasn't the only crash in Missouri in what was really not the biggest winter storm ever. Only three to six inches of snow fell. But during the day the Missouri State Highway Patrol said there were no fewer than 125 crashes with 19 injuries and that one death in the Interstate 70 pileup, says the Weather Channel. 

Please, when driving in the winter, remember this cliche or adage or whatever you want to call it: "It's better to drive slowly and wish you were going faster than to be driving fast and wish you were going more slowly.

Here's the video. Again, a warning: It's quite graphic, especially after the truck driver gets out of his rig. But I hope the video scares people into taking it easy on the highways during winter.

Freezing Rain Turned Vermont Into An Icy Disaster Last Night; More Ice Nightmares Today

Pedestrians walk gingerly on a very icy sidewalk in downtown
Burlington, Vermont during Wednesday evening's ice storm. 

Well, that was a nightmare.

Last evening, freezing rain moved into Vermont just in time for rush hour, and it came with more of a vengeance than almost anyone expected. The result was one of the worst Champlain Valley traffic nightmares I can remember in the more than 30 years I've lived in this region.

As of mid-morning this Thurdsay, it's not quite as bad as it was last evening, but untreated roads, sidewalks and driveways are still a nightmare.

This evening's commute could be another real headache. I'll get into this more in a minute further down, and you'll want to read it. There's still some icy danger on the Vermont roads now, through the day into tonight.

First, let's go chronological order and unpack what happened Wednesday evening.

We knew freezing rain was a risk well ahead of the onset of Wednesday's storm. That's why winter weather advisories were up ahead of the mess for all of Vermont except the areas along the Canadian border.  That winter weather advisory did include Burlington, which was the epicenter of Wednesday evening's

Starting Tuesday evening if not before, everyone was being advised that the Wednesday evening commute would probably be tricky. But it turned out to be a lot trickier than almost everyone, including me, imagined.

The first problem was there was the idea, especially in the northern half of Vermont, that the freezing rain would be mixed with, sleet or snow. Or even that the sleet and snow would predominate. The added sleet and snow - though dangerous -  would give you more traction on the road that just freezing rain alone.

Ice glistens in trees and glares off  the pavement on Main Street in
 downtown Burlington, Vermont during Wednesday evening's ice storm.

Instead, there was almost no snow or sleet. Virtually all the precipitation right up to and past the Canadian border was freezing rain. At the onset, the National Weather Service hastily extended the winter weather advisory all the way up to the Canadian border.

Especially in the northern half of Vermont, the precipitation was forecast to come down quite lightly. Instead, there was a burst of freezing rain that came down fairly heavily.

Burlington reported 0.34 inches of precipitation. Not huge, but more than enough to create havoc. The main band of freezing rain only lasted four hours or so, but the timing was terrible.

The freezing rain moved in right at rush hour. And it went from a sprinkle to a serious drenching very quickly. I was traveling between St. Albans and Burlington at the time on Interstate 89, and I drove into the onrushing band of freezing rain.

In Georgia, everything was fine. By the time I hit Milton, it was pure smooth ice. Figure skater Michelle Kwan would have approved of the ice conditions for her routine.

Temperatures were only in the mid-20s at the onset of the freezing rain. It wasn't even close to 32, which meant the rain froze fast and hard.  I was driving on Interstate 89 in Colchester on a slight decline. My truck brakes were totally ineffective. I only avoided hitting the car in front of me by steering into the breakdown lane and gaining traction on the rumble strip.

Everybody else was having the same problem. Soon, people did start hitting each other. There was a 13-car pile up in Richmond.  Other crashes occured on Interstate 89 and near the Lamoille River bridge between Milton and Georgia.

Plus, a lot of people couldn't make it the slightest hill. Soon, Interstate 89 and every other road in the region was pretty much gridlocked.

With all the cars backed up, the salt trucks couldn't even get through the traffic to salt the roads. People were reportedly trapped in their cars on Interstate 89 northbound for two hours or more. A half hour commute for some people streched to nearly four hours.

Finally, later in the evening, Vermont State Police and other agencies were able to herd Interstate traffic into breakdown lanes so that the salt trucks could get through.

Things temporarily got better late at night, around 10 or 11 p.m. When liquid water freezes on contact, it releases a bit of latent heat. That, combined with a weak south wind, warmed things up so many parts of the Champlain Valley rose just above freezing. Some of the ice melted off the roads.

On the way back to St. Albans at 10:30 to 11 p.m. or so last night, there were still several cars abandoned in the breakdown lanes of Interstate 89. Rest areas were jammed with tractor trailer trucks, whose drivers wisely decided to give up on moving until things improved.

