Chris Bouchard replies: When I was growing up in southern Maine, my parents were convinced that thunderstorms followed the Androsoggin River, which runs basically from north to south in that part of the state.
When I got older and became interested in meteorology, I began to chase thunderstorms and carefully monitor their tracks on radar. In my years of observation, I have found that most thunderstorms in New England move from west to east, although they can come in from any direction. Of course, most of the larger rivers in northwest Vermont which feed into Lake Champlain run generally east-west. (Think the Winooski, Lamoille and Missisquoi). The fact that most of our thunderstorms travel along these lines is likely therefore a coincidence.
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