Posted Jul31, 2008 at 09:08 PM
If you want a good idea of what a "normal" July is for Roanoke, the one that has just ended is about as good an example as you will ever find.
Roanoke's July average temperature was 76.1 degrees ... one-tenth of a degree below normal ... and rainfall for the month was 3.67 inches, just a third of an inch below normal.
The month's average high temperature was a wee bit below normal ... 86.9 degrees, compared to the normal of 87.5 ... but it was partly made up for by an average low temperature that was an even smaller bit warmer than normal ... 65.3 degrees, compared to a normal of 64.9.
Often, when we have a month that works out to be near normal in temperature, it is the result of averaging extremely warm periods with extremely cool periods of similar length. Not so in July: 18 of the 31 days were within 2 degrees of the normal daily average temperature. Only two days were more than 5 degrees above normal; likewise, only two days were more than 5 degrees below normal.
Here's to a refreshing dose of normalcy before August likely begins with a period of extreme heat.
Posted Jul31, 2008 at 05:17 PM
Roanoke only got .13 inch of rain before 5 p.m., but there was widespread coverage of light to moderate rainfall amounts today across most of Southwest Virginia. A smattering of showers is all that's left this evening, as shown by this National Weather Service radar screen grab shortly after 5 p.m. As expected earlier today, the stronger storms fired to our southeast, where there was more heating. This little pocket of showers -- with maybe a couple of lightning bolts or a brief wind gust here and there -- is all that's left for us of this system, which is a combined effort of a weak cold front, an upper-level impulse, and the very dispersed remnants of what was once Category 2 Hurricane Dolly, which hit south Texas 8 days ago.
Once the weak front passes us and washes out, the atmosphere will begin drying out and high temperatures will start climbing. By Sunday, expect widespread 90s, and don't rule out a few triple-digit readings early next week, especially in Southside Virginia. There are still some factors to weight as to whether this upcoming hot spell -- caused by high pressure expanding eastward from the central U.S, as depicted on this Climate Prediction Center Hazards Assessment map. -- will stretch longer than Tuesday to begin a substantial August heat wave, or whether a new dip in the jet stream near the Great Lakes might nudge the high enough either east or back to the west to short-circuit the heat after 3 or 4 days. Being early August, we should not be surprised by a few days of mid-90s temperatures in Roanoke, but though we hit 100 four times in August 2007, the century mark is still a pretty unusual occurrence in the Star City.
Posted Jul31, 2008 at 10:08 AM
National Weather Service regional radar, 10:15 a.m. It has shown some signs of weakening, but a broad area of rain and thunderstorms is headed our way, crossing from West Virginia into Virginia. This is probably the largest area of rain that we've had coming at us in at least a couple of months. If it can hold together reasonably well, most everyone in Southwest Virginia will see some rain today. This rain is caused by the combination of a weak cold front, an upper-level disturbance and the remnants of Hurricane Dolly. The clouds (already here) and rain may arrive early enough to squelch the daytime heating that could fire stronger thunderstorms; those may occur farther east.
Latest National Weather Service-Blacksburg radar
Posted Jul31, 2008 at 12:06 AM
The remnant moisture of Hurricane Dolly that hit the South Texas coast more than a week ago is being pushed our way by a weak cold front. Dolly did a loop, crossing northern Mexico and then lifting into the southern Rockies before being pushed east. The extra bit of tropical moisture should enhance showers and thunderstorms ... this will be our best chance of rain in many days, maybe weeks. Don't expect anything like when a fresh tropical system moves in off the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean, when we can get some tropical wind gusts, widespread flooding downpours, and tornadoes. There may be a few strong wind gusts in a storm or two, but mostly, this will just be another episode of scattered showers and thunderstorms where one place gets two or three inches of rain and somewhere else a few miles away gets rumbly sprinkles.
Posted Jul30, 2008 at 06:38 PM
The band of rain and thunderstorms that formed earlier today in West Virginia, Kentucky and far Southwest Virginia never really got its act together. It did the old spliteroo, with most of the rain missing the Roanoke and New River valleys. Heavier cells did pass close to Wytheville and through northern Botetourt and southern Rockbridge counties, but nothing extraordinary. Looks like we'll have another shot of thunderstorms on Thursday with a weak cold front, then drier and much hotter weather over the weekend into early next week.