Trees were also weighed down by the ice last night, , but the brief thaw melted the ice off, so additional freezing drizzle today won't increase the danger of broken tree branches and power lines - except in a very few areas where it didn't get above freezing.

The only way to keep an ice storm going is if you get fresh supplies of cold air to overcome the latent heat release from rain freezing on contact. To do that, you'll need a steady, if light flow from the north. That's why the famous ice storm of 1998 lasted for three days. We kept getting a fresh supply of cold air.  

Which leads us to this morning, and the not-at-all-good situation out there now.

TODAY AND TONIGHT'S ICE SITUATION

My St. Albans, Vermont driveway is a skating rink this
morning after last night's freezing rain. This morning's freezing
drizzle and freezing fog is NOT helping. 

In the wake of last night's disturbance, a flow of north winds is funneling down the Champlain Valley this morning. It's below freezing in most locations, especially the Champlain Valley.

This is a repeat of what happened Monday, only worse because temperatures are lower and the subfreezing temperatures extend through the valley, not just the northern tip.

There's ice covering untreated roads and sidewalks and driveways. I simply cannot walk on my driveway. Luckily, I have a supply of sand that I will apply after I write this. There's patchy freezing drizzle and freezing fog around. I'd still be careful if you venture out today.

As it stands now, it looks like the Champlain Valley, especially the northern half, will stay below freezing all day. The rest of the North Country will hover near 32 degrees for the rest of the day.

Which leads us to the next storm this evening. The National Weather Service in South Burlington has already issued a winter weather advisory for areas outside the Champlain Valley. That's because this next storm is also bringing rain. With temperatures near 32, freezing rain is likely to coat roads again.

Initially, it was thought the Champlain Valley would stay warmer than it currently is, so there was no winter weather advisory. However the NWS in South Burlington, as of 10 a.m. this morning, was re-evaluating this. Given the cold north flow, the onset of precipitation this evening will probably be in the form of freezing rain in much of the Champlain Valley.

The only saving grace is the rain looks like it will start a little later than it did last evening, which means more people will have arrived home from work before the mess starts than last night.

Tonight, again, will be much like Monday night. Overnight, the winds from the south will really pick up, so after midnight, anything that comes out of the sky will be non-frozen rain. The last places to end the icing will be the protected valleys of north central and northeastern Vermont.

Then, another rinse and repeat. Just like Tuesday, Friday morning will be warm - in the 40s. That, I hope, would melt some of the accumulated ice out there Then, like Tuesday, temperatures will fall in the afternoon, and be below freezing by evening. Which of course means there will be more ice underfoot.

Enjoy!

Ugly Friday Morning Today, Better Later

You can see the ice I will have to break through to get into
my truck this morning. Then I hope I"ll survive the icy
trip to work. Ugh. 

Just a quick update this morning, as it sure is ugly out there. When I took the dogs out first thing this morning, 5 a.m., in St. Albans, Vermont we were greeted by wind gusts of 40 mph and freezing rain. Everything is iced over. Yuck!

Nearly everywhere in Vermont is bad this morning, so take it slow and easy going to work this morning. Definitely allow extra time. Even in the Champlain Valley, there was enough freezing rain to ice the roads over.

The National Weather Service in South Burlington wisely extended the winter weather advisory into the Champlain Valley, so now that advisory covers the whole state.

Parts of the Champlain Valley are beginning to rise above freezing, but that might not help much. The ground is cold, so even if it's slightly above freezing where you are, chances are the rain is still turning to ice on roads, driveways and sidewalks. That's especially true on untreated surfaces.

Over and east of the Green Mountains, temperatures were still in the low to mid 20s early this morning. Snow and sleet were falling in those areas, which is bad enough, but it'll go over to freezing rain there, too. It'll last longer, so much of the morning will be an icy mess.

Much of the rest of New England is icy, too, so it's a region wide problem early this Friday morning.

There's not enough freezing rain to break trees and power lines. But in some places, it's windy enough to accomplish this. A wind advisory is in effect for the Champlain Islands and the western half of Franklin County.  Winds could gust to 55 mph through 1 p.m. today.

I can attest the wind is howling in St. Albans, Vermont here in Franklin County. It's even windier now than it was at 5 a.m., when I let the dogs out.

It should get better this afternoon. Most everyone will get above freezing, so anything that falls will be plain rain. The rain should generally get lighter and somewhat more showery this afternoon, too. Where it's windy, the gusts will die down somewhat.

After a mild night, with lows in the 28 to 35 degree range, we'll have something of a repeat of last Saturday. Temperatures will fall through the day behind a cold front. I'm a little skeptical of this, but the Natonal Weather Service is advising that we might have patchy dense freezing fog in areas for a time Saturday afternoon and evening, which of course would be a problem on the roads. (Think black ice and poor visibility.) It's something to watch out for.

