Vermont has seen roughly 33% more rainfall since March than it gets in an average spring. May has been especially wet.
In fact, May was the seventh-wettest on record for Burlington, which saw almost 2 inches more rain than the annual average.
By local weather blogger Matt Sutkoski’s count, Vermont has seen just two precipitation-free Saturdays so far in 2025 — March 22 and January 25.
That’s at least 12 weekends in a row of rain.
The National Weather Service in Burlington doesn’t track rainy weekends specifically, but meteorologist Marvin Boyd says even his colleagues have been bemoaning the string of rainy Saturdays.
“We’ve had many weeks in a row where there’s been rain either Saturday or Sunday or both, so it’s been a long period of time,” he said. “This spring we had a lot of these blocking patterns set up, where we would get stagnating systems that just kind of sit around the area and allow multiple days of precipitation. And unfortunately, it’s lined up with weekends, where most people are off.”
Soils across much of Vermont are saturated with water after this weekend’s Nor’easter storm. And while stream flows are much above normal across many parts of the state, Boyd says Vermonters concerned about flooding shouldn’t fret — just a few days of dry weather should be enough to improve conditions before the next storm.
“Today, tomorrow, Wednesday, we're going to be drying out,” Boyd said Monday. “Seventy-two hours is a decent amount of time for soils to percolate and get most of that water through. "
Beyond making people a bit grouchy, the slew of wet weekends has had an impact on local businesses that are tied to the seasons.
Palmer Lane Maple in Jericho sells maple creemees out of their store.
Colleen Palmer says they have seen a decrease in sales this spring, and the weather has been a hot topic among her customers.
“I think collectively, we’re all in agreement that Mother Nature can stop. We don’t have a drought, we’re good — and give us some sunny days,” Palmer said. “Because our summers are so short, and we love them, but we can’t get out and enjoy them when it’s miserable and nasty.”
Still, Palmer said there are plenty of die-hard locals who show up for creemees whatever Mother Nature has in store.
Boyd with the National Weather Service says it’s too soon to know if the state will see more flooding this summer, but if we do, extreme rainfall due to stalled weather systems or tropical storms and hurricanes will be the more likely culprits, rather than a wet spring.
Vermont and New England are seeing dramatically more extreme rainfall because of human- caused climate change. These events have led to more frequent flooding in recent years — a trend that is likely to continue and worsen as humans continue to pump carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere.
Boyd urged Vermonters to sign up for National Weather Service safety alerts ahead of summer flood season.
