Vermont Temperatures In June Were A Roller Coaster

Story of June, 2020. In a dry month, this thunderstorm teased
by poking above the treeline behind my St. Albans, Vermont house
then quickly scooted away, making sure I didn't get
any needed rain. Photo taken June 23.

Most of the time, I rate June and September in Vermont as the mellowest times of the year in the weather department.

True, months like June can have some pretty impressive rainfalls, floods and severe storms. But the two months I mention aren't generally known for temperature extremes, or big swings from one day or week to the next.

This June, though, was a roller coaster for sure.

In the first half of the month there were a couple days setting date records for the chilliest high temperatures - reaching only the 50s.

By the second half of the month, we were in a record heat wave.

Burlington's swings were common for what the state saw in June. We awoke to temperatures in the 30s on June 1, with frost in the cold spots. By the 5th, it was 90 degrees.  On the 13th, high temperatures were only in the 50s. By the 18th, Burlington was starting its June record breaking six consecutive days in the 90s.

Also in Burlington, there was very little rain all month, until the last two days, when 1.14 fell.

Overall in Burlington, the average temperatures for the month worked out to 69.0 degrees. That was 3.1 degrees above normal and enough to make June the tenth warmest on record.

June's temperature was closer to normal in towns away from the Champlain Valley, I think mostly because unlike the Champlain Valley, partial clouds and daily scattered thunderstorms tempered that long heat wave a little over the Green Mountains and points east.

So far this year, we've had nine days at or above 90 degrees in Burlington. Average for an entire year is five, so were off to a fast start in the hot weather department.

Pretty much everyone in Vermont was dry in June. Despite the rainfall in the last two days of the month, Burlington ended with only 1.88 inches of precipitation for June, which is right around half of normal.

Most other places in Vermont had similar precipitation deficits. An exception was Montpelier, which was lucky enough to be in the path of several thunderstorms during the month. They were only a third of an inch shy in rainfall, with a June total of 3.47 inches.

As always, what the next month will bring could be anything. However, there is a pretty remarkable, but not universal consensus that July will be hotter than average in New England. The first few days of the month, at least, look to be warmer than average.

Long range forecasts have been putting us in a moderate risk of a heat wave during the second week of July. We'll see how that pans out.

It could have been worse.  Miami, Florida just endured more than six days in which the heat index was 90 or more. This includes every hour during that period, including nights. Ugh!

Early Start To North Country Severe Weather Season

A line of strong showers and storms that prompted severe thunderstorm
warnings in New York and western Vermont Friday were nothing
like this biggie near Sheldon in May, 2018. Instead, Friday's weather
consisted of a quick moving line of mostly light showers that
brought strong, potentially damaging wind gusts. 

Some severe thunderstorm warnings went up Friday afternoon in northern New York and western Vermont, giving us an early start to the spring and summer severe weather season.

There were several reports to the National Weather Service of tree damage mostly across northern New York.  There was also a report of several small trees down around Swanton, Vermont.

This was pretty early to be getting this type of weather in the North Country. The first severe thunderstorms of the season usually don't crop up until around May.

These weren't classic late spring or summer thunderstorms, of course. Some things about the strong storms were similar to what you'd get, say, in June, but most aspects of them were not.

Very often, strong thunderstorms around here develop along or near something known as a pre-frontal trough.  A pre-frontal trough is a skinny area of lower air pressure that marks a wind shift.  This feature usually comes through, from west to east a few hours ahead of a cold front that will also come in from west to east.

In the summer, the air of ahead of this trough is often quite humid and unstable. The trough adds lift to the atmosphere, allowing towering thunderstorm clouds to grow. These summer thunderstorms will usually produce torrential downpours, frequent lightning, strong, damaging winds and hail.

Friday's storms weren't quite like that. There wasn't much lightning involved and rainfall was modest, with most places getting less than a tenth of an inch of rain. This line of storms also zipped through much more quickly than storms do in the summer.

Strong winds were blowing several thousand feet overhead Friday, and the thunderstorm clouds did reach high enough to grab some of that wind, bringing it down to the surface in damaging gusts.

The air was more stable over and east of the Green Mountains, so the storms weakened a lot by the time they got there.  That explains the lack of damage reports east of the northern Champlain Valley.

The early taste of severe weather in Vermont and New York is most definitely over.  It's back to wintry stuff for a little while.