Posted Jul30, 2008 at 02:39 PM
Thunderstorms appear to be organizing over parts of eastern Kentucky and the far southwest corner of Virginia northward into southern West Virginia. These storms have generally been moving east, though some southeast trajectory has been noted at times. Some severe thunderstorm warnings have already been issued. These clusters of storms bear watching into the evening for the Roanoke and New River valleys, as well as surrounding areas of Southwest and Southside Virginia. We've seen something similar several times this summer, as recently as this past Monday, where clusters of storms develop in this same general area to our west and then move eastward, often accelerating as they move east. Heat and humidity (92 temperature, 63 dew point in Roanoke at 2 p.m.) are sufficient to intensify storms that may move eastward over the mountains today, but there are a few obstacles to overcome, like the drying-out downslope winds out of the west and northwest, and possibly some remainder of dry air aloft that squelched most of Tuesday's storm potential. I'll keep an eye out on it the rest of today.
As always, if you have notable weather where you are, please e-mail me or leave a comment below.
Click here for latest National Weather Service-Blacksburg radar
Posted Jul30, 2008 at 09:41 AM
Well, here was what I was talking about in today's Weather Journal column in the newspaper. Today's risk area for severe weather is to our north (though shifted more eastward from where it was forecasted Tuesday) and Thursday's risk area is to our south and east (shifted farther away from us than it was forecasted Tuesday. Generally, a slight risk of severe weather is issued when there is a 15 percent or better chance that high wind (58 mph or greater) or large hail (3/4 inch or larger) will occur within 30 miles of any given location. It reflects the expectation that organized severe weather will occur, but areal coverage will be limited.
The severe weather risk to our northeast today reflects an expectation that storms developing along the Blue Ridge will move eastward into an area of greater atmospheric shear, where winds are changing direction with height. The severe weather risk to our southeast on Thursday reflects an expectation that high heat and humidity may cause a few storms to erupt explosively, leading to localized downdrafts of strong winds. For Southwest Virginia, we are still close enough to both areas that we could have some similar effects, though as of now it is not expected to be to the same degree. Definitely expect some scattered storms to occur today, and a few of them may approach at least the minimal criteria to be classified as severe. The same on Thursday. After that, things dry out and heat up toward the weekend and early next week.
Posted Jul29, 2008 at 11:14 PM
It doesn't look like much, but the remnants of Dolly are still producing rain and thunderstorms in the central U.S. Hurricane Dolly came ashore a week ago in South Texas with winds of about 100 mph. It drifted westward, diminishing to a depression over northern Mexico within a day. Well, believe it or not, Dolly's remnants are still around, producing rain and thunderstorms in Kansas and Oklahoma today. During the day, the radar still had a bit of a pinwheel motion with Dolly's remnants over Kansas. This moisture is becoming wrapped into storminess associated with a weak cold front that will move eastward. It's not impossible that we could even get a little moisture out of what was once Dolly, though it would be almost impossible to tell amid the Gulf of Mexico moisture that has been steadily building. Dolly or not, there is plenty of moisture to fire scattered thunderstorms in daytime heating each of the next two days.
The much bigger story for our region could be a significant heat wave building by the weekend into early next week. We'll look closer at that as some more details become clearer.
Posted Jul28, 2008 at 11:35 PM
There was a major reason I wasn't on here blogging about the rain and thunderstorms that moved through much of Southwest Virginia, especially from Roanoke south, on Monday night. I was in the middle of it, four solid hours of pouring rain from Bristol to Roanoke as my wife and I returned from an overnight trip in western North Carolina. The Bristol-Roanoke stretch usually only takes 2 1/2 hours, but we were delayed getting behind at least two wrecks, traveling behind wide loads plowing through the downpours, and at one point deciding to get out of the way of 70-mph trucks spraying us constantly on the interstate to travel U.S. 11 through the chain of towns in the New River Valley (Pulaski, Dublin, Radford and Christiansburg ... some of which were under a severe thunderstorm warning during the time we passed through them.)
In any event, it seems a lot of folks in particularly dry areas to Roanoke's south got healthy rains tonight.
The rest of this week will offer some similar chances: Occasional bouts of showers and thunderstorms, as moisture increases and hard-to-time disturbances move through.
Posted Jul26, 2008 at 11:31 AM
I don't mean broken records in terms of record temperatures ... quite the opposite, it should be very much near normal for the next several days, that being high of 88 and low of 65 in Roanoke, and about 83 and 60 in Blacksburg. But today through at least Monday, and possibly beyond, we'll have the typical summertime forecast: Scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms.
