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.

Warm, dry patterns may see slight hitch

February-like mornings are giving way to June-like afternoons.

After dipping below freezing almost everywhere in Southwest Virginia on Wednesday (and on Tuesday and Thursday in some places), high temperatures may reach the low 80s this afternoon from the Roanoke Valley south and east. Saturday afternoon could be nearly as warm.

This week of topsy-turvy temperatures may be followed by an extended period of rain Sunday through Tuesday.

There is no guarantee that this week brought the season's last widespread freeze to the area, but history and the large-scale weather pattern would argue strongly that it will likely not get down to the freezing mark again in the Roanoke Valley this spring. The New River Valley probably has about a 50-50 chance of not seeing another freeze.

If Wednesday morning's low of 31 marked the last time this spring that it drops below freezing at Roanoke Regional Airport, it would be four days later than the average latest-freeze date of April 12 over the past 60 years.

This year's April freeze was neither as intense nor as long in duration as last year's, which brought four consecutive mornings of temperatures several degrees below freezing for hours each night, affecting almost the entire mid-Atlantic and South. But this April's freeze was actually a few days later than last year's.

While the mornings earlier in the week were more than 10 degrees below normal for April lows, and this warm afternoon will likely be more than 10 degrees above normal for April highs, neither has been record breaking for Roanoke.

Record lows this time of year generally run in the mid-20s for Roanoke, while record highs are in the low 90s. (Blacksburg did set a record low Wednesday at 24.)

Though the overall pattern still favors generally warm and dry weather over the next several weeks, a brief kink in that pattern has the potential to deliver significant rainfall early next week.

A low pressure system may spin up abundant Gulf of Mexico moisture into the region on Sunday, and then hang very near us pulling in additional Atlantic moisture by Monday and Tuesday.

Details are still fuzzy with this potential rainmaker, as computer forecast models Thursday had the low tracking anywhere from Florida to Maine. We are still nearly half a foot below normal in rainfall this year, so any moisture at all would be helpful.

April-like showers, after all, bring May-like flowers.

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