Kevin Myatt is The Roanoke Times' weather columnist.

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• We got graupel, but not on official record
• Moisture could get caught up in cold blast
• Forecast for Weather Journal: Partly print, with frequent Internet
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• Sprinkles or flurries possible Tuesday, but maybe something bigger for the weekend?
• For now, it looks like a quiet, mostly mild week ahead for SW Virginia
• Coldest morning of winter so far likely across much of Southwest Virginia; Tuesday precipitation looking doubtful
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The "dog days" will have their day yet.

In astronomy, the "dog days" refer to the approximate period of time when Sirius, the so-called "dog star," rises and sets with the sun (in other words, you can't see it, it's up in the daytime). Roanoke Times astronomy columnist John Goss describes the time frame as "July 30 plus or minus 10 days or so (July 20 -- Aug. 9)."

In summer weather, we've come to associate the "dog days" with stifling heat for day upon day.

This summer has mostly been a cool puppy, but there are indications that truly summerlike heat hasn't just rolled over for the season. In fact, it's yapping at our heels.

Toward the latter part of this week, the southerly dip in the jet stream that has funneled cool air from Canada southward into northern and eastern states is likely to begin shifting northeastward as a strong high pressure system builds in from the southwest.

This high pressure system is the summer "heat dome" that tends to shift around the nation in the summer months, determining where the hottest weather is. It has been anchored in the Southwest much of the summer, but is expected to shift into the central U.S. by the weekend and then expand to cover much of the nation east of the Rockies.

If this new pattern comes to fruition, several days in the next couple of weeks could top 90 degrees in our region.

Whether it can make it to 100 a day or two will be determined by whether the coming hot spell has a bite even bigger than its bark.

Weather Journal appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.