Over a foot of mostly powdery additional snow expected over the mountains late Sunday into Monday

Heavy wet snow pummeled much the northern Vermont high country Saturday night and early Sunday and with it came the power outages. The wet snow always brings this risk, but it appears especially bad thanks to the fact that snow fell over largely unfrozen ground, leaving many large trees susceptible to an uprooting. Thirteen thousand customers just in Washington County alone according to power outage US.  Hopefully folks impacted by this get electricity back soon including the ski areas which appear to have been affected Sunday morning. With the surface low pressure center tracking west of Boston and over interior New Hampshire and Maine, much of Vermont experienced the expected lull in the storm early Sunday. A deep layer of northwest flow is poised to establish itself over the entire state Sunday afternoon allowing the wrap-around moist conveyor of the storm to bring snow back to the mountains. Snow should be falling lightly late Sunday afternoon and evening and intensify over the mountains even as it remains more intermittent in valley areas. Most importantly, temperatures above 1500 feet will cool into the 20's changing the consistency of the snow to a drier, more powdery variety. Aside from being nicer to ski in, the drier is also a little easier on power lines. Northwest winds are expected to increase Sunday night into Monday even as the snowfall continues. Expect blustery conditions Monday with 20-40 mph winds, temperatures in the 20's and the additional snowfall which should taper off to flurries Monday afternoon or evening. I expect we receive another 2-4 inches Sunday, 6-12 inches of powdery snow Sunday night and an additional 3-6 during the day Monday. This would bring us to a storm total ranging from 20 to 34 inches.

More sunshine, diminishing winds and milder 35-40 degree temperatures can be expected for Tuesday with readings climbing into the 40's across valley locations. Clouds are expected to return for Wednesday but temperatures are expected to climb well into the 40's 

More weather is expected late in the week as low pressure is expected to emerge in the plains and track eastward and eventually somewhere south of Vermont. Cold air is in short supply but a minimal push of cooler temperatures is expected to push south just ahead of any precipitation which keeps us in play for some wet snowfall. The prospects for snow appear better as we get closer to St Patrick's Day thanks to colder air which as I've mentioned in prior posts, appears to want to stick around for the ensuing week. More on that in the next update.