Mild stretch ends Friday with 6-12 powdery inches coming late Saturday and colder weather maintaining a grip on Vermong through Christmas

Parts of Nebraska and Iowa that are more used to seeing sub-zero temperatures this time of year are dealing with a massive severe weather outbreak from thunderstorms. Straight line winds of close to 100 and even tornadoes just add to what has been a historic December for weather more typical in April or May. Though we will avoid the thunderstorms on Thursday, we can expect some gusty winds to go along with the very mild 50-plus temperatures, especially during the afternoon and evening. 60-degree readings are certainly possible in valley locations but it will require a few hours of sunshine and that is not what data is indicating at this time.

Colder temperatures will very slowly seep back into Vermont Friday but we can still expect a very mild December day with readings generally above freezing with the exception of the highest summits. Fortunately this will be the last such day in a while with a new very improved regime set to take over, just in the nick of time for the holidays. Saturday's storm is a beauty. A fast moving open wave, so we won't see anything historic but the storm is strong enough and appears poised to track right through our powder alley - the southern New England coastline. Temperatures might be hovering in the high 20's Saturday morning, but will fall into the teens and low 20's once the snow begins around noon and continues into the overnight hours. By Sunday morning, much of northern Vermont can expect a powdery 4-8 inches with 6-12 over the high country. A very nice liftoff event even if it was delayed. 

I had my fears and doubts but it appears as if the cold will mostly win the battle for control of Vermont's weather following Saturday's storm and through Christmas Day. This is terrific news because the risk of another thaw or rain/ice type event was certainly lingering, but we can just push much of that to the south for now. It doesn't look like anything big will come together for Monday/Tuesday, the 21st and 22nd but a polar jet impulse has the capability of bringing both light snow Monday night followed by a reinforcement of colder temperatures for the middle of the week. There is an interesting sub-tropical feature that will be spinning its wheels along the Gulf Coast at this point and its interaction with the series of polar jet impulses remains a question. It may pass innocently offshore with a whimper late next week, but it could phase either slightly offshore or closer to the coastline with a stronger polar jet impulse poised to enter our forecast picture on the 23rd into Christmas Eve. Either way, it provides us with another opportunity for at least some light snow and a slight chance for something bigger. Temperatures on the mountain should remain below the freezing mark throughout next week and should top out in the 20's and 30's across the valley locations while falling into the single numbers and teens during the overnights.

Our new and improved weather pattern continues to look gradually better with each passing day. The bulk of the cold and storminess still appears focused on the Pacific Northwest around Christmas, but this area of cold appears to seek a broader, flatter influence over lower North America. It will essentially get squeezed, pinched and almost hyphenated over southern Canada and the northern third of the United States, lodged between two upper air ridges, one in the northern Pacific and another over Greenland. Barring a change, this should equate to some excellent results for Vermont with cold weather remaining in place or even intensifying and a storm track aimed south but not too far south of us. The southeast ridge appears weaker but it continues to lurk over the southern plains, This collection of features should produce a rather fast current of air over the United States and some storminess between the holidays. Just a massive improvement compared to how this all looked a week ago ! Fingers remain crossed.