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Current Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Temperature: 36°F Wind: From the W at 21 mph Relative Humidity: 26% |
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SAT Mostly Sunny 24°F...42°F |
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SUN Sunny 32°F...49°F |
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MON Showers 33°F...47°F |
Latest entries from the Weather Journal blog
About Kevin
Kevin Myatt grew up in Arkansas to the tune of tornado sirens and the rhythm of hailstones, aspiring to be a meteorologist before his studies and career were turned to journalism instead. Though he often chases storms, he prefers living in the cooler, more tranquil weather of the Blue Ridge. He moved to Roanoke in 1999 to take a job on the copy desk of The Roanoke Times; writing headlines and editing copy is his principal work for the newspaper today.
Each May, Kevin assists Pulaski County High School / Virginia Tech meteorology instructor Dave Carroll in leading college and high school students to the Plains to observe severe weather firsthand. The accounts of many of his storm chases can be found here on the storm chasing page of his weather blog on roanoke.com.
Kevin was an editor for "Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States," a book written by D.C.-area weather enthusiast Rick Schwartz and published by Blue Diamond Books that documents hurricanes striking the mid-Atlantic states since colonial times.
The Weather Journal column began in 2003 and appears on Friday's Virginia section front in The Roanoke Times. The Weather Journal blog began in 2006 and follows weather day-by-day between the larger columns.
Region's climate has its challenges but isn't dangerous
By Kevin Myatt
The Roanoke Times
Reader question: If asked by a stranger to the area to describe the region's climate, what would your four or five sentences be?
I like these kind of "List 5" questions. Below, I list five phrases (no verbs, so they're not really sentences) to describe our weather to a stranger, with a short explanation afterward.
n Overall, mild. It rarely gets above 100 or below zero. The peak summer average high temperature is below 90; the coldest winter average high temperature is only a little below 50.
n Four seasons. Even in years skewed by unusual weather patterns, we typically see at least a few weeks of weather expected of each of the four seasons -- though occasionally our "seasons" defy the calendar a little bit.
n Unreliable winters. Roanoke has seen anywhere between 3 and 63 inches of snow in a season. That's the difference between average winters in Atlanta and Albany, N.Y.
n Low home destruction risk. Severe thunderstorm winds blow down trees and power lines each year, and every now and then, there's a tornado, usually very weak. But storms that actually destroy homes, even mobile homes, are exceedingly rare.
n Flood-prone valleys. With steep terrain feeding narrow creek and river valleys, it's amazing how quickly and easily it can flood.
Weather in Southwest Virginia has its ups and downs, but compared to many other places in the country, our extremes aren't that extreme and our risks aren't that risky.
Conditions and Storms
- Latest storm warnings and radar from the National Weather Service in Blacksburg
- Ski slopes -- in season, of course
- Road conditions
- Tropical storm updates - 24/7
- Chasing the Wind - On the road in Tornado Alley
