EAST HARDWICK – Temperatures plummeted Friday night and Saturday night under strong radiational cooling, with low temperatures at this station reaching 28 degrees Saturday morning and 25 degrees Sunday morning. Effectively, this was a killing freeze in this local hollow. Hardwick came in with 32 degrees and Craftsbury Common reported a 31-degree low on Sunday morning. Some of the frost was patchier in nature and a few places may be able to still squeeze some growing time out where plants were protected by coverings and warmer temperatures.
Now on to the drought situation. We remain in a severe drought with a hundredth of an inch of rain falling since Tuesday of last week. East Hardwick is currently over an inch and a half behind on rainfall for the month, or 42 percent of normal. The radar Tuesday morning shows an area of steady rain approaching from the west in association with an approaching frontal boundary.
Indeed, there are some chances of rainfall in the forecast that will likely not get us to break even on our deficits, but it will stop us from further drying up. That boundary is south of us by Wednesday, having dropped a couple of tenths of an inch of rain, with another low strengthening over the Ohio River Valley and moving north over the Saint Lawrence River. Thursday looks to be the day with the most substantial rain, where up to half an inch may fall.
That system lingers into Friday morning, before some gradual clearing occurs as the pattern yields to a high-pressure system building over the east. A disturbance may briefly interrupt the fair weather Saturday night with a passing shower, but compared to the other two precipitation events of the week, this will be inconsequential. Temperatures will largely be close to normal or slightly above. We look to avoid frosty conditions during this forecast period entirely. Here are the details of the forecast:
photo by Paul Fixx
Wednesday: Mostly cloudy. Scattered showers. High: 70. Low: 52. South wind around 5 mph.
Thursday: Cloudy. Rain. High: 65. Low: 56. Southwest wind 5-10 mph.|
Friday: Mostly cloudy, with clearing by late afternoon. A slight chance of showers in the morning. High: 72. Low: 48. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny. Increasing clouds by evening with a slight chance of a shower overnight. High: 73. Low: 53. Calm wind.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. High: 68. Low: 42. West wind around 5 mph.
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.
