Weather Watch: Blissfully boring November weather

Addison County has experienced some unusual November weather over the last week - in the form of clear, sunny, warm conditions. To someone who enjoys watching the weather, the weather has in fact seemed a bit boring. Boring or not, the weather conditions have been wonderful for spending time outside, so I've spent the last few days enjoying the outdoors in Vermont, instead of watching the weather.

November in Vermont is usually cloudy, cold, and downright messy. Temperatures begin dropping to the point that we see snow, but the snow usually doesn't stick around for long, and there's often a rainstorm waiting to melt whatever snow does accumulate. To me, November often feels like the coldest month of the year. I'm not acclimated to the cold yet, and 35-degree, windblown, slushy rain feels colder than a 20-degree dry snowstorm. Last year around this time, Addison County was experiencing nasty 'wintry mix' conditions. This year, we are experiencing well above normal temperatures and quite a bit more sunshine than usual. In fact, today's weather reminds me quite a bit of fall in California – dry, cool, and sunny.

The beautiful, boring weather won't last, of course. Starting later this week, we'll start seeing occasional rain, with a few flakes of wet snow mixing in at times. Temperatures will still generally be a bit above average, and there aren't any major outbreaks of cold air in the forecast right now. One computer model does show a transition to much colder weather with snow flurries around Thanksgiving, but forecasts that far in advance are not much more accurate than flipping a coin.

Charlie Hohn is a recent graduate of the UVM Field Naturalist graduate program. He has been closely watching the weather ever since he was a child in southern California. Charlie will be posting occasional blog posts here about Addison County weather. He also maintains a blog about water at slowwatermovement.blogspot.com.