Sunday looks dry and cold, so that will be an easy day. Beyond that, the forecast remains uncertain here in the North Country. It looks like some type of inclement weather is due later New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, but what form that would take is anybody's guess at this point.

Thursday Evening Update: Winter Storm Still Moving Into Vermont To Create Friday Mess

The latest NWS/South Burlington snow prediction map for the
upcoming storm. It's showing a general five to eight inches
of new snow regionwide, but I imagine some favored places
might end up closer to 10-12 inches. 

As of late afternoon Thursday, the National Weather Service in South Burlington, Vermont has upgraded the winter weather advisory in all but western Rutland County and Bennington County to a winter storm warning.

All day long, I suspected the NWS would make that move, and sure enough.

I theorize that part of the motivation to upgrade to a warning is to alert people that this snowstorm is surely going to make a mess of our Friday morning commute to work and school.

I imagine, though, that quite a few schools in Vermont might shut down for the day on Friday.

The heaviest, most intense  snow for most of Vermont should come through just before or during the morning commute.

Forecast snow accumulations have been bumped up slightly, and almost all of us in Vermont should see at least six to ten inches of new snow by the time this is all said and done.  By the way, this includes the Champlain Valley, so I would remind you once again this isn't a high elevation storm like the last few.

I would not be at all surprised if a few places, especially in higher elevations, pick up a foot of snow or even a bit more than that.

By Vermont standards, this is a mid-sized, typical winter snowstorm, at least on paper. But there are a few things that are going on to make this one more risky than usual.

First of all, and most importantly, this will be the first big dump of snow of the season on the most heavily populated parts of Vermont. We're not used to driving in these conditions, so we don't have our "snow legs."

Some of us, ahem, have not gotten our snow tires yet, so that's an issue.

Here's another problem: As I alluded to, the timing of the heaviest snow could not possibly be worse. We'll really get dumped on before and during the morning commute. So it will take some time to clean the snow and ice from our cars and trucks.

Then we have to plow our way over snowy, icy roads. Yes, I'm sure the Vermont Agency of Transportation trucks will be out, but there's only so much they can do when it's snowing at a rate of an inch or more per hour.

The burst of heaviest snow will come through a little after midnight in far southern Vermont and reach northern Vermont between I'd say 4 and 7 a.m.

Yet another problem is that in many locations, especially in the valleys, is the snow will become somewhat wet and heavy. Unlike dry, powdery snow, wet snow tends to compact into a particularly slick, wet ice beneath car tires. It just makes everything worse.

Snow will taper to snow showers in the afternoon and evening, but the risk of icy roads will definitely continue.

Usually, a November snowstorm like this melts almost completely away within a week or a little more, at least in the valleys. I don't see that happening this time. Temperatures will stay below normal at least through Thanksgiving, and probably beyond.

Some afternoons will get above freezing in the valleys during this time frame, so some snow might melt. But we will also have additional light snow showers from time to time over the next week, even if there are no further heavier snows in the immediate future.

Which means this snow is going to stick around for awhile.

Skiers and riders must be ecstatic. It looks like Vermont will have the best Thanksgiving week snow conditions in ages, possibly since the late 1960s or early 1970s. It'll almost be like January conditions. Snowshoeing and cross country skiing are usually out of the question in the valleys during a Vermont November.

Not this year.

ELSEWHERE: A MESS

Today is awful from Maryland to New England.

Brooklyn Bridge in the snow today. 

As expected, an area of heavy snow is making its way north through New Jersey into the New York City metro area and southern New England just in time for this evening's commute.

Snow in and around New York City was coming down at a rate of one to two inches per hour late this afternoon. All lanes on the George Washington Bridge were shut down late this afternoon by snow and accidents. Video from the GWB shows that multiple cars and trucks collided on the icy pavement.  

Some areas around New York City reported two inches of snow in just 40 minutes.

The storm has turned deadly The Weather Channel reports seven deaths and dozens of injuries due to crashes on snowy and icy highways.

Here's a video of the first snowstorm of the season today in New York's Central Park:

As Expected, Snowing In Vermont: Worse Storm Friday?

Heavy, wet, fallling snow create a rather abstract scene in
my St. Albans, Vermont back yard. 

Good morning, fellow Green Mountain Boys and Girls! Did you have fun driving to school or work this morning?

Yes, it was snowing pretty much everywhere in Vermont this morning, with just slushy light accumulation and not-so-bad roads in the Champlain Valley and other "warm" spots and a full-blown snowstorm in other sections of the state.

This morning into early this afternoon is the heart of this storm. The precipitation became heavier around dawn, and any rain in the Champlain Valley changed to snow, at least for awhile. Expect at least the risk of slick roads during this time.

