Low pressure moved through the eastern Great Lakes and St Lawrence Valley region during early Friday morning (the 17th), while an accompanying arctic front barreled across the southern Champlain Valley into the western slopes of the Green Mountains of Vermont during the late morning hours. Sustained winds of 35 to 45 mph with damaging wind gusts in excess of 60 mph moved across the region…
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS BTV wrote it up.
Low pressure moved through the eastern Great Lakes and St Lawrence Valley region during early Friday morning (the 17th), while an accompanying arctic front barreled across the southern Champlain Valley into the western slopes of the Green Mountains of Vermont during the late morning hours. Sustained winds of 35 to 45 mph with damaging wind gusts in excess of 60 mph moved across the region between late morning and mid afternoon. There were widespread reports of trees and power lines down, blocking roads and causing structural damage. In Addison county, a roof was partially torn off a General Store in West Addison, while a brick exterior wall was partially removed in Fair Haven. In Washington county, a construction site at Sugarbush Ski Resort in the town of Warren had numerous toppled trusses as a result of winds in excess of 80 mph, including a peak wind gust of 93 mph. Other wind gusts included: 75 mph at the Killington Ski resort and 64 mph at Bridport.Some of the localities reporting damage included: Bridport, Rutland, Clarendon, Castleton, Addison, Middlebury, Hubbardton, Middletown Springs, Vergennes, Brandon, Warren, Waitsfield, Barre, Fayston and Moretown. Power outages were widespread across the area, with an estimated 50,000 customers statewide in Vermont without power.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Burlington, VT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 17, 3:30 AM EST, 7 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
330 AM EST FRI FEB 17 2006
.SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...
CRNT...AFT A TRICKY BEGINNING WITH TMPS/PTYPE YDY-LAST EVE...RISING
TMPS AND CD FNT MVG ACRS ERN GRT LAKES AND APPRCHG KART STL LOOKS
GOOD. KART WENT FM L30S TO L50S WITHIN AN HR BUT KMSS/KPLB ARE STL
LOCKED INTO THE CD AIR.
KPLB IS IN A PROTECTIVE HOLLOW AND 27F AT 08Z...YET VT SIDE OF CHMPL
VLY EVEN UP TO THE CNDN BDR IS M40S. ADRNDKS ARE IN THE M-U40S AS
WELL. OH...THE FUN AND SLEEPNESS NGTS FCSTG.
IN ANY EVENT...FROPA STL ON TRACK ALG WITH STG WNDS AND INTENSE CAA.
STG ARCTIC FNT THAT WL BE TRVLG SOME 50+ KTS IN FORWARD SPEED MVG FM
KART-KCON BTWN 12 AND 18Z INCREDIBLE ISALLOBARIC FALL/RISE
COUPLETS AND VRY STG CAA WITH H8 TMPS AT KBTV FM +5C TO -10C BTWN
15-18Z AND -18C AT 21Z. MOMENTUM TRANSFERS SHLD BE INCREDIBLE AND
LOOKING AT A PTNL WIDESPREAD HIGH WND EVENT WITH NUMEROUS POWER
OUTAGES AND ADD SUB-ZERO TMPS AND COLDER WNDCHLS...SOME PTNL
PROBLEMS FRI AFTN/EVE.
HWVR...AFT INITIAL CAA (ENDING BTWN 21-24Z) LAPSE RATES DIMINISH AND
WUD XPCT THE WORST WNDS TO DIMINISH RATHER QUICKLY THEN A GRDL
DECREASE OVRNGT. ILL LET DAYSHIFT RE-EXAMINE ABT LENGTH OF HIGH WND
WRNG BASED ON CRNT CONDS.
ANTR ARCTIC S/W AND REINFORCING COLD FNT/TROF SAT MRNG DROPS H8 TMPS
TO -24 TO -26C...THUS DONT BUY DEFAULTED VALUES OF MID TEENS TO LWR
20S AND HAVE SCALED DOWN TO YDYS FCSTD VALUES.
GRDL MODERATING WITH SFC HIGH ACRS OH RVR VLY AND H8 WAA PTTRN WITH
SOME MINOR ENERGY FOR SOME FLURRIES/-SHSN SUN AND TMPS REBOUNDING
INTO THE TEENS/L20S.
&&
.LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/...
A WEAK DISTURBANCE IN THE NRN STREAM BACKS FLOW FOR CONTD WAA SUN
NGT AND PSBL WEAK TROF MON THAT CUD BRG ABT SOME -SHSN.
