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.

Snow-starved region gets a moderate helping

Yes, it can still snow in Southwest Virginia.

As of this writing Sunday evening, I do not know yet whether overnight snow will add enough accumulation to rate this as a genuine "snowstorm," or if Sunday afternoon's impressive snow burst that dumped 2 to 5 inches in less than 4 hours in many locations will end up being the bulk of what falls.

A coastal surface and strong upper-level low inland were moving in tandem overnight up the Eastern Seaboard. It is a typical winter storm setup for the East Coast, but one that hasn't really happened at all this winter this far south.

The 1.5 inches that had fallen officially in Roanoke by 5 p.m. (yes, many of you in the Roanoke Valley got more than that) was the first snowfall of an inch or more this season in the Star City -- and the first since Jan. 17, 2008.

It was not the latest date for a first significant snow in a winter season, though -- that happened on March 9, 1976.

Sunday's snow through 5 p.m. brought Roanoke's seasonal total into a tie with 1975-76 for least snowy winter on record at 2.3 inches. It would take only one-tenth of an inch more overnight to dodge the record for snow scarcity.

While any snow should end this morning, the system is expected to whip cold north winds into the area for a couple of days, temporarily delaying the move to milder weather.

But by week's end, with highs again topping 60, Sunday's snow will be a slushy memory.