As of 8 a.m., the heaviest reported snow in Vermont was 5.3 inches in Lyndonville. The National Weather Service office in South Burlington reported 0.5 inches, the first measureable snow of the season. These totals will certainly go up.

The northeast quarter of Vermont is still  under a winter storm warning, with snow possibly accumulating at a rate of an inch per hour. Web cam images from Lyndonville showed heavy snow still falling at 8 a.m. Total accumulations there will reach four to eight inches, easily.

Winter weather advisories remain up for most of the rest of Vermont, except the Champlain Valley and western Rutland County. Three to six inches of snow are due in in the advisory area.

An inch or two will probably accumulate in the Champlain Valley, with locally higher amounts.

The bottom line is this storm is so far behaving pretty much the way forecasters have said it would. Good job, meteorologists!

Do note the snow is wet and heavy, so we could be looking at some broken tree branches and power lines where the snow accumulates the most. As of 8:45 a.m., there were already at least 1,100 homes and businesses without power,  mostly in eastern Vermont north of White River Junction. The number of outages was increasing pretty fast.

Jackson the Weather Dog takes snowfall observations this
morning in St. Albans, Vermont 

Snow should taper off pretty quickly during the afternoon, except in the mountains, where snow showers will linger for awhile.

Today's snow is just the opening salvo in a remarkable stretch of winter weather that's going to grip Vermont - and much of the rest of the country for the next week at least.

Wednesday will be brutal by November standards. High temperatures will stay in the 20s, and northwest winds will gust as high as 35 mph. That would put wind chills in the single digits.

Wednesday night, skies in areas away from Lake Champlain will stay generally clear, which would invite temperatures to fall into the single digits. Actual temperatures, not wind chill.

Lake Champlain is still relatively warm. The contrast between the warm water and the cold air will keep light lake effect snows going Wednesday and Wednesday night on the Vermont side of the lake, mainly from Burlington south.

Then, more trouble looms. It's looking increasingly likely we'll get another snowfall Thursday night and Friday. This could change, but the Friday storm looks worse than today's. There's the potential for heavy, wet snow region wide, including the "warmer" valleys.

Chances are the whole area could get six inches of snow out of the late week system.  Then again, we could get lucky and the storm could, possibly, go too far to our east to really dump on us.

We'll have to watch that one closely to see if that pans out. I'll have more on that storm as forecasts become clearer.

A brief "thaw" of sorts might come in Saturday as temperatures, um, soar to near 40 degrees. But then readings go back to subfreezing for Sunday and Monday, as it looks now.

It's not just us dealing with an early winter. Snow flurries were reported this morning just northwest of Houston, Texas, which is very weird for this time of year. The storm we might be getting Friday could dump some decent snow as far south as Tennessee and Arkansas.

Up in northern Minnesota, it was around 10 below this morning in some of the cold spots.

No word yet if winter is really going to settle in, or whether we'll get a late November or early December break. It's a volatile, stormy, weather pattern, so enjoy the ride!

Late Tuesday Afternoon Nor'easter Update: Storm As Predicted, But A Few Surprises

Lovely in Norwell, Massachusetts today. Photo by
Steven Senne/AP

UPDATE: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday:

The winter weather advisory in Vermont fron the Green Mountains east   has been upgraded to a winter storm warning, in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday.

This storm is over-performing and the snow accumulations are looking like they will deeper than expected everywhere in Vermont and eastern New York.

This seems especially true in the eastern half of Vermont.  Snow is locally heavier than many of us thought. At 6 p.m., heavy snow was reported at Montpelier.

Snowfall as of 6:30 p.m. has already gone well past expectations in the Green Mountains and points eastward. East Montpelier has been clobbered by 13.5 inches of snow already. North Wolcott has already reported a foot of snow. Ten inches has already come down in Elmore and East Orange.

The National Weather Service in South Burlington, Vermont says these areas are in for another six to nine inches of snow by Wednesday evening. These will be pretty damn impressive snow totals.  Especially since the center of the nor'easter passed so far east of New England. Usually, when that happens, it would be a non-event here in Vermont.

In western Vermont, the winter weather advisory remains in place, but still, four to eight inches of additional snow, is expected by Wednesday night. There might even be a little more than that in the far northern Champlain Valley and in northern New York.  Boy, this is quite a storm

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION:

Once again, eastern New England is reeling from a big nor'easter as of late this Tuesday afternoon.

Bad conditions are about to start waning in southern New England, but were still going full tilt late this afternoon in coastal New Hampshire and Maine.

Some impressive stats are coming out of southern New England. 

Here are some snow reports as of 4 p.m. And remember, these aren't final totals. It's still snowing, and not all reports have come in yet.

