Northeastern Vermont Under Water as Floodwaters Rage

There have been a number of extreme weather events across the U.S. this week, ranging from disastrous flooding to devastating wildfires. Here is a look at what is grabbing the weather headlines this week from coast to coast.

Catastrophic Flooding Hits Vermont Community

In what is being described as a 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event, floodwaters rushed through the northeastern edge of Vermont on Tuesday. About two dozen water rescues were reported across Caledonia and Essex counties for the second time in just a few weeks. Flash flood emergencies were issued as a monster storm dropped inches of rainfall across the area in a period of a few hours.

How much rain fell? Almost 8 inches of rain was recorded in the town of St. Johnsbury, Vermont in 6 hours. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), a total of 8.41 inches fell over the course of the storm in St. Johnsbury.

Several state roads are still closed due to the extreme flooding. State officials confirmed that there is significant structural damage to the roads. The integrity of some of these structures had already been weakened as a result of the flooding event three weeks ago.

The community of Lyndonville also sustained the impacts of the heavy rainfall. Water levels in the nearby Passumpsic River climbed 13 feet in four hours.

Vermont has been in the crosshairs of a number of catastrophic flood events over the last year. At least one fatality was blamed on the flooding that was unleashed after what was left of Hurricane Beryl made it into New England earlier in July.

Over a year ago, this same part of Vermont was hit by a flooding event that produced significant property and infrastructure damage, bridge washouts, and more.

Scientists continue to warn that extreme rainfall events such as this will become more prominent at the hands of climate change. The cycle starts as the pollution generated by fossil fuels sends the temperatures higher, increasing the ability of the atmosphere to produce greater amounts of water vapor.

Thursday will bring another shot of moisture to the region with scattered rain showers in the forecast in the early part of the day. Conditions are then expected to improve heading into the latter part of the day. The unsettled weather pattern will mean that you cannot rule out the chance of a random rain shower or thunderstorm on Friday and Saturday, however, it should remain mostly dry during this time. More storms are on the horizon for the end of the weekend and into early next week for this part of New England.