Updated at 3:28 p.m.
Towns along the spine of the Green Mountains could get more than a foot of snow between Wednesday and Thursday, the National Weather Service said. The rest of the state is expected to get anywhere from 3 to 12 inches.
Towns with the highest expected snow accumulation include, from north to south: Jay (9-21 inches), Richford (7-19), Warren (10-18), Starksboro (9-18), Bridgewater (10-18) and Plymouth (10-18).
Most of the snow is forecasted to fall between Wednesday night and the first half of Thursday, said Scott Whittier, senior meteorologist with the weather service’s office in Burlington.
During this period, motorists are advised to take extra precautions.
The severe weather could impact both road conditions and visibility, said Abbey Gant, a meteorologist with the weather service’s office in Albany, which covers southern Vermont.
Whittier said unpaved roads, which are already in bad condition due to Vermont’s current mud season, could get worse in the snowstorm. Poor conditions on other roads, he said, could be exacerbated by snow and slush.
“We always strongly recommend to avoid any unnecessary travel,” he said.
Strong winds are also expected, which could blow down trees and power lines. Wind gusts could reach 40-50 miles per hour, particularly in the Green Mountain areas of Rutland and Windsor Counties, Whittier said.
Meteorologists said the forecast continues to be updated, because late-season storms are harder to predict due to temperature differences from town to town.
“it’s going to be very variable,” Whittier said. “It could be snowing at one community at a temperature of 33 degrees, and it could be 34 degrees in the neighboring community and rain.”
After a relatively mild Vermont winter, he said some people were caught off guard by multiple storms in the past several weeks.
“I know some people have already taken their snow tires off their car,” he said.
