it’s that time of the year again

Wet leaves on roadways/walkways all-ways slippery.

could'a been worse

Yes, there was/is spotty frost this morning, but dense fog kept it from being colder; no widespread hard freeze yet.

Won't have to cover-up the next few days, as warmer, moisture laden air settles in tonight through early next week.

apple sweetening time

Widespread frost/freeze expected tonight in almost all of northern Vermont east of the Greens.

With the center of high pressure over the region tonight, expect ideal radiational cooling conditions with clear skies, light/calm winds, and low relative humidity. Frost/freeze threat continues to look good for much of the area for the early morning hours Saturday. Below freezing temperatures are expected east of the Green Mountains and in the northern Adirondacks with lows ranging from the middle 20s to the lower 30s. Frost is possible elsewhere, except in vicinity of Lake Champlain. Patchy fog is also expected in the favored river valleys.

After tonight, there shouldn’t be any frost for several days anyway.

not quite over yet

While Summer officially ends this afternoon, some warmth will linger for a few days. Despite a good deal of cloudiness, there could actually be an 80 or two Wednesday. Temperatures are expected to cool a bit Thursday, but still stay above average until Friday.

one nighter

Protect your garden/crops from tonight’s frost, and you shouldn’t have to worry about it again for at least another week. Warmer air will be moving in early Sunday, so Sunday night’s lows should be well above freezing. After that, don’t see anything particularly cold into next weekend.

gardener alert

Widespread light frost possible Saturday night (except Champlain Valley). Could be harder frost in colder locations. Light frost being defined, here, as just below freezing for an hour or two.

the change continues

After a warmish Monday, cool will rule midweek with spotty light frost possible in the coldest locations. Most will be chilly, but not frosty. We're entering the second half of September, so there is nothing unusual about a little light frost; at least it's not a wide-spread hard freeze which, climatologically speaking, can also happen anytime.

what about temperatures

Despite some wonderfully warm afternoons, cool nights have led to temperatures running a little below average for the month. Burlington and Montpelier are less than a degree below, while St. J is a little over two.

record dry spell... not exactly

Burlington has had 10 days without measurable precipitation.

They should reach at least 12 days, climbing into the top 25 consecutive dry days for the Aug through Oct period. If they miss Friday’s precipitation, they could get to 15 dry days which would make the top 10, but still be far from number one. The driest spell for late summer is 23 consecutive days in 1894 and 1924.

The all time dry spell for Burlington, for any time of year, is 52 days
which occurred from April 17 through June 7 1903.

the streak continues

While individual results may vary, it is safe to say, that in most of the area, this is the driest stretch of weather not only this summer, but this year. This Labor Day will be either the seventh or eighth day in a row without any precipitation, and we are looking at another several dry days. Too bad we couldn’t have had a few of these earlier in the summer.

the first rain gauges

While our rain gauges are getting a well deserved rest, an interesting note on their origin:

In his book Meteorologica, Aristotle mentioned precipitation such as mist, rain, snow, but not their measurement. Measuring rain and keeping records was still in the future.

The earliest device for measuring rainfall is credited to Korean King Sejong who lived from 1397 to 1450. He decided that instead of digging into the soil to check for moisture, it would be better to have a standardized container that stood on a pillar to measure the rainfall. These containers were to help villagers determine their potential harvest and to give King Sejong a better idea of how much the farmers should be taxed! According to records, this gauging of precipitation (for taxation) began in the fourth month of 1441.
As it was then, it is today... h2o=$

climatology works

Climatology works; sometimes/this time.
Based on the 30-yr average, the lowest daily probability of precipitation over the course of a year in northern Vermont occurs during the first half of September.

summer salvaged

Goodbye, and thank you August. You were the month we needed. Warmer and drier than average; you salvaged the summer.
This August was the wartmest month of the year, a title that usually goes to July. It was just a little above average due to the chilly end, but it was still above. The big thing for many was, it was also a much drier month than average, and we needed to dry out.