A winter storm marked by powerful wind gusts could slow Vermonters’ evening commute on Tuesday and cause widespread power outages into Wednesday, according to meteorologists and utility officials.
They urged Vermonters to plan ahead by building extra time into their travel plans and making sure their kitchens are stocked and devices are charged by Tuesday morning.
High winds overnight on Tuesday “look like the greatest threat,” said Peter Banacos, the science and operations officer at the National Weather Service’s Burlington office. Winds could reach sustained speeds of 30 to 45 mph, with gusts “in the vicinity of 60 to 70 mph,” he said.
The southeasterly winds are expected to most affect the communities on the western slopes of the Green Mountains, he said, from Rutland up through Ripton and Underhill.
According to a high-wind watch in effect for most of the state from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon, high winds could topple trees and power lines, and are likely to be followed by wet and heavy snow that may “cling to trees and power lines and increase the likelihood of power outages.” Windham and the eastern part of Windsor are the only counties outside the watch.
Green Mountain Power said it had more than doubled utility crews in the state in anticipation of potential outages.
Banacos also cautioned that the Tuesday evening commute, when snow is projected to begin turning over to rain, could be “kind of rough” in places. The Champlain Valley is projected to receive 1-3 inches of snow, with 2-4 inches elsewhere in the state and bursts of 6 inches at higher elevations.
A flood watch is also in effect for Bennington County from 6 p.m. Tuesday to 1 p.m. Wednesday. Temperatures are forecast to rise above 40 degrees across much of the state Wednesday, including as high as 48 degrees in Bennington.
Michael Main, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Albany office, which serves Bennington County, said the county was at slightly greater flood risk than the rest of the state because “more of that precipitation will fall as rain” than snow.
Still, both he and Banacos said the weather service is not projecting widespread flooding along the lines of the December storm that walloped Vermont with intense rainfall that melted already-waterlogged snow. This time, they said, the overall precipitation forecast is smaller, more of it will fall as snow, and the snow already on the ground is lighter and fluffier.
“Taking into account the totality of everything, that looks like less of a concern this time,” Banacos said.
A second storm that could be similar to Wednesday’s is projected for Friday night.