As previously advertised, this weekend will be mostly sunny during the day, clear at night and cold throughout.  A number of places in the north and mountains won't even  make it above freezing today and tomorrow. Lows tonight will be in the single numbers and low teens, with some late season subzero readings likely in the Adirondacks and Northeast Kingdomf of Vermont.

There's lots of questions about a potential quick-hitting storm Monday afternoon and night. There's the potential for several inches of snow with this, especially in the mountains.  However, the computer models were still arguing over this as of Saturday morning.

Some of those models said all of Vermont would get at least some snow.  Others said northern areas might miss out.  Still other forecasts say it will be a bit too warm for snow in the valleys.

As usual, stay tuned.

Vermont February, No Surprise, Was Wet And Warm For Winter

Snow and ice cover trees in St. Albans, Vermont on February 9.
February was somewhat warm, with plenty of mixed precipitation
across Vermont. 

Today, March 1, represents the start of spring. At least to climatologists.

True, it's a wintry day out there in Vermont, with fresh snow on the ground in many places and temperatures that are expected to only make it into the low 20s.

However, climatologists who measure the weather in seasons regard meteorological spring as the period from March 1 through May 31. So winter is over. Yay.  

Not that the last part of winter was extreme.  I'll admit February in Vermont was a true winter month, with plenty of snow in many areas and temperatures that didn't break any record highs to speak of.

But it was warm, and on the wet side. Consistent with the rest of the winter, we had our share of mixed precipitation in the Green Mountain State.

Official, the mean February temperature in Burlington was 24.8 degrees, which was 3.3 degrees on the warm side. That's not remotely close to even the top 10 warmest Februaries, but there's no doubt we didn't exact have icebox conditions, either.

There was 2.3 inches of rain and melted snow and ice in Burlington during February, which was about a half inch on the plus side. Again, wet, but not in the top ten wettest list.

It was also a snowy February in Burlington. It amounted to 21.4 inches, which is five inches snowier than average. Once again, nowhere near any records for snow, though.

Elsewhere in Vermont, departures from normal in February were remarkably consistent, much more than in most months.  Montpelier, St. Johnsbury, Morrisville and St. Johnsbury were all near or somewhat more than two degrees warmer than normal. All of these stations were wetter than normal for February, but not by a large margin.

February was good for snow in many of Vermont's mountains. The month started with about 46 inches of snow on the ground atop Mount Mansfield and ended with 83 inches covering the ground near the summit.

While February temperatures didn't set records for warmth, the winter as a whole was quite warm.  December 1 through February 29 averaged 26.1 degrees for what is climatological winter in Burlington.  That's the seventh warmest winter on record. This means five of the top ten warmest winters in Burlington were in this century, the 2000s.

Elsewhere in New England, Boston had its second warmest winter on record. Providence was fifth warmest, and Worcester was seventh warmest.

It wasn't just New England. You're going to hear of a number of United States and overseas citys and even nations having their warmest winter on record this year as data comes in over the next coming days.

March In Vermont Seemed Bad, But It Was Only Because Of Long Winter

Scene in my yard this morning definitely felt like an April Fool!
After a snowy March, the snow cover had finally mostly disappeared
by yesterday, only to return overnight to greet me this morning.
After a chilly day today, seasonable temperatures the
rest of the week should get rid of this inch of snow cover.

It's April Fool's Day! Which means its time to assess Vermont's weather in March.

The statistics show, at least from my perspective, that it wasn't as bad as I thought. 

In Burlington, it was essentially a normal March. Temperatures were just a tad cooler than normal, with a mean temperature of 30.4 degrees.

It was actually about 0.6 degrees cooler than average in the Queen City, but that's essentially run of the mill normal.

Precipitation - rain and melted snow - was pretty much spot on average at around 2.3 inches.

The month's snowfall, 15.2 inches, was only a little more than an inch above normal. Remember, though, that many areas of the state had much more snow than that during March.

I would have guessed the March statistics would have come out worse than they did. But it was psychological. Vermont did not have a particularly harsh winter, though snowfall was definitely above average.

What made us weary by March was the fact that winter came in early, sudden and fast in mid-November and there were few if any breaks to the relatively cold weather and nearly constant snows.

