Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Twigs emerging from the snowpack

Morning Observation:

This morning in Huntington at 7:10AM it’s currently a balmy 52 degrees under cloudy skies. Winds are out out of the south at 5-8 mph. Relative humidity is 86%, dewpoint 48, barometric pressure 29.58”. We’re down to a spotty 1” of snow at the stake. Yesterday’s high was 61, and yesterday’s low was 24. The overnight low got down to 46.

This morning in North Hero it’s currently 47 degrees under cloudy skies. Winds are out of the south at 18-20 mph. Relative humidity is 92%, dewpoint 45, barometric pressure 29.57”. Yesterday’s high was 55, and yesterday’s low was 30. The overnight low got down to 43.

There is a Wind Advisory and a Flood Watch in effect for our region from 1:00PM today until 7:00AM Thursday.

Forecast Discussion:

We’ve got some wooly weather ahead of us for the next 24 hours or so. Morning radar imagery shows low pressure over the northern Great Lakes at this hour and a warm front extending southeastward with an accompanying line of showers. These showers will be pushing into the Vermont by midmorning bringing a round of showers to the region as highs bump up into the upper 50s to low 60s once again. Southerly winds will be on the increase through the day gusting to 45 mph over the Champlain Valley by this afternoon. A sharp cold front will swing through later this afternoon/evening renewing chances for rain, which may be heavy at times, and include a few rumbles of thunder as well. Much colder air will move in behind the front as winds shift into the west and any remaining precipitation changes over to snow. We may see a dusting to half an inch here in Huntington before it winds down quickly tonight. Dry and unseasonably chilly air will make a brief visit Thursday as high pressure crests over the region with daytime highs only around 20 and gusty west wind under mostly sunny skies. The cool-down will be brief, however, as the ridge of high pressure slides to our east allowing for a southerly return flow to bring more warm air back into the region for the weekend. Highs on Friday are expected to warm into the low 40s, with low 50s on Saturday, and mid to upper 50s by Sunday. The next chance for precipitation looks to hold off until Monday night, but unseasonably warm conditions look to persist at least through the end of next week.

3-Day Forecast:

We’ll see cloudy skies today with showers, mainly after 10:00AM. Highs will be near 62 with south winds 8-13 mph increasing to 18-23 mph in the afternoon in Huntington and 26-31 mph in the Champlain Valley. Winds could gust as high as 46 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80% with rainfall amounts between 0.10″-0.25″ possible. Tonight should be cloudy with rain and snow showers before 11:00PM, then a chance of snow showers between 11:00PM and 1:00AM. Some thunder is also possible with the passage of the cold front. Lows will drop to around 14 with south winds 20-24 mph becoming westerly 18-25 after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 47 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100% with snow accumulations of less than 0.50″ possible.

Thursday should be mostly sunny with a high near 20 and west winds 18-25 mph gusting to 40 mph. Thursday night should be partly cloudy with a low around 14 and west winds 13-18 mph decreasing to 6-11 mph after midnight.

Friday should start out mostly cloudy, then gradually become sunny, with a high near 43 and south winds 8-15 mph. Friday night should be partly cloudy with a low around 33 and south winds 10-13 mph.

Almanac:

Last year on this date in Huntington we had a high of 35 and a low of 25. We had 8″ of snow at the stake.
Last year in North Hero we had a high of 35 and a low of 21. We had 5″ of snow at the stake.

Burlington averages for this date are a low of 18 and a high of 35.
The record low was -13 in 1950.
The record high was 59 in 2018 (we had a high of 53 in Huntington). Burlington set a new record high of 65 yesterday and is likely to break the record again today.

The Lake Champlain lake level in Burlington is 96.16′.
The water temperature is 37˚.
Last year’s lake level was at 96.26′.

The Mt. Mansfield snow stake depth is 58″ (measured on the 26th).
The average depth for this date is 64″.

Mt. Washington Summit Conditions
Current Temperature: 32˚
Winds are out of the south at 45 gusting to 56 mph
24 hr Precipitation: 0.5″ snow, 0.19″ melted precipitation
Visibility: less than 1/16 mile in fog and drizzle

Sky Notes:

Sunrise: 6:31AM
Sunset: 5:38PM
Length of day: 11:06:30
Today will be 3:00 longer than yesterday.

The Moon is waning gibbous, 18 days old with 87% illumination.
Moonrise: 9:58PM
Moonset: 8:06AM

About Today’s Photo:

Twigs that have been buried in the snowpack spring back up as strong sunshine melts the snow. You can clearly see the imprint where the twigs were nestled into the snow. The one twig to the lower right is slowly sinking into the snow as sunshine heats it.

Panasonic Lumix DS-SZ200, ISO 125, f/7.1, 1/1000″ exposure

Blog Note: The blog will be on hiatus from now through the weekend as we join some friends for a multi-day hut-to-hut ski trip in Maine. Have a good weekend!