A storm beginning on Saturday evening and continuing through Sunday is expected to blanket much of Vermont with snowfall, hitting the southern half of the state most heavily.
Jessica Neiles, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Burlington, said she expected “all snow.”
“We’re not looking at any mixed precipitation, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be that nasty heavy wet stuff we’ve been getting,” she said. “It’ll be closer to the more climatologically normal type of snow that’s drier and fluffy.”
Snow coming from the south should begin falling in parts of the state by around 7 p.m. Saturday and is expected to continue to fall until the same time Sunday, according to Neiles.
Southern Vermont is expected to be the hardest hit by the storm. A winter storm watch is in effect for Rutland and Windsor counties, both of which are expected to receive an average of 6 to 8 inches of snow, Neiles said.
Snowfall amounts should decrease farther north, she said, and Vermonters living close to the Canadian border in Franklin and Orleans counties can expect around 2 inches of snow.
“All of the total amounts of snow will be dependent on where the low is going to track along the New England coast,” Neiles said. “If that changes — if it comes closer — we should see higher totals spread further north.”
This storm might yield some of the largest snowfall totals so far this winter in Vermont, which so far has seen an unusually minor amount of snow.
Between 1943 and 2022, for example, the Burlington International Airport received 18.1 inches on average in December, according to data provided by the National Weather Service. This past December, however, it received just under 3 inches total.
Still, local and state officials are not expecting or preparing for anything out of the ordinary.
“We’re following the normal routine here,” said Darren Pacheco, Brattleboro’s highway supervisor. Brattleboro is expected to receive upward of 9 inches of snow this weekend, according to data from the National Weather Service.
“We’re just hoping that people understand the significant amount of snow we might get and give us the time and room to get roads cleared and open. Hopefully most people stay off the roads and stay safe,” Pacheco said.
Although snowfall is expected to taper off by Sunday evening, Vermonters should prepare for another storm that’s set to hit the state in the middle of next week, Neiles said.
“That one looks like it’s going to have pretty strong winds with it, so we’re going to be looking closely at that as well,” she said.
