2009.04.22
How high can it go this weekend?
We're about to shift out of the mode of posting photos of late April snow (some links posted in the comments of my last entry) to watching how high the mercury can climb. Thursday will be a nice spring day in the upper 60s to mid 70s, but the next four or five days after that are likely to be in the 80s. As high pressure builds in at the surface and aloft, we'll get a setup similar to a summer heat dome going, with stable air aloft inhibiting clouds and precipitation, and bright sunny skies each day to push the temperature up. Various forecasts are currently peaking Roanoke in the mid to upper 80s on Saturday, but I think there's even some chance we could scrape 90. Even if we do, it won't be setting any records. Record high for April 25 is 95 set in 1925, it's 93 for April 26 set in 1915, and it's 95 for April 27 set in 1957. Roanoke's earliest 90-degree day was March 19, set in 1945.
Blacksburg's records for those three dates are 88, 86, and 90, respectively, all set in 1957, so those probably will stand, too. (Blacksburg's records go back to 1952, Roanoke's to 1912). That must have been a torrid late April in 1957 ... all of Blacksburg's record highs between April 25 and May 1 date to 1957.
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The outlook 1-2 weeks out is looking a bit wetter, if this holds true:
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/814prcp.new.gif
Comment by Kevin Myatt — April 22, 2009 @ 10:11 pm