Framingham, Mass: 23.3 inches
Milford, Mass: 20.0 inches
Killingsly, CT., 18.3 inches
Foster, Rhode Island: 17 inches.

Winds along the coast overperformed as well. Here are some gust reports:

Falmouth, Mass.: 81 mph
Hyannnis, Mass: 79 mph
Nantucket, 77 mph.

A mess in Falmouth, Mass today.

Needless to say, there are many, many reports of power failures and downed trees across eastern New England. 

Snowfall reports have been highly variable. A couple slow moving, narrow, intense bands of snow formed during this storm on the western edges of this storm. One parked itself a little ways inland over east-central Massachusetts, which explains the snow reports out of Framingham and Milford.

Another one set up along Interstate 91 from a little south of St. Johnsbury, Vermont all the way down through Connecticut. Through most of Vermont, the band wasn't super intense, but did enhance snowfall today.

Especially in the far southern Green Mountains, which got it again today. Halifax, Vermont reported 18 inches of snow and Newfane clocked in at 16 inches as of late this afternoon.

Mount Snow, the southern Vermont ski area, had received 10 inches of new snow by mid-afternoon today, bringing the total over the past seven days to 50 inches new.

Elsewhere in Vermont, the snow was mainly light as expected, with widespread reports of two to five inches of new snow as of around 3:30 p.m. today.

In parts of the Green Mountain State, the snow has picked up a little bit in intensity in many areas. As the sun goes down, the bit of solar radiation coming through the clouds is diminishing, so snow is now starting to stick better.

If you are not home from work yet late this Tuesday afternoon, expect some slick spots on the roads.

Generally light snow will keep coming down across Vermont through Wednesday and Wednesday night. Some of those somewhat heavier snow bands might set up overnight somewhere over the area, but they won't be nearly as intense as those earlier today in southern New England.

Mount Snow Ski Area in southern Vermont received 10
inches of snow today so far, with 50 inches of new
snow logged in the past seven days. 

It's hard to say where, and even if these somewhat heavier bands of snow set up overnight, but some areas could get bullseyed by heavier accumulations than surrounding areas.

I'm thinking most places in Vermont will see another three to six inches of new snow between now and 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, with locally higher amounts.

Your Wednesday morning commute will probably be kind of dicey, so give yourself extra time for that.

As noted, further accumulations are likely during the day Wednesday and Wednesday night, especially over northern Vermont. Most places look like they'll get another two to six inches of snow during this time periods, with higher amounts in a few places in the north.

Which means that many places in Vermont will have slowly picked up at least of foot of new snow between early this morning and Thursday. We're back into deep winter, aren't we?

As noted, this morning don't count on a lot of melting of this snow through next Tuesday at least, even in the valleys. Temperatures will stay near or below normal through then. Most days through next Tuesday will feature sub-freezing high temperatures.

Here's how the blizzard looked in Hull, Massachusetts today:

That Ice Has Really Been Nasty Across New England The Past 24 Hours

A school bus slides down an icy hill in Massachusetts
 this morning. Icy roads greeted drivers last night and this
morning across New England. 

I had a lousy trip home from work between Burlington and St. Albans, Vermont last evening.

It was timed perfect. Just when it was time for me to leave work, a nice burst of fairly heavy sleet and freezing rain moved in.

What a slow commute! The roads were quite bad. Luckily, about 99 percent of my fellow motorists took this ice seriously, so there were no major incidents on my trip

Now, it's above freezing as of noon Tuesday in much of Vermont, though there's still freezing rain in parts of New Hampshire and Maine.  Check out the school bus video from this morning at the bottom of this post to understand how icy it was in Massachusetts this morning.

It'a a real messy Tuesday in January. The rain is heavy enough to make people watch those existing ice jams still there from the January 12 and 13 storm in New York and New England. This rain and thawing could be enough to shift the ice, or back up more water behind the jams.

This is especially true in southern and eastern New England, where the rain is heavier.

If you like ice, you're in luck. The rain will taper off later today and tonight. But, as advertised, there's another cold front on the way. The water from today's rain is going to re-freeze tonight and tomorrow. As has been the case most of this winter so far, it's going to be dicey and icy underfoot.

Frankly, it's a wonder I haven't smashed my head or broken my leg, I've been negotiating icy sidewalks and driveways so much.  With the temperatures swings and frequent mixed storms, this is one of the iciest winters I can remember. At least so far.

And guess what? More mixed precipitation seems a good bet toward this coming Sunday, and again toward the middle or end of next week.

Here's that video view from a window in Sutton, Massachusetts taken by Cherly Kearney Katz this morning as a school bus with kids inside didn't do well on a very skating rink-ish street there. Nobody was hurt, so that's good. The bus even continued on to school after the crash.

