Winter Weather — Western Chittenden, Vermont

2015-01-18 to 2015-01-19 · Western Chittenden, Vermont

Event narrative

A heavy wet snow of 2 to 4 inches fell across eastern Chittenden county, yet the main culprit was very icy roads due to rain on very cold road surfaces that led to numerous vehicle accidents. This included a motor vehicle accident on Interstate 289 in Essex that left two fatalities and one injured.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure tracked across eastern New England during the nighttime and early morning hours of January 18th-19th. The initial precipitation across Vermont was in the form of rain with air temperatures in the 30s to around 40 degrees. However, after more than a week of temperatures frequently near zero, road sub-surface temperatures were in the teens and 20s. Therefore, as rain fell and dusk approached, wet roads quickly became icy roads and lead to numerous vehicle accidents and closures of state and interstate roads.

Rain changed to a heavy, wet snow across higher elevations and eventually in the northern valleys on the night of January 18th. Snowfall totals were 2 to 6 inches across northern Vermont with some locally higher in higher elevations, which led to scattered power outages.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 549362. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.