By Jaime Cone
The Brattleboro Reformer
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — Though this weekend s potential “nor easter” may bring Vermont some of its first snowfall of the season, in Windham County the storm is expected to bring high winds and one to two inches of rainfall.
The storm is expected to begin around dusk today, hitting the hardest tonight, continuing through Friday and clearing up on Saturday, according to Erik Pindrock, meteorologist for accuweather.com.
As of Wednesday evening, both Mark Bosma, Vermont Emergency Management s public information officer, and Michael Bucossi, Brattleboro s fire chief, said they are keeping an eye on the forecast but that they do not foresee any threat to public safety at this time.
At VEM, a division of public safety that provides aid and support to state and local agencies and emergency response providers, the staff was in the very early stages of bracing for a potentially damaging storm.
“We re checking everybody s availability,” said Bosma. “We re looking ahead, which we always do when the forecast turns bad.”
Bucossi said that the fire department received an e-mail Tuesday evening from the National Weather Service indicating that a weather system is supposed to come up the coast, bringing heavy rains from Thursday in the late afternoon through Friday.
Pindrock agreed with that assessment, saying that wind will also be a factor, averaging about 15-25 miles per hour on Friday and Saturday with isolated gusts of up to 30-40 mph.
The heaviest winds are expected in the higher elevations such as Green Mountain National Forest. The storm may also bring snowfall in elevations higher than 2,000 feet.
Today s weather should be pleasant at first, he said.
“It might start off sunny, but then clouds will develop in the afternoon, and by about 6 or 7 p.m. light rain should begin to over-spread the area.”
The storm will progress quickly, and the bulk of the heavy rain will occur Thursday night, Pindrock said.
“I think by Friday there will be some periods of rain, and it will be a breezy, pretty miserable day with temperatures probably reaching the mid-50’s,” he said.
Those looking to attend the Keene Pumpkin Festival in Keene, N.H. this Saturday can expect mostly cloudy skies with a brisk wind and temperatures in the low 50’s, said Pindrock.
“It’s not out of the question that in the afternoon we could see a couple peaks of sun,” Pindrock said.
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