The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for almost the entire state of Vermont from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning. 

Forecasters were expecting 1 to 2.5 inches of rain, with localized amounts up to 3 inches possible in southern Vermont, according to Abbey Gant, a meteorologist in the weather service’s Albany office. But it’s the combination of rain and rising temperatures, leading to snowmelt, that was expected to cause flooding.

Several rivers statewide were expected to come close to or surpass flood stage. The Otter Creek in Rutland and the Walloomsac River in North Bennington were anticipated to see moderate flooding, according to the weather service’s river forecast. 

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, five other rivers in central and northern Vermont were expected to reach minor flood stage by Thursday morning. Those included the Connecticut River in Wells River, the Mad River near Moretown, the Winooski River at Waterbury and Essex Junction, the Lamoille River at Johnson and the Missisquoi River at North Troy.

The weather service also warned of flash flooding in smaller bodies of water. Maureen Hastings, a meteorologist at the weather service’s Burlington office, said that flooding in poor drainage areas in urban environments could begin later Wednesday afternoon or into the evening hours. 

A cargo plane lands as rain falls at the Leahy Burlington International Airport in South Burlington on Wednesday morning , December 11, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Main-stem rivers such as the Winooski were expected to reach flood stage at night and crest early in the morning on Thursday, Hastings said. 

Because of the late hours of the flood’s peak, Mark Bosma, a spokesperson for Vermont Emergency Management, cautioned Vermonters near waterways to have their phones near them overnight in case they needed to be evacuated. In that event, emergency responders could do a “reverse 911” call to a specific area. 

He also advised Vermonters to sign up for VT-Alert for more notifications about road closures, local flooding and other emergencies. 

And he emphasized the weather service’s common refrain for dealing with floodwaters on roadways: “Turn around, don’t drown.” 

“Even if it doesn’t look like there’s a lot of water on the road, that can be difficult to really tell, and looks can be deceiving,” said Gant, the meteorologist. 

Dozens of local schools closed, opted for a delayed start or announced an early dismissal as of Wednesday morning, particularly in Windsor County, central Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom, Vermont Public and WCAX reported. 

Bosma said that state officials were in the midst of preparing for flooding. They were still figuring out the best place to potentially set up swiftwater rescue teams.