It doesn't look like there will be a big severe thunderstorm threat this weekend, but anytime there are storms, you can never rule out a localized severe gust (58 mph-plus) when a storm starts collapsing into downdrafts. The timing of various upper-level disturbances will have to be monitored the next several days, as any of them can also give storms a little more atmospheric support to become stronger.
It also doesn't look like this will provide any widespread rainfall, still very much needed. Read this Natoinal Weather Service-Blacksburg statement about the ongoing drought and how sporadic rains in thunderstorms have not helped as much as one might think.
Posted Jul25, 2008 at 06:34 PM
Photo by The Associated Press -- A home was destroyed along a lake in Deerfield, N.H. File this away in the "Tornadoes can hit there, too" department. Almost no one thinks of New Hampshire and tornadoes together. But on Thursday, a tornado ripped through 9 New Hampshire towns, killing a 57-year-old woman who was trapped in a collapsed house. According to an Associated Press article, the EF-2 tornado (winds of 111-135 mph, rated on a scale from EF-0, 65-85 mph winds, to EF-5, 200-plus mph winds) tore through Deerfield, Epsom, Barnstead, Alton, New Durham, Wolfeboro, Ossipee, Effingham and Freedom. At least 6 homes were destroyed and hundreds were damaged.
Photo by The Associated Press -- An aerial view of the flattened home above. Tornadoes are not as unusual as it might seem in New England. The June 9, 1953, tornado in Worcester, Mass., killed 94 people. The severe weather threat peaks in that region from June to August, when temperatures warm up enough to destabilize the atmosphere, and the jet stream sometimes roars overhead, capable of spinning some storms into supercells, which in turn can spawn tornadoes when a rotating updraft becomes sufficiently intense and stretched to the surface. Conditions were very favorable for such rotating updrafts in New England on Thursday. It was part of the same system that brought us severe weather earlier this week, but closer to surface low pressure supplying stronger low-level winds and under much stronger winds aloft.
Posted Jul24, 2008 at 06:42 PM
It might be hard to believe for the folks in Botetourt County who got 3-5 inches of rain on Tuesday, but according to the latest map from the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb., most of Southwest Virginia remains in light to moderate long-term drought. One caveat: This was based on data through Tuesday morning, before the heavy rains came. A summer of frequent thunderstorms has eroded the drought area some, but the spotty nature of the rains has not allowed widespread alleviation of the drought. Everytime somebody gets creek-choking rains, someone a few minutes down the road is not getting enough rain to settle the dust. And the week before the most recent scattered downpours was mostly dry.
A weather pattern that appears to be building in over the next 7-10 days may give us several chances for additional rainfall, though mostly in the form of showers and thunderstorms rather than a much needed slow, areawide general rain. Upper-level low pressure developing near the Great Lakes appears poised to force the jet stream southward over the eastern U.S. many of the next several days. This will supply a steady diet of cold fronts and upper-level disturbances running into the warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. The Climate Prediction Center rates Virginia as having a better than typical chance of above normal precipition in the 8-14-day period.
Though any sunny day will be able to push temperatures into the 80s or even low 90s, and increasing humidity will at times buoy nighttime temperatures at levels that may be a little above the norm in the mid 60s, the overall trend of temperatures with a jet stream pattern dipping southward is likely to be somewhat below normal as cold fronts from Canada snub the heat and hot high pressure from the west is prevented from building eastward. The CPC's maps reflect this possibility in both the 6-10-day range (cooler than normal temperatures favored over most of the East) and in the 8-14-day-range (confined more to the Southeast)
In the other seasons, it's usually an above-normal temperature period that carries the higher risk of severe thunderstorms, but in summer, it can actually be cooler-than-normal periods. That's because, in summer, hotter than normal weather usually reflects expectations of a large high pressure dome building in, which can put a cap on any storm-firing convection, while cooler-than-normal periods reflect passing cold fronts and an unusual amount of upper-level wind for what is typically the most stagnant time of year.
I fully expect a few more rounds of gusty thunderstorms during the next couple of weeks as this pattern unfolds. But we may get one more warm but mostly dry day in on Friday before the moisture gets thick enough again for afternoon storms.