Quick Update: What To Expect With Vermont Weather Leading To Christmas

It's possible some areas aroud the region could be icy like
this on Saturday. Stay tuned to forecasts and travel alerts. 

This is pretty much an update of yesterday's post, as everybody is keenly interested in what kind of weather we'll have to deal with here in Vermont leading up to and through Christmas. There's a few changes, and I'm sure a few more changes are in the offing.  

And once we get to Christmas Day, the uncertainty of what will happen is way above average.

The details, with notes on how confident I am in the forecast each day:

REST OF TODAY: Partly cloudy, breezy, turning colder. Some snow showers around, mainly in the mountains and mainly before mid afternoon. Some icy patches on the roads as temperatures drop and water freezes. Forecaster confidence: High

THURSDAY: Quiet and cold. Some increase in afternoon clouds. A north breeze will slacken to near calm. Forecaster confidence: High.

FRIDAY: Basically a repeat of Monday. Light snow will overspread the area. We're looking at a general one to three inch snowfall, with locally higher amounts in the mountains. Both the morning and afternoon commutes will be affected by slippery roads. Forecaster confidence: Moderately high.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Snow gradually mixes with sleet and freezing rain, especially late at night. Forecaster confidence: Moderate.

SATURDAY: Forecast models are trending the storm further east and locking in the cold air more aggressively than they did a few days ago. The storm will probably still go by just to the west of Vermont. Look for a messy day with snow, ice, and rain. Freezing rain will last the longest east of the Green Mountains, and might not change to plain rain at all in New York's St. Lawrence Valley and possibly parts of the Northeast Kingdom.

It still looks like there will be a period of plain rain, especially in western Vermont and much of eastern New York. This could change, though, if the storm keeps trending further east. At least it looks like not all the snow on the ground will melt. Earlier forecasts suggested it would. Earlier in the week, I thought it might be 50 degrees or more on Saturday. Now it looks like it'll be in the 30s to near 40.  Forecaster confidence: Low to moderate.

SUNDAY (Christmas Eve) Looks like we'll be between systems, though that's not certain. It will be colder than Saturday, so any precipitation that does come down will very likely be snow. At this point, it just looks like scattered snow showers during the day. Forecaster confidence: Fairly low

MONDAY: (Christmas Day) Huge amounts of uncertainty here. Forecast models are all over the place with storminess in the Northeast. Some forecast models give us a decent day long Christmas snowfall, a few other models give us an ugly mix of precipitation, and still others take the storm too far to the south  and east to affect Vermonte at all.  Some real big question marks here. Stay tuned on this one. Forecaster confidence: Very low. 

AFTER CHRISTMAS: A nasty surge of Arctic air will have gotten into the Northern Plains and Great Lakes by Christmas weekend. Looks like that cold air will come in from Tuesday onward net week. I'm not sure how cold it will get, but it will certainly be colder than normal, with subzero temperatures a good bet. Forecaster confidence: Moderate.

Vermont Evening Update: Snow, Ice Arrived On Schedule; Thursday Looking More Interesting

Webcam image along Interstate 89 in Bolton, Vermont
showed deteriorating conditions at aroud 4:35 p.m today

UPDATE: 7 p.m. The winter weather advisory has been upgraded to an ice storm warning for the southern Adirondacks and the Lake George/Saratoga area of New York.

A greater proportion of the precipitation is proving to be freezing rain in that region than previously expected.

A half to three quarters of an inch of ice is likely in much of the ice storm warning area.

That could well take down quite a few trees ad power lines.

Additionally, the amount of freezing rain over Vermont is probably going to be a little more than originally thought. There could be some power issues and broken branches, espeically in eastern Vermont, though it won't be as bad as in the ice storm warning area.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION: 4:30 p.m Tuesday:

As I begin to write this post at 4 p.m. Tuesday, snow is just beginning outside my window in St. Albans, Vermont after a chilly, cloudy day that featured just some flurries.

The snow and mix that was expected to arrive in Vermont this afternoon is arriving exactly on schedule.

Not on the schedule, though, are changes to a storm forecast for Thursday. More on that in a minute.

The band of snow at the onset of the precipitation isn't all that wide. Things quickly mix with sleet and freezing rain as this area of weather moves north.   If it's snowing where you are when you read this, it won't take all that long for things to go over to sleet and/or freezing rain.

At 4 p.m., there was already mixed precipitation in southern Vermont and poking into the Adirondacks.

The temperature has remained cold across the North Country today, though, so there will probably be quite a long period of sleet and freezing rain in many areas until midnight.  It'll take quite awhile for the cold air to get eroded by southerly winds expected to increase later.

