It's late November...snow is normal. Okay, I've gotten that out of the way : )
With that, I expect some brief, high impact snow on Thursday night as snow squalls traverse our region. What is a snow squall you might ask? A snow squall is a brief, heavy band of snowfall that can produce a "quick inch" of snowfall, and gusty winds (see photo, top left, click to enlarge).
Sounds exciting! And it is! As long as you're not stuck traveling in it... Snow squalls can create brief whiteout conditions because of the heavy nature of snowfall and cause real problems for travelers. If you do get caught driving during a snow squall, your best solution will be to pull over, put your blinkers on and wait for it to pass. The heaviest snow in squalls typically only lasts for about 5-20 minutes with this type of situation (a front passage).
Click here to check out a time lapse of a Burlington snow squall in 2010 (archived video from Burlington Free Press)...
and another YouTube video that really demonstrates the high wind gusts in snow squalls from St. Albans
The forecast ingredients look pretty good for one, maybe two squalls Thursday evening. The main ingredient is a strong, arctic cold front that will push southward through our area Thursday night. The stronger the front, the more "oomph" in the lift. This lift and narrow band of convergence of air will create at least one narrow band of heavy snowfall. If another smaller trough comes through, then we may get 2 squalls. The timing looks to be around 3pm in Montreal, then from 4-7pm northern NY and northern VT(including the northern Champlain Valley), 7-10pm central VT, and 10-midnight for far southern VT (but it will be weakened in southern VT to snow showers). A few small, somewhat weaker squall lines traversed our region Wednesday night, producing a "quick inch" of snowfall, and brief whiteout conditions for some (according to *your* Facebook comments!). An example of that on radar is pictured on the left, bottom image (click to enlarge).
Behind the front lies a very cold air,arctic mass which will spill into our region Friday, only allowing temperatures to reach the lower-mid 20s for afternoon high temperatures. That kind of temperature is more typical of mid January.
