Kevin Myatt is The Roanoke Times' weather columnist.

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It's all about Fay this week.

Tropical Storm Fay is likely to strike somewhere along the eastern Gulf Coast on Tuesday or Wednesday, possibly as a hurricane. There is a good chance that Fay's remnants will move toward us by the end of the week.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as we watch Fay this week.

n Flooding can occur even after months of drought. The remnants of Hurricane Frances in 2004, coming after a dry summer, took the Roanoke River just out of its bank. So did five days of heavy rains in late June 2006 amid a period of several otherwise dry months.

n Fay will probably move slowly once it makes landfall as it bumps up against high pressure to its north and east.

n We're unlikely to get widespread wind damage. We're simply too far inland from a storm making landfall along the Gulf Coast, especially if it is a slow mover.

n There could be a tornado risk. Some tropical systems spawn many tornadoes as they move inland. In 2004 Hurricane Ivan produced nearly 120 tornadoes, including twisters in Henry and Bedford counties. Others produce very few. The reasons for that variance are not well understood.

n There's still a chance we won't get a drop from Fay. It could still curve too far east (medium chance), stall and rain itself out (slight chance), or swing wildly west (little chance).

n Fay is not a solution for the drought. But, if we can get about 2 to 4 inches of rain from it fairly steadily, it could help a lot.