Power Outage in Morrisville, VT

A heavy, wet snow fell across the county with a general 10 to 20 inches of snow, the higher totals across the higher terrain. This led to some tree damage and scattered power outages. Some specific snowfall totals included; 26 inches at Smugglers Notch, 19 inches in Stowe and Waterbury Center, 18 inches in Johnson and Morrisville.

Rain changed to a heavy, wet pasty snow just before daybreak as the intensity of the precipitation advected enough cold air toward the surface. Snowfall accumulations of 3 to 7 inches were observed and enough to cause downed limbs and branches that resulted in power outages.

Wind gusts in excess of 40-45 mph led to isolated power outages.

Rain changed to snow by mid afternoon with snowfall amounts ranging from 4 to 8 inches in the higher elevations of the Greens. These higher amounts led to isolated power outages due to the wet nature of the snow.

Several wind gusts in excess of 40 mph, including 45 mph in Jeffersonville led to scattered power outages.

Rain mixed with snow in the early morning hours changed to a heavy wet snow and accumulated 3 to 6 inches in the valley with 6 to 12 inches in elevations above 2000 feet. This led to scattered power outages for those higher elevation communities.

A brief period of gusty winds associated with the approach and passage of weakening Tropical Storm Isaias brought measured and estimated wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph that caused some scattered tree damage that resulted in scattered power outages.

Snowfall observations of 6 to 10 inches were observed with largely minimal impacts of slippery road conditions. An isolated power outage or two did occur due to snow loading of snow on wet branches that adhered and bent onto power lines.

Strong winds with wind gusts in excess of 50 mph at times caused numerous downed tree limbs and subsequent power outages. Also, due to saturated soils, many trees were uprooted as well, leading to closed roads and some structural damage.

Strong southeast winds of 25 to 30 mph with gusts in excess of 50 mph on the 24th and early 25th switched to west-southwest winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph occurred behind a strong storm system in Canada. Power outages across the county were in the 500-1500 range. Several mesonets reported winds in excess of 50 mph.

Light rain changed to a pasty, heavy wet snow that resulted in downed tree limbs and power outages across VT. In Lamoille county, snow accumulated 6 to 14 inches, including 13 inches in Hyde Park, 12 inches at Smugglers Notch, 10 inches in Johnson, 9 inches in Morrisville and Stowe.

A wet 4 to 8 inches fell across Essex county causing the typical travel issues associated with winter driving but also lead to some downed tree limbs and power outages.

Numerous tree damage and power outages along with some structural damage with measured wind gusts in the 45-60 mph. Tree and structural damage indicative of >70 mph winds and a gust of 115 mph was measured at the summit of Mount Mansfield.

Numerous measured wind gusts of 40-45 mph with some isolated 50 mph gusts. Isolated to Scattered power outages due to downed tree limbs and small trees on utility lines.

Estimated and measured wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph impacted the region with isolated to scattered tree limbs and powerlines downed by these winds.

Isolated to scattered power outages due to scattered trees on utility lines in western slope of Green Mountain communities such as Fletcher and Cambridge.

A heavy wet snow of 2 to 6 inches fell across Lamoille county, accounting for isolated to scattered power outages. In addition, very cold road surfaces led to very icy roads and numerous vehicle accidents.

Heavy, wet snowfall totals across Lamoille county ranged from 6 to 18 inches. Some specific snow totals included; 17 inches in Eden, 13 inches in Jeffersonville, 11 inches in Cambridge and Morrisville, 10 inches in Stowe and 8 inches in Hyde Park.|||The heavy, wet nature of the snow resulted in widespread power outages and vehicle accidents.

Scattered reports of tree limbs, tree branches down and power outages across the region. A few measured wind gusts exceeded 50 mph.

East-northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph gusted to 45 to 55 mph in some wind favored elevated slopes with a 55 mph gust measured at a somewhat protected Morrisville airport with a 72 mph gust at Mount Mansfield. Several trees and branches were downed by these winds as well as scattered power outages.

Strong south to southwest winds with frequent gusts in excess of 40 mph and a few gusts to 50 mph knocked down some tree limbs and caused some scattered power outages. At the top of Mount Mansfield (4000+ feet) a measured wind gust of 81 mph occurred.

Isolated tree and power line damage due to strong winds.

Numerous reports of trees, large branches and power lines down along Route 100 between Stowe Village and Morrisville, including adjacent roads such as Stage Coach. Some slight structural damage to homes, barns, as well as to corn fields and other crops.

A measured wind gust of 58 mph by trained spotter in Jeffersonville with estimated wind gusts of 80 mph at Pleasant Valley in Cambridge from an anenometer well above official height and 92 mph at the summit of Mount Mansfield (4400 feet). Trees and powerlines downed on Weeks Hill, Moscow, Mountain and Stage Coach roads in Stowe.

A powerful fall storm occluded in the western Great Lakes on Friday, November 12th. A large pressure gradient between a 1034mb high across Nova Scotia and the 997mb low created a particularly strong gradient along/ahead of an occluded front moving through NY and New England on the 12th. VAD Wind profiles showed a south-southwest 65-80 knot low level jet between 2-4km that moved into VT. ||Numerous surface wind gusts in excess of 40 mph were observed with several wind gust approaching or exceeding 50 mph in the higher terrain of the Green Mountains that led to approximately more than 10,000 power outages.

