Tumultuous first week of April appears likely to give way to a full dose of fantastic Vermont spring weather next week

Though it firmed up for a while following the Saturday afternoon torching, this is the update where a full scale break from the winter season can be predicted. As recently as this past weekend, there were indications of a substantial intrusion of a spring arctic chill (not uncommon) for the week beginning Monday April 10th, but the threat of this has dramatically vanished. If we can keep the unsettled wet weather to our south and east next week, Vermont could be looking at a extended stretch of normal to much above normal temperatures - a spring break with a side of corn. 

The near term outlook is a bit more tumultuous and the weather map as of April 4th resembles a warmer version of what we dealt with through much of this winter. More very warm temperatures encompass much of the southeast U.S. while colder weather and cloudiness try and hang on across interior New England. As warmer temperatures try and push north Wednesday, the colder air across Vermont will find firmer footing, strengthened by the marine environment in the coastal Atlantic Ocean. Wednesday and at least half of Thursday will thus be socked in with cloudiness and poor visibility with temperatures on the mountain holding in the 30's or low 40's. There's  precipitation as well, falling perhaps as some freezing rain in some elevated areas and plain rain in some others. Though the heaviest of this precipitation is expected to fall Wednesday evening, we could see some sporadic light precipitation accompanying the fog during the day. Temperatures are expected to warm slightly Wednesday night allowing an freezing rain to become rain. On Thursday, the rain will again be very sporadic and clouds are eventually expected to break for both warmer weather and some limited sunshine during the afternoon with readings warming into the 50's. Visibility should be better on Friday with clouds, a few intervals of sunshine with a rain or wet snow shower possible. The precipitation is associated with a decent push of April chill and conditions will dry out once this airmass fully envelops the state Friday night. Both Saturday and Sunday mornings will be well below freezing with temperatures in the 20's but both days also appear to be total bluebirds with diminishing winds Saturday and hardly any wind on Easter Sunday. Temperatures should reach the 40's both weekend days, but it will take some time to soften the snow with low dewpoints expected. 

As mentioned up top, there are increasing indications that the unsettled weather gets confined to the southeast U.S. next week allowing both warmer temperatures and sunshine to flow freely into the region right over the top. I can't make any guarantees since the forecast period remains a week away, but this is a nice recipe for an extended stretch of excellent spring time conditions in New England with warm daytime highs of better than 60 degrees on successive days (maybe even warmer?). Ensembles are now suggesting that this could be the start of a more extended period of warmer than average temperatures, especially farther west over the Great Lakes region. With this turn in the weather, I plan to do one more regular update followed by a post-season summary. I should be able to conquer the latter this year after failing to do so last year.