In March, the Champlain Valley benefitted at times from southerly winds that warmed that region more than other parts of Vermont.  Also, most of the time, deeper snow cover means chillier nights, dragging down the average temperature for the month.  Snow cover was definitely thicker away from the Champlain Valley, and that refrigerated other parts of the state.

For instance, Montpelier's March is coming in around three degrees chillier than average. St. Johnsbury had a shivery month, coming in a little more than four degrees colder than normal.

Looking ahead into April, we can definitely say winter is over. I know that sounds like an April Fool's Day joke, given that there's a coating of fresh snow on the ground in many places across northern Vermont this morning. (We had nearly an inch of new snow at my place in St. Albans last night.)

It was so wintry during this opening dawn of April that Vermont State Police reported that a number of cars slid off icy Interstate 89 between Montpelier and Richmond this morning.

There will probably be some wintry reminders this month, for sure. For instance, normal April snowfall in Burlington is 4.1 inches.

Still, we can finally say goodbye to any extended periods of wintry weather.

Unlike last April, when we had to endure frequent bursts of snow, ice and chill during the first three weeks of the month, forecasts for the first half of April, 2019 seem OK.

There's still what will be an intense nor'easter to watch around Tuesday night and Wednesday that still looks promisingly like it will completely miss Vermont.  If it were to hug the coast, we'd probably get another fairly significant wet snowstorm.  But so far, all the guidance has it much too far to the east to do us any harm. By that I mean, no snow.

While wintry surprises can certainly happen, it's still looking like temperatures during at least the first half of April will be near or above normal, which is nice.  Again, though things can change, I also don't see any blockbuster storms in the near future, so major flooding is pretty much out of the question for now.

However, there's still a lot of snow left in the mountains yet to melt, so we'll need to keep an eye on that.

Time to watch the landscape slowly wake up and turn greener this month after a long, long winter.

Up And Down January Proves Snowy; But Not THAT Much On Ground

The first day of January, 2019, featured no snow on the ground in
St. Albans, Vermont and it almost looked springlike, but......

January in Vermont has ended and February has begun, so it's time to assess the weather during the first month of 2019.

It certainly was an up and down month, as we'd go a few days with warmth, then a few days with cold, and back again.

There were never more than six days in a row with continuous below freezing temperatures. Thaws were frequent, but not huge or particularly long lasting.

Cold waves came in abundance, but they, too, were not anywhere close to record-setting.

In the end, Burlington's mean temperature for the month was. 17.3 degrees, or 1.4 degrees chillier than normal. Other locations in Vermont were a bit colder than that. Montpelier's 13.5 degree average temperature for January was 3.5 degrees colder than normal. St. Johnsbury was 2.9 degrees chillier than normal during January, 2019.

Even though temperatures yo-yo'd back and forth all month, we never did hit any super extremes. Burlington's warmest day during January was 44 degrees and the coldest was minus 16.  Neither of these temperatures came anywhere close to setting any records.

The frequent temperature changes during January hint at the idea there was a lot of storminess, and sure enough, the month was wet and snowy.

Burlington has 3.29 inches of precipitaition which was about 1.2 inches more than normal. It fell just outside the Top 10 list of wettest Januaries. Other places were wetter. Montpelier had 3.71 inches of precipitation, and St. Johnsbury was soggy at 4.64 inches.

Much of this precipitation came down as snow, of course, and Vermont was really snowy. Burlington's 41.8 inches of snow for the month made this January the third snowiest. Only the Januaries of 2010 (48.4 inches) and 1978 (42.4 inches) were snowier.

....by the last day of the month, there was nearly a foot of snow on
the ground in St. Albans after frequent snows during January.  

Because of the frequent thaws, there was never that much snow on the ground despite the amount of flakes coming from the sky.

The most snow on the ground in Burlington was briefly 18 inches. There were only five days during the month in which the snow depth exceeded 10 inches.

If you go a little higher in elevation, the snow stayed on the ground a little better.

On the final day of the month, there was 33 inches of snow on the ground in Waterbury, 31 inches in Pomfret and 30 inches in Sheffield. The summit of Mount Mansfield had an impressive 98 inch deep snow cover.

Northern New England had a lot of snow in January, and southern New England had very little. Boston only had 2.1 inches of snow in January. Providence, Rhode Island only managed 1.6 inches.

There's no such thing as normal, really, since the normal for any period is the some total of a month's ups and downs.