Posted Jul23, 2008 at 11:21 PM
The cold front has pressed through and, after two storm days, should leave us a dry day on Thursday. Hurricane Dolly is inland and was recently downgraded to a tropical storm, though it will still rain a ton on both sides of the Rio Grande Valley. But there are no other systems that are expected to develop into tropical depression in the Atlantic for at least the next couple of days.
How about we take a short breather from active weather.
Posted Jul23, 2008 at 03:40 PM
It happened, again. A band of strong to severe thunderstorms worked through the New River Valley with numerous reports of large hail, and then blew through the Roanoke Valley between 4:20 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., with some gusty winds, heavy rain, frequent cloud-to-ground lightning and perhaps some scattered small hail. As the storm system advances eastward, expect heavy downpours, gusty winds and some robust lightning most everywhere these storms pass over, with some locally very damaging winds (60 mph-plus) and hail possible.
I took a series of photos from the Roanoke Times roof garden as the storm arrived. Where I was, the winds peaked at no higher than 45 mph, and I observed no hail, but the shelf cloud soaring over the city was an awesome sight. One of my photos is inset above, and several more are linked below:
* Shelf cloud approaching
* Outflow boundary over downtown
* Lowering to the southwest
* Flags extended by wind on Higher Education Center
M.L. St. Clair shot photos of the storm's outflow rolling over the Roanoke Valley M.L. St. Clair of Salem submitted a pair of photos showing angry storm clouds, looking toward Roanoke.
* Salem storm photo 1
* Salem storm photo 2
If you have photos from this afternoon's or evening's storms that you don't mind me using on the blog, please email them to me. If you have any notable observations on the stormy weather, either email me or comment below.
Just like last night, a severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for Western Virginia until 11 p.m.
Latest warnings and watches via National Weather Service-Blacksburg Web site
Latest National Weather Service radar
Storm reports from the National Weather Service:
* 3:15 p.m. -- 8-inch-diameter tree limb blown off tree, Radford
* 3:39 p.m. -- 1-inch hail, falling for 5 minutes, Fairlawn, Pulaski County
* 3:40 p.m. -- .88-inch hail, Radford, trained spotter report
* 3:40 p.m. -- 1.25-inch hail, covering the ground, lasted 10 minutes, Fairlawn, Pulaski County
* 3:50 p.m. -- .88 inch hail, Radford, public report
* 3:55 p.m. -- 1-inch hail, Christiansburg
* 3:55 p.m. -- Large tree blown down, Christiansburg
* 3:55 p.m. -- 1-inch hail, lasted 5 minutes, 2 miles west of Christiansburg
* 4:45 p.m. -- Large tree blown down at Windy Gap, 4 miles southeast of Roanoke
* 4:54 p.m. -- Large tree blown down, 3 miles southeast of Roanoke
* 5:45 p.m. -- .75-inch hail, 2 miles northeast of Snow Creek, Franklin County
Posted Jul23, 2008 at 12:53 PM
A cold front is pushing into our warm, moist air today, and that is likely to trigger a new round of thunderstorms as we move deeper into the afternoon and evening. At mid-afternoon, the Storm Prediction Center issued a mesoscale discussion (an alert a step below a watch, often preceding one) highlighting western Virginia for a heightened risk of severe weather (linked here). The inset radar image shows a band of storms moving out of West Virginia toward us in association with the front. We will also need to watch out for storms developing ahead of the line. It was clusters of storms like that which caused much of last night's mayhem in some areas. West winds at the surface, blowing downslope, may keep a damper on things for a while today, and it appears the worst threat of severe weather may be to our east today -- a severe thunderstorm watch is already out for eastern Virginia. Still, expect to see some storms with gusty winds, hail, heavy rain and frequent lightning. As with last night, everybody won't get all that, but some folks will got a lot of it, as parts of Botetourt County did last night.
As always, e-mail me or post a comment on this blog if you have any significant weather reports during any storms today.
Latest National Weather Service radar linked here
On the extended entry below is a listing of all the severe weather reports turned in to the National Weather Service in Blacksburg from Tuesday night's storms:
Continue reading "Another round of thunderstorms likely this afternoon and evening" »
Posted Jul23, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Hurricane Dolly pumped up quite a bit overnight. It's now a Category 2 hurricane with winds about 100 mph. It has been lashing the south Texas coast with heavy squalls of wind and rain for hours, and there has already been some damage. It appears to be coming in a little north of Brownsville, which means that much of its worst fury will be focused on South Padre Island, a popular vacation destination. But that doesn't mean it won't still be a rough ride for Brownsville just to the south or even Corpus Christi several miles to the north. Dolly will likely drift westward inland, slowly dumping a ton of rain.
