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.

Time's about to run out for snowfall

My self-imposed ban on the word "snow" in this column ends today, but will there be much reason to use it?

Some light snow is possible in the area this morning with barely cold-enough air and a weak disturbance racing to our south, but don't expect much, if anything.

About Wednesday, a larger storm system will likely pass through the Ohio Valley toward the Northeast, a path that more often brings us rain than anything wintry. The storm will spin in lots of cold air behind it, and those typical mountain snow showers will follow it for a couple of days late this week.

This strong low pressure system will induce a pattern change that will bring much colder weather back to our region by the weekend and into early next week.

The question then will be how long the cold air lasts, and whether any storm systems finally hit the right groove during the cold snap to bring adequate moisture at the right time for widespread snowfall.

The best answers right now: About five to seven days, and probably not.

Winter is getting down to its last few at-bats.