Still, we like to compare things to "normal." Especially as we look ahead into this new month.  February usually is the point at which we start getting past the heart of winter. By later in February, the sun feels a little stronger, and thaws become a little more likely.

Then again, it can get brutally cold any time in February. It has been known to get into the 20s and 30s below any time during the second month of the year in Vermont. We had something like ten mornings in a row in Vermont during February 1979 when the temperature stayed almost continuously below zero, bottoming out in the 30s below zero. Some of state's biggest snowstorms have come in February.

On the other hand, there's Februaries like 1981, in which temperatures were in the 50s and 60s for more than a week. Or February, 2017, when temperatures soared into the 70s in Burlington and Bennington. Or even last year, when Bennington topped out at a summery 78 degrees.

Of course, it's impossible to know what this month will bring. It's off to a somewhat chilly start this morning, but nothing out of the ordinary for February. It's going to warm up starting Sunday, and the first half of next week will feature thawing. Beyond that is anyone's guess.

Wild March In Vermont Comes Out "Normal" Here's How

Tonks the Weather Dog warily watches a heavy layer of snow slide
off our roof amid deep snows in mid-March, St. Albans, Vermont.
To anyone out in Vermont weather this March the weather
seemed abnormal. But average out the extremes, and the month
turned out about normal in the weather department. 

March was consistently warm. It was consistently cold. There was a lot of snow. Lots of storms. Nor'easters.

So the climate summary for the month in Vermont will have off the charts weird stats, right?  

Wrong.

The only weather statistic of note I could find was that Burlington, Vermont had its sixth snowiest March, with 30.1 inches of snow.

But that was nowhere near the snowiest March, in 2011, when there was 47.6 inches of snow.

Other than that, the month seems
like a yawner on paper, even the weather was anything but boring in March.

East of the Green Mountains, Vermont's snowfall in March, 2018 was heavy, but not record breaking. Except perhaps in the far southern Green Mountains.

The mean temperature in Burlington in March, 2018 was 31.3, just 0.3 degrees "warmer" than normal. But we can really call temperatures for the month normal, since it was so close to average.

However, temperatures got "stuck" in various ways during the month. Typically, you get a couple, few days of warmer than average temperatures, folllowed by one, two, or three days that are on the cool side, back to warm, etc.

Not this month. Each of the first 15 days of March in Burlington were warmer than normal. That was followed by 12 consecutive days of colder than average weather. (The last four days we a bit on the warm side.)

Average the two long temperatures out, and you see how we came close to "normal" for the month, though it didn't feel normal.

Interestingly, the hottest day of March, 2018 was much cooler than February's hottest day. In February, Burlington had its second warmest February temperature on record --- 69 degrees. The warmest day we could muster in March, 2018 was just 54 degrees. It was the coolest "high" for March in years.

Also, the coldest temperature of the month in both February and March was minus 2.

Elsewhere in Vermont, March turned out just a wee bit cooler than normal, but not by much. Essentially, it was normal.

Rain and melted snow amounts for March, 2018 turned out to be very close to normal, too. Burlington had 2.63 inches of precipitation, which was a little less than half an inch above normal. Monpelier and St. Johnsbury were pretty much on the money for precipitation during the month.

As I always say, I don't know what the next month has in store for us. I have a feeling that April as a whole will be cooler than normal here in Vermont. I base that on projections indicating the first two weeks of the month will be chilly. And some days during that period will be much colder than normal.

Long range projections are never that good, and right now, they're not at all helpful at predicting what the second half of April will be like. It will be warm unless it's cold, and wet unless it's dry. That doesn't tell you much, does it?

Yesterday's Vermont Snowstorm Dumped A Pretty Uniform Blanket Of Snow

A pretty Thursday morning in my St. Albans, Vermont
yard today after yesterday's 8.6 inch dump of powder

Every time we get a snowstorm in Vermont, some towns get buried, some mostly miss out on the excitement.  

This time, while snowfall did vary from place to place across the Green Mountain State, snow totals were pretty uniform for a February storm. 

While there were exceptions, like in parts of Chittenden County, pretty much everybody got seven to 12 inches of powder out of this dump. Areas around Burlington only got about five or six inches.

The highest total reported so far, outside the mountain peaks was 14 inches in Walden. There were several reports of a foot of snow, and those reports were scattered throughout the state.