Click here for the latest from the National Hurricane Center
I will also soon have an update on our own local severe weather potential.
Posted Jul23, 2008 at 01:26 AM
Tuesday' evening's thunderstorms brought scattered reports of damaging winds, hail up to quarter-sized, frequent lightning and torrential downpours. The storms put out lots of moisture and laid down outflow boundaries that could come into play triggering a new round of thunderstorms today. The focus for more of the severe weather will shift east, into Piedmont east to the coast, but depending on how much early sun we get, when the cold front pushes in, and how an upper-level disturbance interacts with the moisture, we could again get some gusty storms with hail again today. It seems we are back in the familiar stormy pattern of this summer. We'll get a couple days break in the storminess after today, but may well resume it for the weekend and into next week.
Posted Jul22, 2008 at 08:34 PM
Thunderstorms have popped up this evening in just about every direction around Roanoke, though none have yet to really hit the core of the Roanoke Valley head-on. A couple of severe thunderstorms have skirted around the north edge, with 3/4-inch hail reported at Daleville at 8:30 p.m.. Earlier in the evening, trees were reported blown down at Montvale and .88-inch hail occurred at Thaxton, both in Bedford County, as a storm developed just east of the Roaoke Valley. Other severe storms have developed south of Roanoke in Southside Virginia. Many of these storms developed east of the severe thunderstorm watch box, which is why the wording of watches always says "in and close to the watch area." The bigger concern for the New River and Roanoke Valleys is whether a cluster of storms that was near Bluefield, W.Va. just before 8:30 p.m. will hang together as it approaches Blacksburg and Roanoke in the next 2 or 3 hours. UPDATE 9:40 PM: This cluster did not hang together well, but a new cluster of storms formed after 9 p.m. in the Roanoke and New River valleys.END UPDATE
As always, if you have your own storm reports, either e-mail me or comment below. Also e-mail me if you have any good photos of the storms or storm-related damage.
Click here for the latest from the National Weather Service in Blacksburg.
Posted Jul22, 2008 at 05:26 PM
We may have our own home-brewed severe weather to watch tonight and Wednesday, but it's worth noting now that Dolly has been upgraded to a minimal hurricane with 75 mph winds. It is expected to make landfall very near Brownsville, Texas, which lies at the southernmost tip of the continental United States at the mouth of the Rio Grande. So whether this becomes just the second U.S. landfalling hurricane in 3 years depends on which side of that border its eye comes ashore on.
Click here for the latest from the National Hurricane Center
Posted Jul22, 2008 at 04:23 PM
The Storm Prediction Center has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Montgomery and Floyd counties and points west until 11 p.m. tonight. Storms are firing in Kentucky and Tennessee and some of these may charge eastward as the evening progresses. How far east they get is the questionable, but it bears watching even for the Roanoke Valley. High winds will be the biggest threat from this evening's storms.
Click here for the latest from the National Weather Service in Blacksburg
Posted Jul22, 2008 at 10:09 AM
The Storm Prediction Center has placed all of Virginia under a slight risk of severe weather today. An approaching cold front, a series of disturbances, increasing moisture and outflow boundaries kicked out by clusters of storms overnight and this morning (one of which has prompted a severe thunderstorm watch in eastern Virginia) will create an environment conducive for the development of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, some of which may produce the parameters for severe weather: 58 mph or greater winds, 3/4 inch or larger hail. It is possible that the area could be affected tonight by large clusters of storms that develop over the Ohio Valley and move east or southeast. It appears that Wednesday will present another, and possibly greater, chance of severe thunderstorms in our area and points eastward, as a strong upper-level disturbances brings cold air aloft and more wind energy into play. This is the beginning of a pattern change that will take us from hot and dry to warm and unsettled as the jet stream dips across the Great Lakes and eastern U.S. in days ahead.
Posted Jul21, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Martinsville hit 100 degrees this afternoon. Roanoke topped off at 96, 8 degrees above normal for this time of year, but well off the record high for the date, 104 set in 1926.
