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.

Cool, dry weather likely ahead

With another rainy cold front having cleared the area, some dry and cool days are on tap for Southwest Virginia.

The jet stream has flexed itself into a contortion that is allowing cooler air from Canada to swamp much of the eastern United States, while hot air builds through much of the West.

Think of the jet stream -- the fast-flowing river of air three to eight miles high that steers storm systems -- as a belt in a pulley system.

The jet stream is threaded above clockwise-rotating high pressure in the west, pushing it into Canada. But counter-clockwise low pressure over eastern Canada pulls the belt southward into the eastern United States, allowing cooler, drier air to move south with it.

This pattern usually produces some really pleasant, sunny days for Southwest Virginia. Days will be mild and nights cool early in the week, gradually warming through the week.

But the pattern also leads to fewer severe storms in the nation's midsection. That's good for many residents there, but it has led the Virginia Tech storm-chasing team to delay its trip to the Plains from Sunday's scheduled departure to later this week.

Weather Journal appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.