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.

Springtime snow could be on the way

You didn't really think we were done with snow, did you?

The "s-word" makes a return to the forecast late tonight and Tuesday, as a strong low-pressure system winding up near the Great Lakes hurls a strong cold front through our region.

The first effects will come today, with showers and possibly a few thunderstorms developing ahead of the front.

But as cold northwest winds take hold tonight and early Tuesday, the upslope flow over the mountains will kick off bands of snow showers.

For the Roanoke Valley, don't expect much: flurries, if that, with no accumulation. Not only does the valley usually not get much out of an upslope snow shower situation, but surface temperatures will be a few degrees above freezing as it falls.

The New River Valley might see enough to whiten the ground, or at least the grass, in a few places. Parts of eastern West Virginia and far Southwest Virginia, particularly those on western slopes, could get a few inches.

A little snow in April is not at all unusual in Southwest Virginia. Neither is the sub-freezing cold likely to follow by Wednesday morning. Get your sensitive plants inside.