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.

Water supply refreshed

The past few days' spell of July-like hot, dry weather serves as a reminder that all our early-spring moisture gains could easily be reversed if this kind of pattern gets stuck for weeks in the coming summer.

The good news, though, is that the two reservoirs from which the city of Roanoke and Roanoke County draw most of their water -- Carvins Cove and Spring Hollow Reservoir -- are full.

Carvins Cove, full for the first time since May 2007, was 8 feet below full pond in late February. Spring Hollow was more than 40 feet below full pond then.

The refill happened in spite of the fact that Roanoke is still nearly 3 inches below normal rainfall for the year to date, largely a result of the first two months having sparse rain and no measurable snow. Rainfall over the previous four years has totaled about 2½ feet below normal.

March, despite an early month snowfall and two other five-day rainy periods, actually finished about a third of an inch below normal at 3.47 inches.

Even April, with its regularly spaced rains the first three weeks, has slipped very slightly below normal rainfall to date during the recent dry period, sitting at 3.20 inches through Tuesday. A return to showery weather today and Thursday may lift April to near or slightly above its normal 3.61 inches.

What the past two months have shown is that regular, moderate rains at the right time of year can help fill reservoirs as well as or better than large but rare outbursts of torrential rainfall. Early spring is a good "recharge season" as rain can run into reservoirs and underground aquifers because tree roots aren't drawing out a lot of moisture just yet.

What the past few days have shown, though, is that if persistent high pressure sets up over the Southeast U.S., parching heat can occur as storm systems are diverted away from the region. This time it was only about five days. In summer, with the resisting force of the jet stream retreated to Canada, it can be five weeks, or more.

This hot, dry pattern breaks today. In fact, the same strong high pressure that brought the unseasonably hot weather will help bring showers and thunderstorms, as it causes a cold front to stall near us for several days and helps sweep Gulf of Mexico moisture northward along that front.

A stronger cold front will push through by the weekend, and we might even get back into somewhat below normal temperatures by next week.

Though it's felt like it the past few days, summer is still two months away. It's good knowing that the Roanoke Valley's water sources are full.