Up to a foot of snow could fall overnight, especially in northwestern Vermont, according to the National Weather Service. Winter storm warnings and advisories are in effect across the listening area, but the impact of the storm could vary a lot depending on where in the region you are.
Meteorologist Mark Breen, with Fairbanks Museum and the Eye on the Sky, spoke to VPR early Monday afternoon about what to expect weather-wise in the coming days. Listen to that conversation above, and find some excerpts below.
Snowy up north
"For some folks across parts of the Adirondacks into much of northwestern Vermont we are looking at in excess of a foot of snow in many of those locations," Breen said. "And so this is not going to be just some early attempt at winter — this is going to be a significant event with snowfall amounts from 12 to maybe 16 inches in some of those locations.
"And even in the lower elevations where we tend to get lesser amounts of snow, like near Lake Champlain or in the St. Lawrence Valley, we're still looking at amounts between 8 and 12 inches there."
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"The snow amounts will increase as you go north and west," Breen added. "There will be some sleet and possibly a little freezing rain mixed in as far north as say, the capital district of Montpelier, over toward St. Johnsbury, up into the White Mountains as well."
Icy down south
"For folks across parts of Bennington and Windham counties, and on into New Hampshire — especially the southernmost counties — we're going to see lighter amounts of precipitation and, inititally, it may be mostly rain," Breen said.
"Later tonight, the temperatures will start dropping and we could see a wintry mix as a result. So this is going to be a situation where I think the greatest chance of some icing, some sleet and some freezing rain, is going to take place across parts of Windsor County in Vermont, perhaps parts of southern Rutland County, and then eastward into New Hampshire especially near the lakes region."
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Prepare for cold
"As the storm moves through, it's also going to be intesifying and its rotation — counterclockwise — is gonna pull in a strong northwest airflow, and it's gonna latch onto the coldest air of the season. ... This is actually going to perhaps generate some near-record cold," Breen said. "We'll be watching this carefully. But there's at least the potential that we may see temperatures down to near or below zero."
OK, so is winter here for good?
"The general idea is that we don't see this come to stay," Breen said, "that we'll have an episode like this and then it'll kind of relax a little bit."
For example, Breen noted that back in 2014 we experienced a cold November followed by a warmer December.
"So I would expect some kind of correction, shall we say, in terms of not plunging just completely into winter," Breen said.
