Kevin Myatt

Latest entries from the Weather Journal blog

• Weather Journal remains on break
• Coastal low prompts Southwest Virginia flooding
• Hurricane Ida: Something extraordinary may be happening

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 small wiggle from a storm could bring heavy wind, rain

The next couple of days are going to continue this summer's familiar pattern of afternoon and evening thunderstorms, some of which could be severe.

But the biggest storm potential is not squarely focused on Southwest Virginia either of the next two days.

Today, a series of weak disturbances are expected to move from the Ohio Valley just north of us, with much of West Virginia and Northern Virginia more likely to get high winds and/or large hail, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

On Thursday, the biggest threat shifts just east of us, to central and eastern Virginia, where converging winds aloft combined with daytime heating and abundant moisture may trigger some severe storms with damaging winds.

While not specifically in the official risk zones for severe weather each of the next two days, we're close enough to keep a wary eye.

At the peak of summer, atmospheric steering currents are weak, and large systems and strong fronts are rare. Instead, small pockets of cooler air or swirling winds aloft are often the trigger for storms. The timing and movement of these are much harder to forecast, and some can even largely escape notice until they're right overhead.

So a little wiggle or wobble from one of these weak disturbances could fire big storms many miles from where they are forecast.

With or without any assistance from high in the atmosphere, the heat and humidity at the surface should be enough to fire at least a few thunderstorms today and Thursday, and a few of these may contain big wind gusts and torrential rain.