A winter storm headed for Vermont on Saturday and Sunday could drop as much as 10 inches of snow across the state, during one of the biggest weekends of the year for ski areas.
The total snowfall estimates are somewhat lower than previously expected because of a brief band of freezing rain and sleet that鈥檚 expected to fall in the middle of the storm.
But the band is likely to be followed by more heavy snow 鈥� which should still yield some good skiing.
鈥淚t looks like that sleet or freezing rain could lift as far north as the international border,鈥� said Robert Haynes, lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Burlington.
Light snow is expected to move into the state late Saturday night, yielding 2 to 4 inches of new accumulation by morning. A band of heavy snow will spread across Vermont early in the day Sunday, followed by that bit of sleet in the north and freezing rain in the south and central parts of the state.
It looks like that sleet or freezing rain could lift as far north as the international border.Robert Haynes, National Weather Service in Burlington
Parts of Vermont could see a few one-hundredths of an inch of ice accumulation 鈥� which NWS says isn鈥檛 enough to cause widespread outages, but will make travel difficult during the day on Sunday.
By Sunday afternoon, Haynes says the storm is expected to shift back to snow, dropping several more inches before the system moves out Sunday night.
A strong weather system will bring a period of snow, likely followed by a wintry mix and gusty winds. The timeline of potential impacts will be highest transitioning Sunday AM to PM as heavy snow becomes a wintry mix with gusts. Follow for updates!
— NWS Burlington (@NWSBurlington)
The storm is the product of two systems colliding over Vermont 鈥� one from the west and one from the Gulf of Mexico, .
鈥淭he fact that you have a system originating from the Lower Mississippi River Valley and then lifting north gives it that rich moisture feed that allows for this potential for higher snowfall,鈥� Haynes said.
Meanwhile, ski areas in the state are reporting strong ticket sales and lodging numbers ahead of Presidents鈥� Day weekend. John Bleh, a spokesperson for Sugarbush Resort in Warren, said the mountain saw 6 feet of snow in January alone.
鈥淚 think we haven鈥檛 seen a month this snowy since 2016, which was a record breaking year for us,鈥� Bleh said. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e just super excited that the skiing is so good and that the snow has been so deep, and that it just hasn鈥檛 stopped.鈥�
I think we haven鈥檛 seen a month this snowy since 2016, which was a record breaking year for us.John Bleh, Sugarbush Resort
Bleh says the good skiing is partly because, since the New Year, there hasn't been the kind of big thaw that Vermont has seen regularly in recent winters, in part due to human-caused climate change.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a much better experience for everybody. Things don鈥檛 get as icy, you know, you don鈥檛 go through that kind of granular, frozen kind of conditions,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t stays pretty packed powder, pretty soft.鈥�
Haynes with the National Weather Service confirmed northern Vermont has seen above-average snowfall this year, with snow totals on Mount Mansfield about 20 inches above normal for this time of year 鈥� and higher than 90% of years since they started recording in 1954.
Haynes says some of the lower valleys in the state are still seeing below-average snow totals, but this storm should help much of the state see at least 5 inches.
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