Good day to you, southern Vermonters! We have got a major snowstorm underway for the region as this paper hits the streets of Windham County.
A classic nor'easter will form and move up the coast, passing over Nantucket and bringing heavy snow to the region. Snow showers will continue Thursday into Friday with a break over the weekend before more snow and rain is possible early next week.
With that said, let's head over to the details and take a look under the hood!
The storm setup is a classic Miller B pattern (named for J.E. Miller, who devised a classification system for these storms in 1946). Primary low pressure will reach the Great Lakes region and stall, weaken, and transfer its energy to a developing secondary low pressure system off the Mid-Atlantic coastline.
This storm will intensify rapidly, producing prodigious lift in the atmosphere that will form the fluffy, stackable snowflakes known as dendrites, which produce the most effective snow accumulations. This storm will track northeast over Nantucket, hurling heavy snow bands northwest into southern Vermont. A winter wonderland awaits!
For Wednesday, Winter Storm Warnings have been posted by the National Weather Service for the entire state of Vermont! We haven't seen that yet this season, but here we are.
Light snow will begin Wednesday morning, and will become steadier and heavier by afternoon. Heavy snow will fall Wednesday night into the pre-dawn hours of Thursday morning. Highs Wednesday will be in the low 30s, with lows in the 20s. Northeast winds will gust to 30 mph at times. Some isolated power outages are possible.
For Thursday, highs again will be in the 30s and upslope snow showers will continue during the day. Accumulations of 10-16 inches seems likely, with up to 20 inches or so in some spots by Thursday night. Lows on Thursday night will be in the mid 20s.
Scattered snow showers will still be possible Friday with highs in the mid 30s and partly cloudy skies by Friday night with lows in the 20s.
The weekend looks much nicer, with highs in the mid to upper 30s under partly sunny skies, and lows in the 20s.
By early next week, there are signals of yet another Nor'easter looming on the horizon. This storm looks to have some milder air with it, but may just be cold enough for another snowstorm across southern Vermont.
We are in an active pattern, and winter will likely keep its grip on us until at least the middle of March. Have a great week!