Barely a day after portions of the Northeast Kingdom were inundated with upward of 8 inches of rain, Vermont was expected to see heavy rainfall Wednesday afternoon and night, according to the National Weather Service.
It issued a flood watch for all but the southernmost counties of Windham and Bennington from noon Wednesday through midnight.
According to Rebecca Duell, a meteorologist in the weather service’s Burlington office, the slow-moving thunderstorms were likely to result in the most rainfall between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. Wednesday.
“It’s going to be very heavy at times,” she said, adding that it could be “torrential.”
Though much of the region was likely to see half an inch to 1.5 inches of rainfall, others could see more than 2 inches, Duell said. And because parts of the state — particularly in and around St. Johnsbury and Brighton — were still recovering from what the weather service called “historic” rainfall early Tuesday, they were especially vulnerable. Even an inch of rain an hour in those locations could pose problems, according to Duell.
“They really can’t absorb that much more,” she said of the Northeast Kingdom towns. “It won’t take much for them to see more flooding.”
Duell said late Tuesday afternoon that it was too soon to pinpoint what towns and cities might receive the most rain Wednesday.
Vermont has experienced a spate of extreme weather of late, including major flooding throughout central and northeastern parts of the state on July 10 and 11. Though the weather service had expected a few inches of rain late Monday and early Tuesday, Duell said, “Eight inches was not in the forecast.”
Additional thunderstorms were rolling through Vermont on Tuesday afternoon and evening — dropping up to an inch of rain in parts of Chittenden and Addison counties — Duell said, but those were expected to peter out by sunset.
Vermont Emergency Management was monitoring Wednesday’s expected thunderstorms, according to spokesperson Mark Bosma, but had not yet taken any unusual measures.
“It’s just like any preparation for any storm,” he said late Tuesday afternoon. “Unfortunately, it’s just a repeat for a lot of people.”
Bosma and Duell both urged Vermonters to prepare for the possibility of flash flooding by staying tuned to weather reports, signing up for the VT-ALERT emergency communications system and making a plan to evacuate and get to higher ground, if necessary.
“Just be vigilant and stay away from floodwaters,” Bosma said.
“It can turn deadly really quickly,” Duell said.
After any danger passes, Bosma advised, Vermonters should report any damage to authorities through the state’s 211 system in order to obtain support and help state and local jurisdictions make the case for federal aid.
In addition to Wednesday’s rain, officials were also keeping an eye on rising temperatures. The Champlain Valley could see highs in the ’90s from Thursday into Sunday, according to Duell, while other parts of the state could see highs in the ’80s — with overnight lows in the mid-’60s to low ’70s.
“That moisture’s really not going anywhere,” she said. “It’s going to feel very sticky.”
Yet more rainfall could reach the state Saturday and Sunday, according to Duell, though she said it was too early to say how much or where.