Generally, expect in most of Vermont one to three inches of new snow and sleet, with the most up in the Northeast Kingdom

Ice accumulations would be about a tenth of an inch in most spots once the freezing rain begins in earnest.

However, maps out of the National Weather Service office in South Burlington suggest up to a quarter inch of ice in the southern Adirondacks of New York, some spots in the high elevations of far southern Vermont and maybe parts of the Northeast Kingdom

The precipitation coming in isn't super duper heavy, but it will be more than enough to make the roads a bit scary starting now and lasting through the evening.

A few spots might get enough ice to cause a few isolated power failures but I don't thing that's going to be a widespread issue. Winter weather advisories understandably remain up through late tonight.

Eventually, strong southerly winds will scour out the cold air, mostly after midnight, so all but protected mountain valleys can expect a switch to rain.

Until then, expect it to be messy.

The rain will quickly end Wednesday morning, and some sun will break out. I'm still expected it to get briefly warm and springlike for a short time during the morning and perhaps the first part of the afternoon before a sharp cold front comes in.

The sharp chill down will start earliest in northern New York and the warmth will last longest the further south and east you go.

Expect gusty winds, too. Not the most extreme you ever felt, but winds could easily gust past 40 mph during the day Wednesday, first from the south, then from the west as the cold front comes in. Strongest winds will be in northern New York and possibly the northern Champlain Valley

Then we get to Thursday.

UPDATING THE NEXT STORM

This morning, I mentioned a new coastal storm that would bring accumulating snow to areas near the coast. I hinted that forecasts could shift the snow with this thing more to the north and west.

That is exactly what seems to be happening, at least according to the latest computer models.

This won't be a terribly big storm anywhere in Vermont, but southern and eastern areas could be in for several inches and a little light snow could make it as far north and west as Burlington. Maybe even St. Albans, but don't hold your breath for anything spectacular in the Champlain Valley.

We're still expected a pretty big dump Thursday in points south. Winter storm watches are already up for Thursday from northern New Jersey, through the New York City metro area and on into most of southern New England.

Computer models are disagreeing a lot on this storm, so expect several more adjustments to the forecast. Some take the storm out to sea to miss Vermont entirely, others have it hugging the coast more.

We'll wait and see.

As I noted this morning, beyond Thursday, the weather pattern looks active, so stay tuned.

Monday Morning Snow Playing Out As Expected; Travel Yucky

The task that faced me and a lot of other people
this morning: Clearing snow off the vehicle so you can try
to get to work. 

As expected, snow overspread northern New York and the northern two thirds of New England early this morning, and the most intense part of the snow is due right during the morning commute

Snowfall rates during the peak of the snow around and just after dawn across eastern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine could reach one inch per hour.

The snow has quite a fluff factor, especially the further north you go, so breezes and the cars and trucks on the highway will create near whiteout conditions at times on the highways. Said highways are of course snow covered and slippery.

Before you take the kiddies to school, listen to the radio or look the school's status up on line: There are a LOT of school closings this morning because of the weather.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma (which watches all kinds of severe weather, not just tornadoes) said a particularly heavy band of snow will start out around the Albany and Glens Falls area this morning and move east to northeastward across southern Vermont, southern and central New Hampshire and into Maine.

These areas will get the most snow out of this storm, with five to 10 inches likely.

The heaviest snow region wide will be accompanied by southeast winds, so east and south facing slopes will get the most snow, and west facing slopes, like places not near and just east of Rutland, Middlebury and Burlington might get the least: Maybe just two to five inches there.

Elsewhere, expect three to six inches of snow across the northern sections of New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, and southern Quebec.

The snow will come to a very abrupt end later this morning, or early afternoon to the east, as the atmospheric dynamics and lift quickly move east out of the picture and a slot of drier air aloft moves in.

We'll get stuck under clouds, maybe a little drizzle or freezing drizzle this afternoon. Valley locations especially, like around Rutland and Burlington and the lowlands of southern Vermont, will get above freezing this afternoon, so the snow on the ground will become perfect for snowball fights.

It'll be quiet tonight, aside from mountain snow showers, and calm with near normal temperatures Tuesday. That's just a break in the action before that Arctic front comes through later Wednesday which will really put us in the icebox Thursday and Friday.

The cold snap won't last all that long. It'll start to warm up Saturday, though snow or mixec precipitation will start to move into the area by then, too

Will Snowy, Ugly Monday Morning Commutes Become Tradition This Year?

My house in St. Albans,  Vermont was looking all
Christmasy Monday after an abrupt dump of
five inches of new snow. Another snowfall
expected this Monday will freshen up the snow cover

I know it's the weekend -- YEEHAW -- but I'm already looking at the back to work situation this comingMonday and it's beginning to look like it might be similar to last Monday's mess.

