EAST HARDWICK – The colors are starting to pop across the region, as daytime temperatures cool. But we’re still treated to intervals of sunshine. We’ve avoided a significant frost so far and look to continue with that plan for the rest of the week, which is when the growing season effectively ends for us.
Fall foliage is coming quickly as the leaves turn colors near the Cabot-Marshfield line along Route 215.
Most rain gauges reported a total accumulation of 1.5 to 2 inches during the week, putting a significant dent in the deficit that we’ve experienced since the start of September. Climatologically, as the seasons turn cooler, we can expect more days with clouds and rain as well as the occasional wind and rainstorm with heavy downpours.
A couple of weak cold fronts are expected to cross Vermont; one on Wednesday afternoon and the other overnight Friday into Saturday. Each front is expected to bring some light rain showers, with increasing clouds as the fronts approach. Thus, it appears that Thursday will be the best day of the forecast period with highs approaching 70 degrees.
It turns out we are eyeing something a little more significant that will materialize near the end of the forecast period. It may turn into a coastal storm as an approaching front brings cooler air in from northern Canada and interacts with tropical moisture at the coastline. The development of the coastal feature is uncertain, but either way we can expect at least a moderate amount of rain from this system starting overnight on Sunday, with roughly 1 to 1.5 inches expected.
Even more interesting is, as the lingering trough interacts with the colder air Monday night, we might see a few high-elevation snow showers. Maybe an inch of accumulation that will quickly melt by Tuesday. We knew it would come eventually, but will leave it out of the five-day forecast below, seems how it is still almost a week out:
Wednesday: Mostly cloudy. Scattered showers in the afternoon. High: 63. Low: 51.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. High: 71. Low: 43.
Friday: Partly cloudy, with increasing clouds by afternoon. High: 74. Low: 50.
Saturday: Mostly cloudy. Scattered showers. High: 66. Low: 41.
Sunday: Partly cloudy. Rain developing by evening. High: 65. Low: 44.
Tyler is our weather reporter and a community journalist. He works as a nurse and EMT, volunteers with Hardwick Rescue and helps to train new EMTs.
