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.

After the chill, some fall weather to savor

Flip the switch.

Monday's first widespread freeze of the season across Southwest Virginia will give way to temperatures that might even push 80 today and Thursday.

Roanoke dropped to 32 degrees briefly Monday morning. Many other locations in the region, especially north and west of Roanoke, fell into the 20s and were below freezing long enough to end the 2009 growing season.

Today will be the kind of October day cherished for outdoor activities, albeit when most folks are at work or school. The morning will start chilly, in the upper 30s and low 40s, and then the dry air will warm rapidly with the day's sunshine into the 70s, with an 80-degree reading or two possible from Roanoke south and east.

We are in a progressive weather pattern where new cold fronts will move across the country at fairly even intervals, with warm-ups in between. The next will arrive by the weekend, bringing rain followed by cooler temperatures.

The weekend front is not likely to bring winterlike chill to the region, however, as it will be of Pacific rather than Canadian or Arctic origin.

This is pretty typical October weather. Remember that "normal" is just the average of extremes.

Weather Journal runs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.