Terrific early spring weather Friday into Saturday before hostile Pacific jet stream brings rain Sunday night

 It's not just an effort to focus on the positive, there's some legitimate good news out there. Though we remain enveloped in a weather pattern dominated by a very hostile jet stream in the Pacific Ocean, it can produce some good corn horn days and it also looks like it will subside just after the spring equinox, potentially opening the door for an encore of early spring winter weather late this month. 

Friday looks simply fantastic. I had been concerned about clouds, and it now looks very sunny with sub-freezing morning temperatures giving way to lots of 50-degree readings. The lighter winds and lower dewpoints make it the kind of spring-like warmth that doesn't produce a ton of melt off. Saturday appears to be a warmer version of Friday with near 60-degree readings in low lying areas, 50's well up on the mountain along with slightly higher southerly winds. The rain is likely to hold off for most of the ski day on Sunday which is also good news. Still, the approaching storm on Sunday is a problem child. The storm track, which is still expected to be deep into remote Quebec, allows southerly flow to bring both mild temperatures and eventually the mild 40-plus dewpoints into Vermont. When combined with the stronger winds, the nearly inch of rain that we are expecting Sunday night will certainly melt a considerably amount of snow and cause some localized flooding. Check with NWS BTV for specific intel on flood risks if that is a concern for you. Rain is over Monday morning and a cold front will bring temperatures lower, but mild weather is expected to generally continue through the middle of next week. 

A positive EPO, indicative, of an angry Pacific Jet has been with us now for most of March and is expected to continue through most of next week. Unfortunately, this means more trouble for an incoming storm in the Wednesday to Thursday (March 19th-20th) time frame. This storm won't track as far north as its predecessor and the airmass behind this system appears cold enough to allow for some potential snowfall on the back end. I am more encouraged beyond this aforementioned storm since there are clear indications that we cam tame this beast in the Pacific, get the EPO back into negative territory and even set up some downstream blocking to our northeast. It's difficult to make promises or setting expectations too high late in March, but its worth keeping an eye on the last 10 days of March.