Among the one footer towns were Averill, way up in the Northeast Kingdom, Berlin in central Vermont, Middletown Springs down in Rutland County, Vergennes in the southern Champlain Valley and Rochester to the east.

As previously noted, it's a nice, powdery snow and fairly easy to shovel.

The snow we got in Vermont yesterday was fluffy and powdery
making it pretty easy to get most of my St. Albans
driveway shoveled today. 

If you want a bit of icing on the cake, so to speak, it still looks like we'll get another one to three inches of fluff Friday night. There might be even a bit more than that in some of the Green Mountains, and in northern New York.

The Friday night mini-snowfall is coming from a rather weak, quick moving storm that today is causing some snow, wind, and winter storm warnings in the middle of the country.

By the way, yesterday's powdery snow, atop more crusty stuff, has prompted an avalanche watch in northern New Hampshire's White Mountains. There could be some dangerous snow slides up in that neck of the woods. So watch out for that, back country skiers!

Otherwise, enjoy the powder today. The sun is coming out and it will be a brisk but beautiful and brilliant Thursday afternoon. Bring those sunglasses, though. It's awfully bright out there.

Despite Scary 1st Day, July Weather Pretty Much Normal In Vermont

A sailboat catches a shaft of sunlight near approaching
storms last week on Lake Champlain, off of Burlington, Vermont.

The weather in Vermont and the rest of New England did NOT get off to a very good start on July 1.

Flash flooding damaged swaths of central and southern Vermont, and some counties still might receive disaster declarations.

The flooding extended into New Hampshire, as did severe thunderstorms. Several tornadoes spun up in Maine, of all places.

We braced for a rough weather month. Then....not much.

At the National Weather Service office in South Burlington, Vermont, the average temperature for July, 2017 came to 70.6 degrees, which is exactly normal. Rainfall there for the month totaled 3.45 inches, which was a little below normal.

There was a notable lack of temperature extremes during July. The temperature in Burlington never made it to 90 degrees, the first time that's happened in July in many years. The low temperature was 50 degrees, which just happened Sunday.

Scanning National Weather Service data, I see that elsewhere in and around Vermont, conditions varied, as is usually the case. Montpelier reported a slightly cooler and wetter than normal July. No heat there, either. The hottest day of the month in Montpelier only made it to 83 degrees.

Up in St. Johnsbury, July was a full 2.5 degrees chillier than normal, with precipitation just about normal. Morrisville was even more nippy: 3 degrees colder than normal in July.

It looks like August is going to start on the warm side, with temperatures over the next several days running a few degrees above normal.  There is a rising risk of showers and thunderstorms as we move toward the end of this week.

Still, I don't see any signs of extreme weather coming to our region anytime soon. Then again, that type of thing tends to sneak up on you, doesn't it?

Spring's March Forward Stalled in Vermont, New England During April

Snow covered daffodils in Burlington, Vermont show
the wear and tear of an unspringlike April. Photo was taken
during an April 26 snowfall.  

I'm about to say something that most Vermonters, and most New Englanders knew, and felt it in their bones and in their gardens.

April was definitely chillier than average.   

The numbers are in here in Vermont. At the National Weather Service office in South Burlington, Vermont, April was 3.2 degrees cooler than average.

It was the first chillier than normal month since October, 2015, and the chilliest, relative to normal, since March, 2015, which was 4.6 degrees colder than normal.

In March this year, it was toasty warm for the season and spring seemed like it would come roaring in big time and quickly. By April 1, some of the early green plants were emerging from the ground.

But all that was some kind of big April fool.  

Many of us remember the extreme chill in the early part of the month, when temperatures didn't get above freezing for a few days and some of the coldest mountain hollows got below zero.

The cold was so stunning that as of this writing, the many daffodils I have around my house in St. Albans, Vermont aren't putting on their usual stunning show. There's plenty of blooms, yes, but not as many as I usuallu see. Some got hopelessly nipped in early April.

First time I've seen daffodils suffer in the weather. They're normally really tough.

We also thought back in March that the trees would be greening up by now. They are only barely starting.

April was dry, too, with lots of days of sunny skies and very, very low humidity. Brush fires seeed a constant threat in Vermont and the rest of New England all month. I noticed brush and grass fires around St. Albans both Friday and Saturday.

