2009.03.26
A lull on Friday while things crank up to our west
Some showers are possible during the day Friday, but we will be between disturbances. Meanwhile, a powerful low pressure system will be cranking up to our west, bringing a dangerous threat of severe weather to the lower Mississippi River Valley and heavy snow to the Texas/Oklahoma Panhandle region (the linked map is for 4-plus inch threat, but local forecasts there are calling for 1-2 feet with drifts of 10-20 feet on 55 mph winds). Moisture will again begin to surge into our area Friday night, and by Saturday, with the strong low passing just to our west and dragging through a strong cold front, there could even be a threat of the season's first strong to severe thunderstorms.
RSS feed 
Parts of Botetourt (and maybe other places) had some heavy fog this morning. Here are two photos of the fog around Cloverdale:
http://blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/botetourtview/2009/03/27/photos-of-a-foggy-morning-in-botetourt/
Comment by Dwayne Yancey — March 27, 2009 @ 9:16 am
Kevin-I sat out for awhile after dinner...observed interesting clouds from southeast to northwest (unusual in itself) but a lot of the clouds had a lot of rotation in them...looked like it was confined to one layer and not mixing down but in light of the tornadoes in North Carolina, interesting none the less...
Comment by Betsy — March 27, 2009 @ 7:03 pm
The atmospheric wind dynamics are definitely in place for severe weather, and will be more so tomorrow ... however, I think the instability will be weak, and that will probably spare most of Southwest Virginia from severe thunderstorms or tornadoes ... can't rule out some localize severe wind gusts (57 mph plus) in a few storms Saturday afternoon and evening, though
Comment by Kevin Myatt — March 27, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
Kevin, is one of the key factors limiting the chances of severe weather in SW Virginia tomorrow the fact that temps have been on the cool side lately, including today? I would guess so. TWC highlighted the severe temperature drop in Amarillo, Texas between yesterday and today. Yesterday's high was 72. Temp had dropped all the way to 19 by this morning!!! Blizzard. Another example: On the day before the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in early November 1975, it was about 70 degrees when that big ship left Superior, Wisconsin, near Duluth, MN. Incredibly warm temp for that far north that deep into autumn. On the day of the wreck and "the hurricane west wind," temps were in the 30s and howling. I suppose you have already written a Journal article at some point in the past how big temperature differences often (always?) lead to big winds, but that is one phenomenon that should be highlighted every year or two .....
Comment by Doug Griggs — March 27, 2009 @ 10:02 pm
Doug: Just put up a new post noting the dampening effects of our cool air wedge on severe weather, and also noting incredible temperature extremes across the state of Texas today.
Comment by Kevin Myatt — March 27, 2009 @ 10:36 pm