Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Weather columnist Kevin Myatt: Looks like Fay won't bring us rain
Kevin Myatt is The Roanoke Times' weather columnist.
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- Sprinkles or flurries possible Tuesday, but maybe something bigger for the weekend?
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A mere tropical storm isn't going to kick sand in the face of a big high-pressure system.
In the world of weather, we often tend to think of things that blow and spin as the bullies of the atmosphere.
Even though Tropical Storm Fay had not yet become a hurricane as of Tuesday evening, surely it would be able to do what it wants against something boring such as a mass of slowly sinking air that makes up a high-pressure system.
But that high-pressure system, building across the northeast United States, is likely to hold Fay at bay south of us, then deflect it westward.
The result may be that a once-promising opportunity for appreciable rain to ease our drought won't bring us a drop.
Parts of Alabama, Georgia and north Florida, also suffering varying degrees of drought, will likely see rain in buckets. An isolated location collecting 2 feet of rain will be well within the realm of possibility the next few days, and many places getting 10 inches or more is likely.
Rather than spread a few inches of rain over several dry states, Fay is much more likely to turn a cracked riverbed into a house-eating torrent somewhere in the Deep South.
Perhaps Fay's presence will be able to spin up some more tropical moisture into our region late in the week for an enhanced threat of showers and thunderstorms. But the chances of a big rain are slipping away.