Despite the relative dryness, Burlington, Vermont, April managed to be snowier than March, which is unusual. The city got 3.5 inches of snow during April, compared to 1.8 inches in March.

May is some ways is starting where April left off, with the difference that we are going to get some needed, soaking rain.

As I wrote this Sunday morning, rain was moving into Vermont, and at least some showers are due almost every day for the next week at least.

Like in April, May is off to a chilly start, with high temperatures in the clouds and rain not getting out of the upper 40s today and Monday in many parts of northern  Vermont.

It'll sort of warm up midweek, but a big cut off area of low pressure in the upper atmosphere is expected to park itself somewhere along the East Coast later in the week. That will likely continue the cool, showery weather across all of the Northeast.

Here in Vermont, we could get as much as three inches of rain over the next six to 10 days. 

At least it's not snow. At least I don't think it will snow. 

Third Hottest August On Record In Burlington, Vermont

A pleasant warm evening a couple weeks ago
in Colchester, Vermont. August turned out
to be nearby Burlington's third hottest on record.  

It was generally a pretty warm August in much of the Northeast, and Vermont was in on the toasty summer action.

August ended yesterday in Burlington, Vermont as the third hottest on record.

There was no extreme heat during the month, but the temperatures were consistent. There really weren't any chilly spells like you usually get in August.

The coolest night in Burlington only got down to 53 degrees this past August. That's is perhaps a tie for the warmest "low" temperature on record at the National Weather Service in South Burlington.

Meteorologist Andy Nash found two warmer August lows, in 1900 and in 1892. But in those days, temperature readings were taken at the University of Vermont, which is closer to Lake Champlain than the current measuring site at the Burlington International Airport.

Warm lake water could have easily upped the temperatures a bit at UVM way back when.

The August low of 53 in 2015 is tied with 2011 with a similar low. Four other Augusts had lows of 53, but those were in the days when temperatures were recorded at UVM

In August, 2015. there was some heat, of course, including four consecutive days of 90 temperatures from August 18 through 21.

It was dry, too. Burlington only got about half its normal rainfall. Usually about four inches falls in August. This time, it was a pinch under 2 inches.

September is getting off to a warm start, too. Yesterday, Sept. 1, reached 85 degrees in Burlington. Daytime temperatures in the 80s are expected daily today through at least Tuesday. There might even be a 90 or two thrown in. That's about ten degrees warmer than normal for this time of year in Vermont.

However, the Green Mountain State is not headed toward its warmest year on record, like the world as a whole is. We had a brutally cold winter, including the third coldest February on record.

Through August 31, the mean temperature for 2015 in Burlington is running at about 1.7 degrees below normal.

Hey, New England! Hope You Like Snow Because More Is Coming

Love this photo. Somebody kept removing
snow from the Boston Marathon finish line
during the Blizzard of 2015 yesterday.  

Boston's second Big Dig is underway today The first was that big road construction project that until recently consumed the city for years and years.

Today, of course, is the Big Snow Dig for much of New England.

They'd better dig fast because there's more snow on the way. Definitely a little snow, possibly a LOT of snow. More on that in a minute.

Blizzard of 2015 Recap:

It truly was a historic storm, as advertised ahead of time by the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass.  Worcester, Mass. had its biggest snowstorm on record, with 34.5 inches. Boston had its sixth largest snowstorm, with 24.6 inches. The most I've seen so far is 36 inches in Lunenburg, Auburn and Hudson,  Mass.  

Then there was the two rounds of coastal flooding. I'm sure some areas will be declared disaster zones. There's a lot of damage to businesses, homes, roads and utilities.

NECN reports at least two houses have been condemned in Marshfield, Mass. after a sea wall collapsed in the storm and waves battered the buildings.

Just picking up the mess, getting rid of the debris and tons of snow and ice are going to be a huge undertaking.

The blizzard lasted a long time in much of New England, too.

According to the National Weather Service, blizzard conditions lasted 14 hours in Marshfield, Mass., 11 hours on Nantucket, and nine hours in Boston. That's a pretty long time for official blizzard conditions to last in New England.

For conditions to qualify as an official blizzard, falling or blowing snow must reduce visibililty to a quarter mile or less and winds must frequently gust to 35 mph or more for at least three consecutive hours.

A man removes items from a Massachusetts home
damaged by a storm surge and battering ocean waves
during yesterday's blizzard. Photo by Greg Derr/AP  

As I noted, more snow is on the way. Not on the magnitude of this last storm, but still.

