Dry air squelches storms in our area
Posted Jun23, 2008 at 06:53 PM
If you've been outside much today, you've probably noticed how dry the air feels. That lack of humidity is the reason storms have not been able to develop in most of Southwest Virginia too. The dew point at Roanoke as of 6 p.m. was 50 degrees. Sunday's storms wrung out a lot of moisture and kicked out some outflow winds that pushed a lot of the moisture eastward. Also, westerly winds today have been blowing downslope, drying them out. Storms have developed as close as the Greensboro area and some of Southside Virginia near Danville, where moisture is thicker. Also, storms have developed in West Virginia where cold air aloft is creating greater instability and there are better wind dynamics aloft for storms to become organized. There is some chance a few of these storms could drift into the area later tonight, but with such dry air in place, it's doubtful that we'll get much out of them.
Drier air looks to hang around a few days, with little chance of rain or thunderstorms until late in the week.
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