Tuesday will probably be our last day in the 90s for a while, as a cold front presses southward overnight into Wednesday, and many days of showery-occasionally stormy weather ensue with some disturbances moving through the jet stream. Afternoon highs in the 80s will be common from Wednesday through the weekend.
Posted Jul21, 2008 at 03:53 PM
Tropical Storm Dolly has emerged north of Mexico's Yucatan Penisula and is now headed into warm Gulf of Mexico water with atmospheric conditions expected to favor deeper development over the next day or two. Dolly is expected to become a hurricane and appears to have its crosshairs in or near Brownsville, Texas, give or take 100 miles or so. As a result, a hurricane watch has already been posted for the south Texas coast below Port O'Connor, with a Wednesday landfall expected. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Cristobal is stronger, but over open Atlantic waters, moving northeast away from land. With 65 mph winds, Cristobal has some chance to become a minimal hurricane, requiring 74 mph winds, but conditions for development will quickly deteriorate by Tuesday and Cristobal may eventually become absorbed by other weather systems.
Posted Jul20, 2008 at 08:26 PM
It got a little bit hotter than we were bargaining for this Sunday, with a high of 95 in Roanoke, the hottest day since the June 6-10 heat wave ended. That kind of heat is more expected in mid to late July than it was in early June, but today's high was still 7 degrees above normal. We could see another similarly hot day on Monday, with highs in the low to mid 90s, before more unsettled weather begins taking hold through much of the upcoming week as a weak cold front moves near the area and zigzags back and forth a bit. Coupled with some upper-level disturbances being pushed through by a dipping jet stream, we will probably get back into the afternoon thunderstorm pattern we've been used to much of the summer so far.
Tropical Storm Cristobal will pass close to Cape Hatteras tonight and then pull away from the U.S, picking up speed as it moves northeastward, probably never quite making it to hurricane strength. Tropical Storm Dolly has formed in the Caribbean and will likely move northwest across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the western Gulf of Mexico toward the Texas-Mexico border. So much time over the peninsula may make it hard for Dolly to reach hurricane strength. At any rate, it appears that Dolly will not have any direct impact on the eastern U.S.
Posted Jul19, 2008 at 11:53 PM
Senior editor Dwayne Yancey is the one who has interviewed me by phone during each of the last two May storm chase trips, meticulously putting together photos into slideshow packages this past May. Despite numerous other duties, he put a lot of time and energy into making our storm chase packages what they are. Well, this weekend, we have reversed roles. Dwayne and his family are the storm chasers of sorts, catching up to some of the outer bands of Tropical Storm Cristobal on a Myrtle Beach vacation, while I am back in Roanoke posting the images his teen-aged kids have taken along the coast.
Cristobal's feeder bands over harbor. Courtesy of Keith Yancey The inset photo above was taken by Dwayne's daughter Rain Yancey (that's a Weather Journal-worthy name for sure) and shows a rainbow over North Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Click here for a closer look.) And while we're at it, click here for another photo from Rain, showing looming storm clouds over the shore as one of Cristobal's feeder band moves overhead. (I tracked this on radar after Dwayne called me). At left is a photo by Rain's younger brother Keith Yancey, showing dark clouds over a harbor in North Myrtle Beach ... click here for a bigger look.
You can see many more photos of Cristobal on the coast from the Yanceys via the Botetourt View blog.
As you can see from these photos, there's not much of a panic going on related to Cristobal. It's just spun out a few gusty showers along the coast. The Carolinas could really use more rain than this storm is likely to produce.
Cristobal will move close to North Carolina's Outer banks today as it continues moving northeastward. It may slowly increase in intensity, but it remains unlikely that it will become a hurricane. You can follow the latest on the National Hurricane Center Web site.
Posted Jul19, 2008 at 05:39 PM
As expected, Tropical Storm Cristobal has developed off the coast of the Carolinas, moving northeastward. The storm is expected to continue that general motion the next few days, moving it just east of the Outer Banks, with the most significant effects near Hatteras and Ocracoke Island as it makes a close pass on Sunday. Winds are as high as 45 mph near the center of the storm, with a slow strengthening expected, though at this time it is not expected to reach hurricane strength (74 mph).
For Southwest Virginia, Cristobal's effects will be minimal. Even today, some tropical moisture is being spun our direction, and a few showers and storms are occurring east of us. An approaching cold front and a low pressure trough near the Great Lakes this week will probably do a lot more to return showers and storms to our weather scene than will Cristobal.
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