EAST HARDWICK – It’s hard to summarize the span of events we’ve experienced in the past week around here. Let’s put it in the category of what we’ve come to expect as we progress through Vermont winters: cold and windy; with all roads leading to snow. Perhaps all snow landing on all roads is a more accurate depiction of it.
photo by Dawn Gustafson
The first accumulation of snow came between two cold fronts delivering reinforcing shots of cold air and some snow squalls with terrain-enhanced snow showers. This led to 5.7 inches of snow over the course of three days, before skies cleared and temperatures dropped to well below zero. Some blustery northwest winds made it feel even colder. A wind chill of -22⁰F was recorded at the VTrans weather station on Route 14 in Hardwick, with a low of -13⁰F here in East Hardwick without the wind Saturday morning. The following morning, the low temperature was -24⁰F in Hardwick and -16⁰F in East Hardwick.
A coastal low-pressure system approached for Sunday and took a track further north than originally expected, arriving midday and progressing to heavy snow overnight. By the end of Monday, Walden recorded 18 inches of accumulation, with 15.9 inches in East Craftsbury, 15.5 inches in both Marshfield and East Hardwick, and 14 inches in Wolcott. A new daily snowfall record of 7.0 inches was set in Burlington Sunday, nearly double the previous daily record of 3.8 inches set in 1924.
We are entering the part of winter where steep gradients between air masses do result in coastal developments like this, and the time we go to press certainly puts us at a disadvantage in terms of getting the best forecast when it comes to the details we need for an accurate storm track later in the period. If one system wasn’t enough, another area of low pressure looks to form off the southeast coast again this coming weekend. It’s competing with a high-pressure system stationed over the Upper Midwest. Widespread variability exists in possible outcomes, so a middle-of-the-road snow event is placed in the forecast, with encouragement to follow forecasts as we get closer to the weekend. It’s still possible we see no snow, although it would remain mostly cloudy on Sunday.
In the interim, upper-level disturbances look to pinwheel in on a northwest flow, which will bring episodes of brief light snow and persistently cool temperatures. Highs will be in the teens, with lows on either side of zero. Friday morning, we may get closer to ten below as skies clear briefly. Wind chills could be closer to -20⁰F at that time. Here are the forecast details:
Wednesday: Partly sunny. Scattered snow showers, with an inch of new snow. High: 15. Low: -2. Calm wind.
Thursday: Partly sunny, with decreasing clouds in the afternoon. Isolated snow showers in the morning. High: 12. Low: -7. Northwest wind 5-10 mph. Wind chill values as low as -20 overnight.
Friday: Partly sunny in the morning. Increasing clouds with isolated afternoon snow showers. High: 7. Low: -4. Northwest wind 5-10 mph. Wind chills of -10 to -5 during the day.
Saturday: Partly sunny. High: 16. Low: -1. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy. A chance of snow, with light accumulations possible. High: 19. Low: 3. Northwest wind 5-10 mph.
