Kevin Myatt

Latest entries from the Weather Journal blog

• Weather Journal taking a long break
• Yes, there's still an Atlantic tropical season going on
• Freezing temperatures likely tonight

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.

A weaker Bertha could have done some good for fire-ravaged East Coast

Hurricane Bertha appears to have a mind of its own.

Following weekend forecasts that it would only strengthen slowly into a weak hurricane, Bertha rapidly blossomed into a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120 mph by Monday. Those winds have calmed a little, but it's still a much more potent hurricane than what was expected a few days ago.

And despite early forecasts of a track far enough west to pose some threat to the United States, it's now doubtful that Bertha will even get far enough west to threaten Bermuda before turning northeastward into open water.

The irony is that if Bertha had remained a weaker storm, it could have been more strongly influenced by high pressure to the north, and may have taken a track farther west.

The good news of the U.S. East Coast not being threatened by a hurricane is obvious.

The bad news is that a weak hurricane or tropical storm could actually do some real good for fire-ravaged parts of eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia. It will take a deep soaking like a tropical cyclone can provide to make headway against smoldering fires in those swamps.

I suppose we can't entirely stand down on Bertha just yet, just in case there is a sudden change of course. But it appears we can start looking for Cristobal as the Atlantic tropical season rolls on.