Wild weather forecast into Saturday
December 22, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti UPDATE FRIDAY, Dec. 23: Gov. Phil Scott announced this morning that state offices will close by 1 p.m. State emergency management officials are urging Vermonters to be off the roads by 4 p.m. ahead of a dangerous drop in temperature expected this evening that will turn slush and wet roads to ice. High winds Friday morning already were contributing to power outages. As of 12:45 p.m., Green Mountain Power was reporting approximately 500 customers without power in Waterbury due to 19 different outages.
See the bottom of this post for links to official information sources.
Last Friday’s Nor’easter might have been just a warm-up for some wild weather forecast for Vermont starting late tonight, through Friday and into Saturday.
Last week it was heavy wet snow. Now more winter weather is on the way with snow, high winds and rain followed by a deep freeze in the forecast. Photo by Gordon Miller
A large storm system that’s impacted much of the central and eastern portions of the U.S. is making its way into the Northeast with snow, high winds, and temperature fluctuations expected to bring rain and a deep freeze by Friday night.
Most of Vermont is currently under three National Weather Service notices:
Winds are expected to reach sustained levels between 30 and 40 mph with gusts of 55-70 mph on Friday.
Utilities have been preparing for the storm, expecting damaging winds that could down trees and power lines, leading to outages.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Green Mountain Power said it is keeping its expanded force from last week’s storm response in place for the incoming weather.
“To assist our customers and to support internal GMP lineworkers, GMP has kept external crews in the state that were here helping to restore power during the Nor’easter last week that brought damaging heavy wet snow and outages to Vermont,” the company said. “We had tripled our field force before that storm. And we are keeping folks here to serve our customers in preparation for the severe weather currently forecasted.”
National Weather Service graphic. Click to enlarge
Green Mountain Power has more than 400 lineworkers along with hundreds more field operations workers available, said Mike Burke, vice president of field operations.
The forecast is calling for snow starting Thursday night with increasing winds into Friday when conditions warm and turn to rain. Temperatures are expected to drop sharply Friday night causing a flash freeze and potential for flooding from rain and snowmelt.
The storm comes just a week after the first big Nor’easter of the winter that dumped heavy wet snow bringing down trees and power lines with them. “In terms of outages, that was the third worst storm for GMP in generations, with that cement-like snow doing significant damage across a large portion of the state. GMP crews restored power to more than 119,000 customers during the storm,” the company statement said.
The State Emergency Operations Center will be activated beginning Friday morning to coordinate the storm response by road crews, utilities and other agencies. Erica Bornemann, the director of Vermont Emergency Management said Vermonters and visitors looking to celebrate the holidays this weekend may need to be flexible. “Holiday plans may need to change. It isn’t worth risking the safety of yourselves or those around you to attend gatherings during this event,” Bornemann said.
Those relying on travel by train may find they need to make some adjustments this weekend. Amtrak announced that it will cancel its service in Vermont on Friday. The Vermonter won’t be running north of Springfield, Massachusetts, and the Ethan Allen Express is canceled between Burlington and Albany, New York. Check for updates online at Amtrak.com.
The company told VTDigger on Thursday that the decision to curtail service during the storm was due to concerns about downed trees. Last week’s storm took down trees across rail lines leading to lengthy delays for passenger trains, Amtrak told VTDigger.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation has crews ready to handle changing road conditions expected over the next two days. In a bulletin late Thursday, VTrans said: “VTrans crews will be out treating and clearing roads as necessary. Crews will also be out monitoring flood zones, removing road debris, and aiding stranded motorists. If you happen to encounter maintenance vehicles give them room to work, and don’t crowd the plow!”
Motorists are advised to curtail travel on Friday if possible and to be aware of the possibility of downed power lines, debris, and trees as well as localized flash flooding across roadways.
Power company officials advise customers to have a plan should they experience a power outage for a significant period of time. That includes having a charged cellphone, flashlights with fresh batteries, bottled water, and even an alternate place to go. Customers should try to notify their electric utility of any outages if they are able to place a cellphone call or use an online app. That ensures that utility staff are aware of the outage.
Green Mountain Power customers can call 888-835-4672, go online to greenmountainpower.com or use The GMP app.
Those on the Washington Electric Co-Op system can find information and tips online at washingtonelectric.coop. Numbers to call to report an outage to Washington Electric are 802-223-5245 or 800-932-5245.
As always, call 911 for any medical emergencies regardless of the weather conditions.
Some additional links for more information:
U.S. National Weather Service Burlington for the latest weather forecasts and warnings
Vermont Emergency Management for state information including a list of warming shelters if needed
VTrans Plow Finder shows locations of plows in real time on state highways
Highway Webcams show conditions at specific highway locations in real time
New England 511 for regional information
VT-Alert has alerts for specific locations around Vermont. Sign up for email, phone, text alerts.