EF1 tornado, Lincoln, Vermont, June 18, 2026

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Burlington VT
1015 AM EDT Thu Jun 18 2026

.WHAT HAS CHANGED...
As of 1015 AM EDT Thursday...

A Tornado Watch is now in effect for the entire forecast area
through 3 PM. Enough destabilization is expected to be in place
ahead of a strong convective line pushing east-northeastward
from western New York to support damaging winds with localized
spinups given strong low level shear. Please be prepared for any
warnings issued through this period and have a way to take
shelter!

&&

.KEY MESSAGES...
As of 444 AM EDT Thursday...

1. Strong gusty southerly wind gusts of 40-55 mph are expected
areawide today, and gusts up to 55-65 mph are possible at higher
elevations. Due to the unseasonable strength of this storm and
the fact that trees have fully developed leaves at this point in
the year, tree damage and power outage likelihood is increased.

2. Widespread rain and thunderstorms are anticipated today.
Some storms may become strong to severe with embedded damaging winds
and moderate to heavy rain.

3. Unsettled and cool weather expected for Monday and Tuesday,
followed by brief drying for midweek.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
As of 444 AM EDT Thursday...

KEY MESSAGE 1: Strong low pressure over the Great Lakes early this
morning is expected to track eastward throughout the day today,
crossing from Ontario to Quebec sometime this afternoon, then
stalling near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River tonight. A west-
southwesterly upper level jet streak with winds 100-125 knots will
stretch across northern New York and Vermont with correlated 850mb
level south-southwesterly winds up to 55-60 knots. Model soundings
continue to indicate efficient mixing of wind gusts to the surface
of 40-55 mph, as high as 55-65 mph possible at higher elevations.
Therefore, a Wind Advisory remains in effect for all four of our New
York counties as well as all of our Vermont zones except for Orange
and eastern Windsor counties where peak gusts range 40-45 mph for
most of the area. There are portions of northern Orange County that
could see higher gusts, but areal coverage of this was not enough to
add it to the Advisory. Highest winds are anticipated along the
northern and northwestern slopes of the Adirondacks and Route 11
corridor this morning (8 AM to 12 PM) in downsloping southerly
winds. Winds will also be particularly strong in the northern
Champlain Valley later this morning and in the early afternoon (9 AM
to 1 PM) due to southerly channeled flow. It will not be a pleasant
day to be on Lake Champlain. There may be another round of strong
winds, more southwesterly, around 3 PM to 8 PM in northern New York,
particularly in the St. Lawrence Valley, along Route 11, and at
higher elevations. Impacts from strong winds throughout the day
today will be downed tree limbs, isolated to scattered power
outages, unsecured objects blowing around, and difficult driving,
particularly for high profile vehicles. Seasonally speaking, this
type of windstorm is more common in colder months while tree limbs
are bare and wind can more easily pass through gaps between
branches. However, since this event is occurring in June, trees have
developed full leaves, which will result in more tree damage and
therefore power outages than with similar wind speeds during the
colder months of the year. Main question with the forecast is when
precipitation saturates the atmospheric profile, this may inhibit
the full potential of wind gust mixing. Wind gusts are forecast to
weaken tonight but remain breezy at 25 to 35 mph from the west-
southwest, higher on Lake Champlain. Cyclonic flow will keep
conditions unsettled through Saturday with widespread
northwesterly wind gusts in excess of 20 mph and waves 1 to 3
feet on Lake Champlain.

KEY MESSAGE 2: Strong low pressure over the Great Lakes early this
morning is expected to track eastward throughout the day today,
crossing from Ontario to Quebec sometime this afternoon, then
stalling near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River tonight. This low
will drag a warm front through northern New York and Vermont this
morning, which has already started kicking off rain across much of
the area. The low level jet at 850mb south-southwesterly winds 55-60
knots plus initial southeasterly surface flow will likely contribute
to rain shadowing in the Champlain Valley and northern/western
slopes of the mountains. The forecast area should see a brief
afternoon window of a warm sector between the departure of the warm
front and the arrival of a cold front, which would be a key period
to build instability. However, the rainy start to the day and warm
layer aloft should help keep instability on the lower side overall.
One issue that may arise is that shear is just too strong for the
minimal CAPE anticipated and storms can't develop enough to become
severe. The tricky thing is that we have such strong winds just
aloft today (see key message one for winds today) that any
thunderstorm that reaches up to 2500 feet could help mix those high
winds down to the surface. Strong to severe storms are most likely
in southern areas of the forecast area where ideal heating is more
likely to be achieved. Highs today should largely be in the
upper 60s and 70s, which is seasonable for this time of year.
The most likely severe impact from any stronger thunderstorms
this afternoon will be damaging wind gusts. There is, however,
also a low, conditional potential of a weak tornado in the
Connecticut River Valley with modeled effective shear values
coming in around 50-55 knots. Heavy rain is also always a
potential when we have thunderstorms in the forecast, and
projected precipitable water values are as high as 1.50-1.75
inches by the afternoon. Considering the synoptic high winds, we
expect any storms to move relatively quickly through the
region, limiting flood risk. Also, rainfall rates today should
generally remain below an inch per hour. Total precipitation
today will be 0.50-1.40 inches, highest in the Greens and
eastern Vermont as well as the St. Lawrence Valley in New York.
Chances of thunderstorms drop dramatically this evening with
perhaps a shower or two lingering into tonight as temperatures
stay relatively mild in the upper 40s to lower 60s. Cyclonic
flow will keep conditions unsettled through Sunday with terrain
focused upslope showers along the Adirondacks and Greens.
Temperatures will be near or below average into the weekend with
highs in the mid 60s and 70s and lows in the mid 40s and 50s.

