Burst of spring-warmth expected for April 7-9 but winter appears less likely completely fade away

April begins and the deep snow across the Vermont high country remains. The month also arrives with a few inches of snow and Tuesday April 2nd will begin with temperatures in the high teens. There are some changes that need to be discussed regarding the overall weather pattern for the next two weeks but Mad River Glen and the rest of Vermont will stay in spring mode and some very warm weather appears headed our way around April 7th and 8th. The blog has obviously begun winding down for the season but will continue to be updated as needed, and as the impressively long Mad River Glen season continues. If we can continue to remain open through mid-April, I would imagine that we would be challenging some MRG Coop records as far as numbers of days in operation. I'll have to consult with the powers-that-be if such records are actually kept.

The current forecast suggests most of the rest of the week (through late Friday) will remain free of any heavy precipitation. Temperatures will begin each day in sub-freezing territory with the coldest morning being Tuesday morning. Each day is also indicated to feature at least limited amounts of sunshine and Tuesday should feature lots of sunshine. The one noteworthy weather feature that could completely change this short term outlook is a subtropical piece of energy in the jet stream that is expected to move to within 100 or so miles from Cape Hatteras Tuesday. Though this storm is expected to confine its impact to areas offshore or on the immediate coast as it continues to advance northeastward, the track has shifted slightly west in the last 1-2 days. Another 100 miles west and maybe we an introduce some snowfall to the forecast for Tuesday night into Wednesday but for now the forecast in that time frame is for some clouds and limited sun with a few elevation sensitive snow showers. The next weather question revolves around the later Friday/early Saturday  time frame when the next weather system may or may not move far enough to bring a mixed bag of precipitation.

Whatever weather does or does not occur early in the upcoming weekend will be gone by later Saturday and Sunday appears to be fantastic with temperatures well into the 50's after starting near 30. Monday April 8th appears even warmer potentially with temperatures surging into the 60's, something that hasn't really happened since October across the high elevations.

In the last update, I had indicated that the warm weather might be a more prevailing thing beyond the span of a few days. Data today suggests otherwise however with both the Arctic Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation forecast to turn negative as we move toward the middle of the month. Sustained warm weather thus looks very unlikely given that. There are no indications of sustained cold right now but these teleconnections certainly raise the chances that winter might be prepping for another significant encore between April 10th and 17th. We will continue to watch it.