2009.03.25
Almost too much weather to keep up with
The next several days will feature a highly active weather pattern, not just for Virginia, but across much of the central and eastern United States. The last couple of days brought severe weather to the central U.S. and a blizzard to the northern Plains, where record flooding is also occurring from both precipitation, snow melt and ice jams. Severe weather again developed in Texas today, resulting from the same disturbance that will bring our second round of rain on Thursday. A strong upper-level low pressure system will trigger severe weather in the lower Mississippi River Valley (think Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi) over the next couple of days, and also a large snowstorm over the southern Plains, particularly the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. The powerhouse surface low triggered by this diving disturbance will move northeast and drag a vigorous cold front eastward, which will spread possibly heavy rain our way late Friday and through the weekend, and Saturday could even bring severe thunderstorms into Southwest Virginia (though the chances will be much better south and east of us).
On top of all this, after a brief hiatus early next week, another strong low pressure system moving from the Plains to the Great Lakes may affect the weather over much of the central and eastern U.S. about the middle of next week.
It's almost too much weather to keep up with. The good news is that several very dry areas from the Southern Plains to the Southeast to the Appalachians are getting moisture ... maybe a bit too much in some places. (Tonight's rain potential map from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center is projecting widespread amounts over 2 inches in our area over the next 5 days). But there will also likely be some weather misery too, ranging from floods to tornadoes to car-burying snowdrifts. In our region, despite the long-term dryness preceding it, there is at least some risk of flooding problems by the weekend if some of the heavier rain bands and stronger thunderstorms move through our area.
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Just made it into Denver. One more day and I probably would have been severely delayed.
They are calling for a foot or more out here. Unbelievable timing on my part. Go take a look at all the weather advisories up all over the country. It's quite the map.
Comment by Brandon R. — March 25, 2009 @ 10:27 pm
We already had close to 0.7 inches of rain as of this morning, and radar looks pretty beefy for what's coming today. Add in the storm potential for Saturday, and I could see us topping 2 inches easily out of all these systems.
Comment by Other John — March 26, 2009 @ 8:08 am
Were there any reports of icing at high elevations yesterday. Our Mountain Empire Airport on the Wythe/Smyth border was reporting 34 degrees for several hours last evening.
Comment by Rick — March 26, 2009 @ 9:38 am
Well, the radar this morning looked impressive, then the bulk of the rain shield split north and west up the mountain spine into WV and PA. It looks like our rain for the day will be coming to an end shortly after noon, with maybe just some spotty light rain or drizzle afterward, since it looks like the old spliteroo happened with this wave.
Comment by Other John — March 26, 2009 @ 10:55 am
Brandon, it won't take long for you to laugh at the high drama of our 1-2 inch snow quandries!
Rick, I'm not aware of any icing reports ... now it seems the true wedge is in effect, with temps rising into the 50s in higher elevations to the west and holding in the low 40s here and at Lynchburg.
Comment by Kevin Myatt — March 26, 2009 @ 1:24 pm
Hey Kevin,
What are we looking like for next weekend? We've got an event I'm worried about on the 3rd-5th. Some of it's outside and we need some clear weather!!!
Comment by elliot — March 26, 2009 @ 1:54 pm