Commencing this afternoon into evening, a line of storms is approaching Middlebury from west of Lake Champlain. The National Weather Service forecast follows:

A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5pm. Some storms could be severe, with large hail, damaging winds, and heavy rain.. South wind around 16 mph. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

 Tonight
Showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers between 11pm and midnight. Some storms could be severe, with large hail, damaging winds, and heavy rain. Low around 63. South wind 6 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

The danger, of course, is saturated ground in the face if high wind gusts which could topple trees and create power outages. The weather service has NOT issued a flash flood warning for our area. There is a lot of capacity in the Middlebury River through East Middlebury Village, however, Otter Creek is rising and will continue to rise for the next two days, cresting above flood stage. This is creating a situation where the Middlebury River will begin to back up and spill over into the flood plain in the Seeley District and along Three Mile Bridge Road, Shard Villa Rd and Blake Roy Road.  Creek Road is currently closed between Three Mile Bridge Road to the State Highway garage.

Please call the police at 802-388-3191 if water appears to be encroaching onto Three Mile Bridge Rd, Shard Villa Rd or Blake Roy Rd.