2009.05.19
Quick rebound: From record low to summerlike highs
Roanoke set a record low for May 19 on Tuesday, dropping to 37, eclipsing the previous record of 39 set in 1994. The temperature is about to make a huge rebound upward. Though Wednesday will start out cool, with temperatures in the 40s, the afternoon will heat quickly into the 70s, maybe scraping 80 here and there. Highs above 80 are likely Thursday through Saturday.
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No compliments for the NWS service this morning. I would have covered my garden again had they said there was any chance of frost. Their forecast was 39. I woke up to a white lawn, roof, cars, etc......and the nearby automated weather station just west of Wytheville had 31.9. The NWS only had a few counties up in northern VA and WV in a frost advisory. I'm sure there will be many reports of near and below freezing temperatures again.
Comment by Rick — May 20, 2009 @ 7:38 am
Rick, I think you were in a pocket that colder. Quick scan of temps shows upper 30s for lows at a lot of valley stations in Virginia. Bluefield WVa to the west stayed in the upper 40s as did Hot Springs' airport, owing to milder winds moving in to the west and aloft. It's part of our areas' topographic challenges ... temperatures vary between valleys and mountains, and sometimes the variance is one direction, other times it's the opposite.
Comment by Kevin Myatt — May 20, 2009 @ 10:04 am
I'm not sure we can count Bluefield WV as an indicator. Unless I am mistaken, I don't think the Bluefield airport has ever had a freeze in May. Maybe you could check on that. It's higher,,,,up around 2,800 I think. The temperatures at higher places like the Hot Spring airport usually don't dip as low as the valleys in these calm May conditions. I recall (2002?) when we had several late hard freezes around May 20-22 that the leaves on the trees in the valleys got hit hard, turned brown and fell off but elevations at 2,700 and up were still green because it never froze up there. I'm at about 2,400 here.
Comment by Rick — May 20, 2009 @ 11:04 am
From what I can tell it was not a widespread heavy frost this morning, but that doesn't mean much if you're one of the locations that got hit heavily. Blacksburg and Martinsville (though to the south, Martinsville frequently drops several degrees colder in these kind of setups) stayed above freezing.
I wasn't trying to use Bluefield or Hot Springs as indicators. That was actually a separate thought from the other valley locations in Virginia not being as cold as your location. In fact, my point was exactly the same as yours, Rick: That higher elevations often stay warmer when calm, clear valleys dip colder.
Comment by Kevin Myatt — May 20, 2009 @ 11:14 am