an ounce of prevention

With late blight spreading and plenty of other disease possibilities, fair weather this Saturday offers an important opportunity to spray the garden to help protect it. Much of next week looks to be cool (seasonally so anyway) and unsettled, so the threat of disease in the garden is not likely to lessen for the foreseeable future.

it's been hotter this year

Temperatures the last few days have certainly been summery...finally. Even with highs well up in the 80s Tuesday (Burlington 86, Montpelier 84, and St J at 83), the high heat of late April still stands as hottest this year. On April 27th Burlington reached 89 and Montpelier 86. On the 28th St J hit 88.
Of interest about that heat, is the fact that less than a week before high temperatures struggled to make it into the 50s!

getting wetter

This Sunday looks to be a wet day, with a half to a full inch possible. Might be enough rain in Montpelier to move month into top five wettest Julys . Still much more last July. July 2008 was the wettest on record in most northern Vermont locations. St J had over 9 inches and Montpelier 8; as wet as this month has been, it's still only about half of last year... then again there's tomorrows totals and the rest of the month still to come.

week's outlook

Surface high pressure will be centered over Vermont today, with fair weather continuing through tomorrow morning. Rain is expected to return by Tuesday night due to the combination of a upper level disturbance and tropical moisture off the Atlantic Ocean. The threat of scattered afternoon rain showers and thunderstorms will continue for the remainder of the workweek.

Vermont’s tornado alley?

Minimal tornado in Chelsea/Williamstown area on Thursday was confirmed by NWS yesterday. Winds were estimated at 55-75 mph, and the path was a quarter mile wide and 2.6 mile long. A hundred plus mostly softwoods were blown down, and one barn roof blown off. There were no injuries.
Of extra interest here- this is Vermont’s second tornado of the year and occurred in roughly the same area as the first (May 9th in the town of Washington).

Did you hear the one about this summer’s weather?

A curious fellow died one day and found himself waiting
in the long line for judgment. As he stood there, he noticed that
some souls were allowed to march right through the pearly gates into
Heaven. Others, though, were led over to Satan, who threw them into the
burning pit. But every so often, instead of hurling the poor soul into the
fire, Satan would toss them off to one side into a small pile.

After watching Satan do this several times, the fellow's curiosity got the best of him. So he strolled over to ask Satan what he was doing. "Excuse me, Mr. Prince of Darkness," he said. "I'm waiting in line for judgment, and I couldn't help wondering—why are you tossing those people aside instead of flinging them into the Fires of Hell with the others?"

"Ah, those," Satan said with a groan. "They're all from Vermont . . . they're still too wet to burn.


sourse unknown,emailed from a friend

record report

This Tuesday highs were generally only in the 60s; that's cold for July, even when it's cloudy.
There was even one new record low maximum temperature Tuesday. St. Johnsbury’s high was just 63; the previous record was 64 in 1976. St J's records go back over a century.

good news/bad news

This coming week (mid-July), looks to be relatively dry, but continued cool. There may be some very light showers Monday and Wednesday, but it appears the next significant rainfall won’t come until late in the week, or maybe next weekend.
The main issue is with the temperatures. They should average 5-10 degrees below normal. That means lows dipping into the 40s at times. We are not going to get any real “growing degree day units” and the heat loving crops with be slower to mature.

sorry summer stats

So far this July, Burlington and Montpelier have had only one day with above average temperature and that wasn’t by much. St J hasn’t had even one.
On the precipitation side, Burlington has had only one day without any rain, for Montpelier and St J it’s just two.
Not exactly a winning summertime combination.

familiar pattern

Low pressure located near James Bay will slowly move southeastward over the next few days. This will be the focus for more showers and thunderstorms across the area through Wednesday night with drier, but still cloudy, conditions for Thursday. Sunny, dry, and warm weather should return (for a brief visit?) on Friday.

holiday weekend outlook

Low pressure, that has been bringing us the unsettled weather of the past few days, will move east of the area on Saturday and any showers that develop will likely be diurnally and terrain driven. Thus, coverage will be only scattered, and the Fourth should not be a washout. Clouds and cool air will still keep temperatures well below normal, mainly in the 60s. Mixing in the afternoon will contribute to wind gusts up to 25 miles per hour. We finally get into a drier northwest flow Saturday night and Sunday. Do not expect any precipitation for that period with sunshine developing on Sunday and temperatures back into the 70s.