Matt’s Weather Rapport: January thaw on the horizon

Say goodbye to most of our Vermont snow this week. “If you look at the National Weather Service home page map, the western United States is a kaleidoscope of colors, which is never a good thing. That means there’s a wide variety of weather warnings in effect,” Matt Sutkoski. Courtesy photo.

Now that the East Coast storm has gone out to sea, we turn our attention this busy weather month to the West Coast, which, as expected, is really getting hit hard by a variety of bad, and in some cases extreme weather.

This includes the flooding in California, which has been anticipated for days, a very serious ice storm in a heavily populated area of Oregon, strong winds, and incredible mountain snows.

If you look at the National Weather Service home page map, the western United States is a kaleidoscope of colors, which is never a good thing. That means there’s a wide variety of weather warnings in effect.

The California storms, and the weather pattern that’s bringing them, isn’t good for Vermont if you’re into winter sports and if you want the winter tourism industry to thrive.

As has been the case since mid-December, this pattern favors storms crossing the country and then moving northeastward through the Great Lakes, putting Vermont in the warm, rainy side of these systems.

Such is the case with the storms that will form in the middle of the nation this week, using the California storms as seeds for their birth. The storm Thursday will go by west and north of New England and come in the form of rain.

The storms after that are question marks, since they’re so far down the road. There’s always a chance these subsequent storms could go further south and give us snow, but we’ll have to wait and see.

In any event expect a big January thaw this coming week in Vermont.

Matt’s Weather Rapport is written by Vermont-based journalist and weather reporter Matt Sutkoski. This blog has a nationwide and worldwide focus, with particular interest in Vermont and the Northeast. Find Matt’s Weather Rapport for expert analysis of weather events, news, the latest on climate change science, fun stuff, and wild photos and videos of big weather events. Also check for his frequent quick weather updates on Twitter.