A strong, complex, dual area of low pressure from the Great Lakes to the New Jersey coast on the morning of December 21st eventually lifted north across New York into Quebec by December 22nd.||On the front end of the storm, a wintry mix of snow and some sleet accumulated 1 to 3 inches across Vermont with up to 6 inches in the southern Green Mountains. More importantly, a strong low-level jet stream of 85 to 100+ mph moved across Vermont during the morning and early afternoon. A predominate southeast flow created damaging down slope winds across the western slopes of the Green mountains. Much of the damage was to trees and power lines, but there was some light structure damage to buildings and a few tractor trailers were blown over. One such accident in Salisbury resulted in one fatality. An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 customers were without power.||On the backside (December 22nd), the combination of wraparound moisture from the departing storm and strong, moist upslope flow produced widespread 2 to 5 inches across much of central and northern Vermont. In the climatological favored western slope communities of the Green Mountains, 6 to 12 inches of snow occurred.

A deep and strong low pressure system traveled across the central United States into the lower Great Lakes on December 12th. Meanwhile, low pressure developed along the frontal boundary of the Great Lakes storm in the mid-Atlantic states and strengthened as it moved across New York into the St. Lawrence River Valley.||A strong south-southeast low level jet stream of 75 to 85 mph accompanied these systems, but ran into a cold, stable air mass near the ground, thus strong to damaging surface winds were confined to isolated communities along the downslope regions of the central and northern Green Mountains of Vermont.||Approximately 5,000 utility customers lost power in eastern Chittenden, eastern Addison and Lamoille counties with several reports of downed trees and tree limbs due to strong winds. Peak wind gust was recorded in Cambridge (Lamoille county) at 65 mph. Other communities affected included Bristol, Lincoln, Hanksville, Nashville, Underhill and Jeffersonville.

A massive and powerful storm system moved from the northern Great Lakes on November 30th across Ontario into James Bay Canada on December 1st. An associated cold front slowly moved east across the Great Lakes toward New York and New England with development of several waves of low pressure. Meanwhile, a very strong area of high pressure was located across New Brunswick. ||The large pressure gradient (> 40mb) between both systems resulted in very strong south to southeast winds in a return flow. Very strong wind dynamics at all levels in the atmosphere resulted in fierce low-level winds in excess of 100 mph just 4000 feet above the surface.||Some of these winds eventually transitioned across the higher peaks of the Green Mountains and caused strong to damaging down slope winds in excess of hurricane force to the western slope communities and actually spread wind gusts approaching 55 mph into much of the Champlain Valley from just after daybreak to late afternoon. ||Some of the measured wind gusts included; 103 mph at the summit of Mount Mansfield, 90 mph in Cambridge (Lamoille county), 73 mph in Jeffersonville (Lamoille county) and Hanksville (Chittenden county), 66 mph in Nashville (Chittenden county), 62 mph in Sheldon Springs (Franklin county), 60 mph in Monkton (Addison county), 56 mph in Bolton (Chittenden county and Rutland Airport in Clarendon (Rutland county) with 53 mph at the NWS Burlington office at the airport in South Burlington (Chittenden county).||Damaging winds approaching and exceeding hurricane force (>74 mph) produced structural damage of partially blown roofs, collapsed barns, collapsed car ports, some blown-in windows at the Jericho Elementary school, downed utility poles, etc. along the immediate downslope communities such as Bristol, Monkton, Hanksville, Jericho, Underhill, Cambridge, Jeffersonville, Sheldon.||Strong to locally damaging winds, gusts up to 55 mph, occurred within the Champlain Valley as well in communities such as Williston, Essex, Essex Center, Hinesburg, St. Albans and Colchester. Much of this damage was in the form of downed limbs, branches, trees, playground sets and some isolated structural damage in the form of blown off roof shingles. The prolonged persistence of these strong and gusty winds accounted for the scope of damage across the region. In Vermont, over 35,000 utility customers lost power.

Strengthening low pressure at the surface and aloft moved across the St. Lawrence River Valley of New York during the morning of November 17th. A relatively strong southeast gradient accounted for downslope winds approaching 50 mph to occur along some of the western slope communities of Vermont's Green Mountains. There was some isolated to scattered minor tree damage and power outages.

A strong low pressure system moved across the Great Lakes into Ontario and northern Quebec on January 25th. The combination of this low pressure and relatively strong high pressure near Nova Scotia produced a strong pressure gradient. ||This resulted in strong and locally damaging south to southeast winds along the western slope communities of the Green Mountains in Vermont. Several reports of downed trees and damaged power lines with several thousand power outages. Some observed wind gusts included; 68 mph in Jeffersonville (Lamoille county), 62 mph in Jericho (Chittenden).

A powerful winter storm moved from the lower Mississippi River Valley on the morning of March 4th, into the Ohio River Valley during the night and then across New England on the 5th.||Strong winds associated with this storm gusted to near 50 mph in portions of western Vermont, especially along the western slopes of the Green Mountains, and combined with accumulated ice on trees that resulted in scattered downed tree branches, limbs and power outages.