The weather pattern lately has featured storms crossing the nation with not all that much fanfare, then blowing into big storms along the New England coast.

That happened last Saturday with the six or so inches of wet snow that hit southern New England. Of course it happened with this Blizzard of 2015. There are signs that it's going to happen again. And maybe again. And perhaps again after that.

We'll take them one at a time.

Storm Number One: 

The first one is coming across the northern United States. It's getting it's act together in the Dakotas now, and will scoot across the Great Lakes then on toward New England Thursday night.

The storm is pretty far removed from the Gulf of Mexico, but it will be able to tap some moisture, so it looks like it will squeeze out 2 to 6 inches of snow in much of  New England Thursday night, Friday and maybe into the first part of Saturday.  

Like the past recent storms, this one will explode into a pretty strong one once it moves toward and off the New England coast.

This one is starting out more north than the other ones, though, so this storm will blow up in the Gulf of Maine, too far north to give Boston, Hartford and New York any kind of big snowstorm. Just light snow and a lot of wind.

However, the eastern two thirds of Maine and much of the maritime provinces of eastern Canada will get a big storm out of this. There's already a winter storm watch for much of Maine for more than seven inches of snow.  

A man battles the weather during the Blizzard of 2015
in Portland, Maine. Maine is at risk for two
more fairly substantial snowstorms within the
next week. Photo by Robert Bukaty/AP  

Since much of Maine got a lot of snow out of the last storm, this one will make a real mess. For example, Eastport Maine got 20.3 inches of snow with six foot drifts with the just ended Blizzard of 2015.  Add another foot to that Friday and Saturday, and possibly ANOTHER foot next week, and you've got trouble.

Storm Number Two

After a shot of bitterly cold air this weekend in New England, another storm wants to get going for Monday and Tuesday. This one will come out of the southwestern United States, go along or near the northern Gulf of Mexico and then ride up the coast as a nor'easter.

It's way too soon to say how strong this one will be, how much snow will fall, and whether some areas will go over to rain.

So far, the forecasting computer models, the ones that are sometimes spectacularly right, and sometimes majorly wrong, are in two camps.

One set of models takes the storm off the coast, focusing any heavy snow near the coast, the areas that got whammed by the Blizzard of 2015. There's even a chance it could go so far off the coast that only light snow would hit the Northeast, but so far, that's not the most likely scenario.

Another set of computer forecasting models would take the storm inland, right over, say, New York City, central New England and on into Maine. If that were to happen, the areas that got hit by the blizzard would get snow, mixed precipitation, then a quick shot of heavy rain. That would be a mess.

Under this second scenario, northwestern New England, especially most of Vermont, northern New Hampshire, and outside New England, northern New York, would get a pretty substantial snowstorm out of this. (These areas only got light snow, on the order of a trace to six inches, out of yesterday's blizzard)

This is a case of just waiting to see what happens. They'll refine forecasts over the upcoming weekend.

Following THIS storm, it looks like what could be the deepest, coldest cold snap of the winter for New England around Tuesday and Wednesday.

Storm Number Three

Signs point to another storm running up the coast late next week. This one is way off in the future. So far, I can't give you much. It might not even happen. It's just the weather pattern, as it looks now, anyway, strongly favors storminess on the East Coast late next week.

I don't yet know if that means a lot of snow, a lot of rain, a lot of ice, a lot of wind, all of the above or even none of the above.  It's just something to keep in the back of our minds while we figure out what's going on with these first two storms.

Incredible Warmth Elsewhere

While the Northeast is dealing with what has turned into a real, REAL winter in the past couple of weeks, the western half of the country is definitely wondering, "What winter?"

On Monday, no fewer tha 86 towns and cities in the western third of the nation had record high temperatures. Yesterday, they had incredible record highs of 83 degrees in Hill City, and 79 in Goodland, both cities in the high Plains of western Kansas.

Oklahoma City had a record high of 78 yesterday, beating the old record of 72. The forecast high in the north Texas city of Wichita Falls, Texas today is 83.

It's been in the 50s the past couple days at my in-laws'  home of Yankton, in southeastern South Dakota, making this Vermonter for the first time ever jealous of South Dakota winter weather. It also has me threatening to move in with my in-laws if this very wintry New England weather keeps up.