You remember last Monday in Vermont and surrounding areas: That burst of rather heavy snow that struck just as everybody hit the road to go to work.

People crashed into each other, slipped and slid, got stuck in traffic jams and pretty much  had a miserable time.

It might be very much the same this Monday.

There's a storm making a cross country trip across the northern tier of the United States, coast to coast. It caused lots of winter weather issues in places like Seattle and Portland the other day.

Now there's winter weather advisories and winter storm watches with this storm up from South  Dakota to Michigan today and/or Sunday.

Monday is our turn here in Vermont as the storm finally reaches the New England coast to end its cross country journey.

Like last Monday, this is not a blockbuster storm, certainly not one for the record books. I'm guessing most of the northern half of New York and northern New England is in for maybe two to six inches of snow, with maybe locally higher amounts in one or two spots.

But, this coming Monday morning, the  heaviest burst of snow will probably come just as we're driving to work, just like the Monday before.

Definitely plan on leaving for work earlier than you normally do. Or hey, better yet: Call in sick if you feel like it.

There won't be much precipitation left over for the afternoon trip back home Monday. Just a few snowflakes. Maybe even a few raindrops mixed in the warmer parts of the Champlain Valley.

The rest of next week looks wintry, with some chances of snow, and a cold blast at the end of the week that's chillier than the one we've got today.

Enjoy!

Heat Causes Highways To Buckle, Cars To Go Airborne

A buckled section of Interstate 90 in Minnesota last
week. This isn't the same buckle as in the video in thi
post, but you can see how hazardous they are.  

Last week when I was visiting South Dakota, a big heat wave settled into the state, sending temperatures up to near 100 degrees under blazing, unrelenting sunshine.

When such heat strikes in that part of the country, there's a really big hazard on the roads.

Highways buckle in spots, creating these big angular ridges on the roadway, which of course is a huge problem for any vehicles going over them.

In Sioux Falls, an hour and a half north from where I was staying last week, at least four roads buckled.  

I have to tell you I was nervous on the 80-mile trip from Yankton, South Dakota to the Sioux Falls airport for my trip back to Vermont last Saturday. It was in the upper 90s and really torrid. Luckily, no problems for me.

The same was NOT true along a Minnesota highway at the same time I was in the car headed to Sioux Falls.

A viral video, that you can see below, is a traffic surveillance camera along Highway 36 in Minnesota that buckled.

Some cars went airborne. Other motorists saw the buckle and slammed on the brakes, and cars behind those braking vehicles almost caused several rear-end collisions.

A lot of the roads in the upper Midwest are made of concrete sections, connected together by expansion joints.

This is supposed to allow the concrete to contract when its cold, and expand when it's hot, without causing major problemson the roads.

Sometimes, though, the concrete expands so much in hot temperatures that there's no room for the concrete to grow more at the expansion  joint. So the concrete buckles upward.

The buckling can happen incredibly abruptly, without warning. So traffic often gets caught in these buckles before highway crews can close lanes.

I guess every place has its weather problems on roads. Here in Vermont, most of the roads are asphalt. There's usually not too many problems in the summer, but in the winter, water gets under the asphalt and expands, causing frost heaves and pot holes.

You can't win.

Here's the traffic cam video of the buckled highway in Minnesota:

Hey Vermonters! You'll Need Extra Time To Get To Work And School Wednesday Morning

Expect a slippery commute Wednesday morning
in much of Vermont as some snow and mixed precipitation are
in the forecast.  

As a terrible tornado outbreak proceeds in the southeastern United States today and tonight, us Vermonters will have to gird for a much less severe weather event, but one that will have a bit of an impact on us anyway.

There's a winter weather advisory in effect for all of Vermont into tomorrow afternoon for all of Vermont except the Champlain Valley.

For the record, that winter weather advisory is up for almost all of New England and eastern New York.

Snow will gradually spread south to north across Vermont tonight and then go over to sleet and freezing rain before dawn in some areas, after dawn in others.

Accumulations of snow and sleet will only amount to an inch or two, and there will be less than a quarter inch of ice accumulation. So DON'T expect all the trees and power lines to collapse.

But DO expect icy roads Wednesday morning. That'll slow you commute. Plus close some of the state's schools, so you might have to come up with some Plan B to stash your kids for the day while you're at work.

I noted the Champlain Valley is not covered by the winter weather advisory because it will warm up quicker there. But there will be icy, slippery roads in that area tomorrow morning, too, so be aware of that.

The precipitation will change to plain rain Wednesday afternoon. The last area to see the changeover to plain rain will be the Northeast Kingdom.