A powerful winter storm moved from the lower Mississippi River Valley on the morning of March 4th, into the Ohio River Valley during the night and then across New England on the 5th.||Snow and sleet overspread Vermont during the night of March 4th and accumulated several inches prior to changing to freezing rain during the early morning hours of the 5th. Freezing rain accumulated between 1/4 to 1/2 an inch across portions of Vermont, prior to it ended around noon.||In addition, strong winds which gusted to near 50 mph combined with accumulated ice on trees that resulted in scattered downed tree branches and limbs.||School cancellations, scattered power outages and numerous vehicle accidents resulted from the very hazardous conditions. One vehicle accident resulted in a death in Wolcott (Lamoille county).

A strong autumnal storm moved across the eastern Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River Valley into Quebec, Canada during the 28th. A tight pressure gradient associated with this system caused very strong, downsloping winds to the western slopes of the Green Mountains during the morning and early afternoon. In addition, an associated cold front funneled some damaging winds across Caledonia county Vermont around midday.|South to southeast winds of 30 to 40 mph with frequent gusts in excess of 58 mph caused considerable tree and powerline damage to communities along the western slopes of the Green Mountains and Caledonia county.|Some communities that reported trees and powerlines down included Hanksville, Westford, Underhill, Jericho and Richmond (Chittenden county), Starksboro and Ripton (Addison county), Killington (Rutland), Stowe and Jeffersonville (Lamoille), Sheffield, Burke and Lyndon (Caledonia) as well as in Richford (Franklin) where an vacant three-story, 30 foot by 50 foot building, under renovation was blown down.|Some observed wind gusts included 58 mph in Jeffersonville (Lamoille), 63 mph in Jericho (Chittenden) and 92 mph at the summit of Mount Mansfield (4400 feet) that borders on the Chittenden and Lamoille county line.

Low pressure traveled along a stationary front across the Champlain Valley on the 20th. As the area of low pressure passed through the area during the afternoon, colder air rushed into the region and rain changed to a heavy, wet snow during the late afternoon with rapid accumulations through late evening. |Snowfall accumulations were generally 2 to 5 inches of a heavy, wet snow with a few locally higher amounts. Some specific snowfall accumulations included 7 inches in Sheldon Springs (Franklin)...5 inches in Williston (Chittenden) and Jeffersonville (Lamoille)...4 inches in Jericho (Chittenden), Eden (Lamoille) and South Lincoln (Addison) with 3 inches in Hanksville (Chittenden), Highgate Center and Saint Albans (Franklin). |This snowfall resulted in very slick roads with numerous accidents. In addition, the weight of the snow on leave-bearing trees downed branches and trees that caused scattered power outages.

Strong low pressure tracking across the eastern Great Lakes, southern Ontario and southern Quebec provinces in Canada on the 3rd, delivered brisk winds across the western slopes of the Green mountains in Vermont during the afternoon. Southeast winds of 20 to 35 mph with gusts over 50 mph occurred during the afternoon and early evening, including a wind gust of 55 mph in Cambridge. A few widely scattered power outages were reported with an estimated 1000 customers affected.

A powerful storm tracked northeast across Ontario and Quebec provinces on the 18th. Ahead of this storm, brisk south winds caused temperatures to rise into the 40s creating snow melt. Widespread rainfall of 1.5 to 2.5 inches on the night of the 17th through early afternoon of the 18th increased run-off into area watersheds. In addition to field flooding and ponding of water on area roadways, the Lamoille river flooded Route 15 in Cambridge at the Wrong Way bridge during the evening of the 18th.

A frontal boundary across northern Vermont and northern New York helped focus thunderstorms across this area. The airmass was very humid along and south of the front. Very heavy rainfall accompanied the thunderstorms. A few thunderstorms were severe, with trees snapped and blown down on power lines in Johnson, Vermont.

The remnants of Hurricane Isabel moved across western New York the afternoon of Friday, September 19th and into Canada by evening. Strong winds accompanied this system and were enhanced by the proximity of a strong high pressure system over the Canadian Maritimes. A few trees and power lines were blown down, especially across western portions of the county. A weather spotter reported 55 mph (48 knots) winds in Pleasant Valley at 128 pm EDT (1228 pm EST).

A warm front moved northeast across the region, followed by a warm and humid airmass. Scattered thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of June 26th, and a few of them reached severe criteria. Thunderstorms in Lamoille county resulted in numerous downed trees and power lines in Morristown. In addition, a tree was blown onto a house with structural damage reported.

A cold front in the eastern Great Lakes region early on Friday, August 31, 2001 moved east passing across Vermont during the evening. Thunderstorms preceded and accompanied the front. A few storms had strong winds. In the towns of Cambridge and Jeffersonville, trees and power lines were blown down.

A storm system moved through the eastern Great Lakes Monday night, January 3rd and then into Canada on Tuesday, January 4th. During the early morning hours strong winds blew along portions of the western slopes of the Green Mountains. In the towns of Jeffersonville and Cambridge, power lines were blown down and Route 108 was closed.