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.

Rain could swing above and below us

There is little doubt that Thursday will end up being a soggy day. Some of that rain might even get here today.

But this storm system has a chance of doing the familiar "Southwest Virginia split" that could leave us with relatively light amounts -- enough to make things messy, but not enough to help with the drought.

The split happens when a storm system's best dynamics go to our northwest, while the best moisture stays to our southeast.

That could happen this time as a strong low pressure system moves into the Great Lakes, taking the best wind dynamics with it, while thunderstorms to the south and southeast of us cut off some of the moisture flow from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

That's why, for now, rainfall amounts of less than an inch are expected. That could go up if some details change with how the storm develops.

This week's rain will be occurring as warm, moist air overrides a cool dome of air at the surface. Beyond some isolated sleet or brief freezing rain in the deepest valleys to our west, the cold air won't be deep enough for frozen precipitation.

Much colder weather is on the way for the weekend and likely much of the next two weeks.

Which reminds me: Get in your snowfall forecast today. E-mail me (kevin.myatt@roanoke.com) your predictions for the date of the season's first 1-inch snow in Roanoke and Roanoke's seasonal snowfall total through April 15, rounded to the nearest inch. I won't take any entries after today.