KEY MESSAGE 3: Mid/upper lvl trof prevails acrs the Great Lakes into
the northeast CONUS for days 4 thru 7 with no significant or
hazardous weather expected. Northern and southern stream s/w energy
moving thru the mean trof wl remain unphased until reaching eastern
Canada on Monday into Tuesday. This should suppress coastal low pres
to our south as fast/progressive mid/upper lvl flow prevails.
However, with northern stream energy and some lingering mid lvl
moisture persisting, showers with a few embedded rumbles of thunder
are possible on Monday and Tuesday. A 1024mb high pres system builds
into our region by Weds into Thursday with brief drying before our
next system arrives. Given the mean trof axis position, the deepest
moisture and best instability wl be south of our region for most of
next week. Also, the cool temps aloft and northern trajectories, pw
values wl remain below 1.0" for most of the week, before climbing
higher toward next Friday associated with another full latitude
trof. Temps wl remain below normal for most of the upcoming week
with highs in the upper 60s to mid 70s and lows mid 40s to mid 50s,
except slightly warmer in the Champlain Valley.

&&

.AVIATION /12Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
Through 12Z Friday...Surface low pressure is approaching the
Ottawa Valley, while a warm front is producing a widespread
light to moderate rain across our taf sites. This rainfall is
causing areas of MVFR cigs/vis with brief periods of IFR
conditions. This precip should lift north of our taf sites by
15z, with another round of gusty showers and embedded
thunderstorms moving across our taf sites between 15-19z today.
This line of storms could produce localized gusts up to 45
knots, along with mvfr conditions and brief ifr possible in the
heavier elements. Line quickly shifts eastward by 19z with
developing vfr conditions and gusty south to southwest winds at
15 to 35 knots. Areas of low level wind shear and turbulence is
likely, especially near terrain and non-aligned runways with the
wind direction. Winds slowly decrease this evening with a mix of
mvfr/vfr cigs returns.

Outlook...

Friday: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Chance SHRA, Chance
TSRA.
Friday Night: Mainly VFR, with areas MVFR possible. Likely SHRA.
Saturday: Mainly MVFR, with local IFR possible. Definite SHRA,
Chance TSRA.
Saturday Night: Mainly VFR, with areas MVFR possible. Chance
SHRA.
Sunday: Mainly VFR, with areas MVFR possible. Chance SHRA, Chance
TSRA.
Sunday Night: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Slight chance
SHRA.
Monday: VFR. Chance SHRA, Slight chance TSRA.

&&

.MARINE...
A Lake Wind Advisory is in effect today into tonight. Strong
gusty southerly winds of 15-30 knots are expected on Lake
Champlain today, and gusts up to 40-50 knots are possible.
Thunderstorms may produce additional gusty winds this afternoon,
and waves will build to 3-5 feet. Winds remain elevated tonight
with west-southwesterly 15-20 knots sustained and gusts 30-40
knots, resulting in waves 1-3 feet. Winds should finally fall
below 25 knots early Friday morning, though additional showers
and thunderstorms are possible Friday afternoon.

&&

.BTV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
VT...Wind Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for VTZ001>009-011-
     016>020.
NY...Wind Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for NYZ026>031-034-
     035-087.

&&

WHAT HAS CHANGED...Kutikoff
DISCUSSION...Storm/Taber
AVIATION...Taber
MARINE...Storm

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Burlington VT
1005 AM EDT Thu Jun 18 2026

NYZ026>031-034-035-087-VTZ001>009-011-016>020-191415-
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-Western Rutland-Eastern Franklin-
Eastern Chittenden-Eastern Addison-Eastern Rutland-Western Windsor-
1005 AM EDT Thu Jun 18 2026

...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM
EDT THIS EVENING...
...TORNADO WATCH 352 IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON...

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northern New York, central
Vermont, northeast Vermont, northwest Vermont and southern Vermont.

.DAY ONE...Today and tonight.

Please listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov on the
Internet for more information about the following hazards.

   Wind Advisory.
   Tornado Watch.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday.

Hazardous weather is not expected at this time.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

VTZ010-021-191415-
Orange-Eastern Windsor-
1005 AM EDT Thu Jun 18 2026

...TORNADO WATCH 352 IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON...

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central Vermont and southern
Vermont.

.DAY ONE...Today and tonight.

Please listen to NOAA Weather Radio or go to weather.gov on the
Internet for more information about the following hazards.

   Tornado Watch.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday.

Hazardous weather is not expected at this time.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.