High Overcast drapes Killington Peak

High Overcast drapes Killington Peak

I never thought that my next blog post would be about a hurricane coming up the northeast coast in late October. I should be writing about snow covered mountains and excited skiers and riders. Instead, everybody is getting ready to hunker down for what could be an uncertain night.

Preparations are going on all around Killington in advance of the arrival of hurricane Sandy. Vermont's governor, Peter Shumlin, has already declared a state of emergency across the state. The combination of an election year, the ghost of Irene, and the weird nature of the impending storm has brought the early action to help mobilize resources across the state. Unlike Irene, which brought damaging floods due to a tremendous amount of rain, wind damage is the expectation from Sandy. Forecasts posted by the National Weather Service are calling for 40 to 60 MPH wind gusts with higher speeds on mountain peaks.

In Killington proper, town officials are mobilizing. Emails were sent out yesterday to all residents, undoubtedly using the mailing lists accumulated during last years Irene crisis. Residents have been asked to make sure that culverts in their area are clear, and to secure their structures; removing lawn furniture and other loose items which could become potential missiles in the high winds. If there is significant power outages across the region, the town is prepared to open the Killington Elementary School on School House Road as an emergency shelter.

Being political season, with election campaigns in full swing, political candidates are also getting into the act emailing constituents (and potential constituents) about storm preparedness, The big thing here, in a true demonstration that weather has the upper hand, has been a call by all of the candidates to remove their political yard signs less the become airborne in the wind.

Thus far at Killington, the immediate impact in the early morning hours of Monday has been minimal, as one would expect from a storm that is still 500 miles away. We have had a series of mountain hugging fogs the last couple of days, as temperatures have inverted somewhat with the approaching storm. Late yesterday afternoon, the wind in the area changed to the northeast, as expected. But with the worst wind impacts not expected for another 6 to 18 hours, completing final preparations ahead the storm is the assignment of the day.

Where ever you may be stay safe through the storm. It will get cold on the storms back side. Then I should be able to write about more pleasant adventures, like snow covered mountains, and skiers and riders playing in the snow.