Kevin Myatt

Latest entries from the Weather Journal blog

• Weather Journal taking a long break
• Yes, there's still an Atlantic tropical season going on
• Freezing temperatures likely tonight

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.

Winter storm elements didn't fall into place

"Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," Meat Loaf once sang.

But one and a half out of three won't cut it when it comes to creating a winter storm in our area.

The three things needed to best enhance our chances of a winter storm are (1) blocking high pressure near Greenland to force the jet stream southward; (2) high pressure near the West Coast to drive Arctic air south and (3) a moist southern branch of the jet stream bringing wet storms from the Pacific.

During the past month, we've taken turns having each of the first two without the others. This week, we've had the third element, the southern branch of the jet stream, with a fading second element, high pressure near the West Coast.

The result was that Tuesday's system was plenty wet, but cold air was having a hard time hanging in. We had one of those borderline events where some folks got ice and others didn't. (There's a chance some of those who didn't would get some ice overnight or this morning.)

A pesky mess for some, a cold rain for most, but a significant winter storm for few.

The weather pattern is in transition over the next several days. A period of mild weather is likely to break out for a few days some time in the next 10 days or so, but there might be a couple of more winter weather flirtations first.