Kevin Myatt

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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.

We may be set for rainy spell

I have to backtrack a little on one part of what I wrote Wednesday.

The current weather pattern does look wet after all, at least for the next week.

We've got two shots at significant rainfall. The first is connected to a stationary front draped near the area overnight Friday into today.

The second involves a strong low pressure system expected to develop in the south-central U.S. and move northeastward toward the middle of next week.

With rain coming in two or three different rounds last night into today, we could see half an inch to an inch of rain, especially from Roanoke southward.

The midweek system is several days out, of course, so there are many details to be resolved. It looks to have the potential to wrap up into a pretty strong springlike low that will pull up lots of Gulf of Mexico moisture and swing a vigorous cold front through. It could be a much bigger rainfall producer than what we see this weekend.

Next week's setup is likely to result in severe thunderstorms throughout much of the South, possibly even into our area. There will be some severe weather to our south today, as well, but it looks to be a weaker setup than next week's could become.

Wintry weather, as is typical with most early spring storms, will be limited to the possibility of a few snow showers on the back side of each of these systems as some cold air is wrapped in, and then mostly in the higher elevations

January was 2¼ inches below normal in precipitation and February was 1¼ inches below normal. The first two months of 2008 continue a trend that saw 10 of 12 months in 2007 and eight of 12 months in 2006 finish at least half an inch below normal in rainfall.

So, with an overall long-term pattern still leaning more toward the dry side, this would be a good time to get some rainfall to recharge reservoirs, soak fire fuel sources and moisten vegetation as it begins to bud out in the next few weeks.

The 1993 superstorm

Thursday and Friday marked the 15th anniversary of the "superstorm" that blasted most of the eastern half of the United States on March 13-14, 1993.

Even though a storm three years later actually set Roanoke's record for most snowfall in a single storm (2 feet in January 6-7, 1996), the superstorm still seems to rise to the top of people's memories more often because it was the biggest example of a true blizzard that has probably ever hit Southwest Virginia.

Snowfall amounts ranging from 16 inches in the Roanoke Valley to more than 3 feet in many surrounding areas was whipped into enormous drifts by winds gusting well over 50 mph.

The superstorm was not just an unprecedented winter storm, with snow measured by the feet from Alabama to Maine. It was also a deadly tornado producer in Florida and carried a hurricanelike storm surge onto the western coast of Florida. It brought record low barometric pressures along its path near the East Coast, and damaging winds throughout many eastern states.

Combining the energy from three different branches of the jet stream, the storm exploded rapidly to extreme strength over the Gulf of Mexico rather than farther northeast along the East Coast like most nor'easters. Affecting 26 states and half the nation's population, the superstorm will probably never be approached again for strength or impact in our lifetime.

But in weather, you never can be sure. The next storm to rewrite history can always be just beyond the range of computer forecast models.

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