HARDWICK – Somehow the precipitation dodged us for the most part during the last forecast period, with the wettest parts of the region experiencing only up to two tenths of an inch of rainfall in heavier scattered showers on Saturday afternoon.
We had more peeks of sun than originally anticipated, a welcome sight to those who continued to ask for breaks in the clouds. That sun also contributed to warming temperatures through Saturday when parts of the region saw record high temperatures. Montpelier shattered its record high of 50 degrees set in 1966 with a new record of 55 degrees. It also got to 55 degrees in Plainfield and Morrisville. St. Johnsbury reached 57 degrees and highs reached 52 degrees a little closer to home in Greensboro. The warmth was enough for some reports of embedded thunder and lightning within those scattered showers that began the process of moving the warmth out during the second half of the weekend.
In the wake of the warmth, most hillsides below 1,500 feet are really missing the snow right now. That coastal low we discussed last week did indeed stay well to our south, but all hope is not lost on us restoring the snowpack as we get into next weekend. No blockbuster events are in our future, but we should see a couple of systems cutting through the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes, which will bring us a few inches of snow at a time.
The way this all times out appears reasonably consistent at this time. It starts with high pressure to our north and strong winds on Wednesday night, with partly cloudy skies and much cooler temperatures. Wind chills will feel close to zero during this time. The cold air retreats as we get into Thursday and our first system begins to approach from the west Thursday evening. Expect light snow to develop overnight, with accumulations of two to five inches by Friday morning. The greatest accumulations will be found in the mid-terrain. A brief lull in the activity will occur Friday afternoon, before another system crosses Saturday. Another one to three inches of snow is possible with this system. As we get into the latter half of the weekend, recent signaling suggests temperatures will get much colder for a few days, but that hasn’t been consistent enough to really wrap it into the forecast for Sunday other than to offer slightly below normal temperatures.
In summary, here is the five-day forecast:
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Scattered snow showers, with a trace of snow possible. Blustery. High: 23. Low: 8. Winds increasing to 15 to 20 mph with higher gusts overnight. Wind chill values in the single digits to low teens below zero.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. Increasing clouds late in the day. Light snow developing overnight. Snow accumulations of 1 to 2 inches. Warmer. High: 28. Low: 15.
Friday: Mostly cloudy. Light snow in the morning tapering off through the day. An additional 1 to 3 inches of accumulation for a total snow amount of 2 to 5 inches. High: 30. Low: 17.
Saturday: Mostly cloudy. Scattered snow showers. Total accumulations of 1 to 3 inches. High: 28. Low: 10.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy. Isolated snow showers. High: 24. Low: 9.
Tyler is weather reporter and a community journalist. He works as a nurse and EMT, volunteers with Hardwick Resdue and helps to train new EMTs
