2.26.13 More Detail on Wintry Wednesday Mix - FOX44 - Burlington / Plattsburgh News, Weather & Sports

From Meteorologist Steve Glazier,

A Wintry Wednesday mix is about to move into northern New England and I've prepared the latest expectations for you here.

You may have heard me say on-air that this is a tricky one. I'll explain why it's a more difficult forecast later, but let's get to what is going to happen first.

• Snow begins between 2 a.m. - 9 a.m. Wednesday
• Snow/sleet continues through the morning rush hour, heavy at times
• Snow mixes with sleet midday, changes to rain for the warmest valleys and southern towns, while staying all snow north and in the higher elevations above 1,000'
• Precipitation continues through early Thursday morning
• Icy roads, surfaces likely, travel delays possible
• Strong east winds causing isolated power outages, gusts to 20 mph for most, up to 50 mph higher elevations, 70 mph possible across the mountain peaks.
• East wind piles up snow totals on east sides of terrain, while leaves western edges drier
  

A strong storm that has delivered weather from blizzard to severe thunderstorm wind/hail damage will move into New England Wednesday, February 27. It will approach our area early Wednesday morning, yielding precipitation as early as about 2 a.m. for towns along the VT/MA border and moving north, beginning in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom and towns along the Canadian border by 9 a.m. Wednesday. Precipitation will continue all day Wednesday and through Wednesday night, before becoming more scattered showers Thursday.

As this system approaches it is going to bring warm air with it. As the warm air interacts with cooler air across northern New England it will create snow to start, then mixing with sleet and eventually rain. This won't happen for all locations, as elevations above 1,000 feet and far north will likely stay all snow. However the Champlain Valley and locations at or south of U.S. Route 4 (VT) stand the best chance to see a switch to sleet and rain during the midday, afternoon, and evening hours.

Accumulations will widely range from 1-3" snow/sleet in the Champlain Valley by 7 a.m. Thursday, a dusting-3" in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom and far northern Canadian bordering towns, and 4-8" for the Upper Valley, central Vermont, east slopes of the Adirondack, Green, and White Mountains where closer to 8" will fall higher in elevation and closer to 4" will fall in the towns/cities lying lower.

The reason this will be a tricky storm is because of that critical freezing mark. We know a good amount of moisture is heading our way. However as temperatures surpass 32-35F it will really cut down on snow totals. If it stays colder longer, then snow totals will be upped significantly. However if it warms quicker then it will eat away at our projections. Nonetheless it will be a damp, raw, messy Wednesday either way. Plan for extra travel time and isolated events being postponed. Other than that, as one viewer told me, this is a "Sugar Snow" event. I'm thinking that means maple sugaring is ongoing with a late winter mix of precipitation. I'll add that to my jargon. Hope you enjoyed reading.

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