THEREAFTER...ZONAL FLOW WITH MINOR DISTURBANCES WITH TIMING AND MDL
CONSISTENCY ISSUES...THUS WL NOT MAKE ANY CHGS HERE.
&&
.AVIATION...
COND AT ALL SITES WILL DROP SHARPLY AS CD FRNT APPROACHES THE
REGION. MEANDERING WARM FRNT SLOWLY PUSHING NORTH BRINGING VFR/MVFR
COND IN LGT RA/FZRA(KMSS). WILL BECM ALL RA AFT 11Z-12Z. CD FRNT MVS
WEST TO EAST ACROSS AREA FROM 13Z-17Z...SOME RA/TSRA PSBL WHICH WILL
BRING IFR COND TO NEAR LIFR WITH REDUCED VSBY. AS FRNT PUSHES
WEST...CD AIR BEHIND SYSTEM WILL CHANGE PRECIP TO -SHSN W/ VFR TO
IFR COND IN LOW CLD AND VSBY AND WILL TAPER OFF TO VFR/MVFR AFT
23Z-01Z W/ LGT SHSN...AND CEILINGS SLOWLY BECM SCT. MAIN PROBLEM TDY
WILL BE LLWS AHEAD AND JUST BEHIND CD FRNT. SFC WND GUSTS AS WELL
WILL BE STRONG TO NEAR 50KTS AT TIMES. WINDS SW...SHIFTING TO WNW
AFT FROPA. HIR TRRN WILL BE OBSCD.
&&
.BTV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
VT...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR VTZ001>012-016>019 UNTIL 1 AM SATURDAY.
NY...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR NYZ026>031-034-035-087 UNTIL 1 AM
SATURDAY.
&&
SHORT TERM...SLW
LONG TERM...SLW
AVIATION...JNHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT 710 AM EST FRI FEB 17 2006 NYZ026>031-034-035-087-VTZ001>012-016>019-180845- NORTHERN ST. LAWRENCE-NORTHERN FRANKLIN-EASTERN CLINTON- SOUTHEASTERN ST. LAWRENCE-SOUTHERN FRANKLIN-WESTERN CLINTON- WESTERN ESSEX-EASTERN ESSEX-SOUTHWESTERN ST. LAWRENCE-GRAND ISLE- WESTERN FRANKLIN-ORLEANS-ESSEX-WESTERN CHITTENDEN-LAMOILLE- CALEDONIA-WASHINGTON-WESTERN ADDISON-ORANGE-WESTERN RUTLAND- WINDSOR-EASTERN FRANKLIN-EASTERN CHITTENDEN-EASTERN ADDISON- EASTERN RUTLAND- 710 AM EST FRI FEB 17 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN NEW YORK...AS WELL AS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN VERMONT. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISSUE FOR TODAY AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGE AND POWER OUTAGES DUE TO VERY STRONG WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH A COLD FRONT. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST...ALBNPWBTV...FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. VERY COLD AIR BEHIND THIS FRONTAL SYSTEM COULD POSE A PROBLEM IF POWER OUTAGES OCCUR AS WIND CHILL READINGS...WITH TEMPERATURES FRIDAY NIGHT GOING DOWN TO 5 TO 10 BELOW ZERO...COULD REACH 25 TO 30 BELOW ZERO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES ONLY INTO THE SINGLE NUMBERS IN MOST AREAS...AND STEADY NORTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH IN SOME AREAS...WIND CHILL READINGS MAY STILL REACH AS LOW AS 25 BELOW ZERO. PLEASE CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IF YOU NEED FURTHER INFORMATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
1015 AM EST FRI FEB 17 2006
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1010 AM NON-TSTM WND DMG PLATTSBURG 44.70N 73.46W
02/17/2006 NY EMERGENCY MNGR
ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE. NO INJURIES REPORTED.
&&
GMPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
1034 AM EST FRI FEB 17 2006
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1015 AM NON-TSTM WND DMG EDWARDS 44.32N 75.25W
02/17/2006 ST. LAWRENCE NY AMATEUR RADIO
POWER LINES DOWN.
1015 AM NON-TSTM WND GST BRIDPORT 43.98N 73.32W
02/17/2006 M57 MPH ADDISON VT TRAINED SPOTTER
1015 AM NON-TSTM WND DMG PLATTSBURGH 44.70N 73.46W
02/17/2006 CLINTON NY EMERGENCY MNGR
ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE. POWER LINES DOWN.
&&
GERALDMThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Vermont in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Vermont, February 2006
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5489670, 5489671, 5489672, 5489673, 5489674.