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.

Youth lead the way at guessing snowfall

Snow prediction isn't a game for grown-ups, apparently.

Here are the current standings in the snowfall contest I launched in November. The scoring method is adding the number of days off the guess for the first 1-inch snowfall (which was March 1) to the number of inches off the guess for total snowfall (which is currently 4 inches, rounded from 4.4 inches), all based on Roanoke's official measurement, which occurs at WDBJ (Channel 7) on Hershberger Road in Northwest Roanoke. The lowest score wins.

(1) Austin Broyles, Lord Botetourt High School freshman, 22 points (Feb. 13 for first 1-inch snowfall, 16 days off; 10 inches total for season, 6 inches off) .

(2) Brittan Wilcox, Faith Christian School seventh-grader, 24 points (Feb. 5 for first 1-inch snowfall, 24 days off; 4 inches total snowfall, right on the money).

(3) Charlie Murphy, Wasena Elementary School first-grader, 31 points (Feb. 10 for first 1-inch snowfall, 19 days off; 16 inches total snowfall, 12 off).

(4) 208 others, most way, way, way out of the running.

Austin, who benefited by having the latest first-snowfall pick among all the entries, will win the contest if Roanoke doesn't reach 15 inches by April 15. If that happens, Charlie, with 20 points, would pass Austin with 21. Brittan can't get any closer, because any snow that falls moves the total away from his guess, but I'll make sure he gets some recognition if his perfect total snowfall pick holds.

Colder weather is likely to return late this week into next week. We'll see if there's any chance for a big late snow to knock Austin off his perch.