Kevin Myatt

Latest entries from the Weather Journal blog

• Some nighttime weather fireworks on Independence Day?
• A new type of cloud?
• Much the same into the foreseeable future

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.

Arctic blast expected next week

If your long johns and fur-lined coats are in mothballs, get them out and get them ready for wear.

A pile driver of a high pressure system near the West Coast will thrust a frigid stake straight from the Arctic Circle into the eastern half of the nation next week.

Many details remain undefined, but it is almost certain that very cold weather will grip our region beginning Tuesday or Wednesday and continuing through the rest of the week, possibly beyond.

At its mildest, the coming Arctic blast would give us a couple of days when it fails to get to freezing with lows dipping into the teens and single digits.

At its wildest, the deep freeze could be the most intense we've seen since 1996. Below-zero temperatures are not out of the question by the middle of next week. There might be a day next week when some locations in Southwest Virginia don't make it to 10 degrees, all day.

Probably, it will be in between, with lows in the single digits to low teens and some localized below-zero readings. Highs will probably struggle to reach 20 at least one day.

The coldest day so far in this young 21st century in Roanoke, based on average temperature for the day, was Jan. 23, 2003, with a high of 19 (the only day since 2000 when it failed to hit 20) and a low of 11, averaging 15 degrees. Based strictly on low temperature, Jan. 18, 2003, and Dec. 20, 2004, share the honors with lows of 8.

Roanoke has not had a below-zero low since Feb. 5, 1996. Blacksburg last went below zero on Dec. 7, 2002, but hit zero on Dec. 20, 2004.

If the core of the Arctic air descends into the United States and there is ample snow cover, some of those marks could be challenged.

About that snow ... it all depends on what waves of upper-level energy can kick up.

Anytime frigid Arctic air sinks all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, there is a chance a storm system will develop along the boundary between the polar chill and the mild subtropical conditions over the Gulf.

There are no surefire shots at snow yet, but I have a hunch (and some forecast model support) that if it gets as cold as advertised for a week to 10 days, we will get some moisture-bearing systems that can deliver the first regionwide snowfall of the season.

There will certainly be bouts of mountain snow showers and some fast-moving, southeastward-diving Alberta clippers to deal with, too.

Winter simply refuses to be a no-show, and this round of chill probably won't be a no-snow.