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Current Conditions: Fair
Temperature: 63°F Wind: From the CALM at 0 mph Relative Humidity: 90% |
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SAT Showers 63°F...80°F |
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SUN Partly Cloudy 61°F...86°F |
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MON Sunny 63°F...84°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.
Dry seems normal these days
By Kevin Myatt
The Roanoke Times
As May moves toward its final days, it is replaying a familiar theme for Southwest Virginia: dry.
As of Tuesday, rainfall was about 2 inches below normal for the month to date in Roanoke.
May has failed to follow up on April's wetness. For much of May, cool air from Canada has shut off the flow of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.
Now, as the Gulf flow has become re-established, the stronger storm systems are going west of our region. Most of the rain and storms have been occurring in the nation's midsection.
April and October are the only months since the start of 2007 to have significantly above-normal precipitation. December was near normal, with the rest of those 16 months significantly below normal. The overall pattern of dryness goes back to 2005.
Temperatures this month, despite Canadian air intrusions and some chilly mornings in the 40s, are averaging very close to normal.
Long term, the Climate Prediction Center is calling for generally normal precipitation and temperatures over the next two weeks as late spring creeps toward summer.
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