Oct. 10 much different in 2007 than in 1979Posted Oct10, 2007 at 09:39 AMOct. 10 is likely to be our last day of above-normal temperatures for a while, and almost certainly the end of record heat. This day 28 years ago was much different across Virginia. Oct. 10, 1979, marks the earliest measurable snowfall on record in many central and northern Virginia localities, with Roanoke having been on the south edge of the accumulating snow. Roanoke recorded three-tenths of an inch of snow that day, enough to whiten the ground and coat the trees. Locations farther north in Virginia got much more snow, with 2 to 4 inches common and some areas getting a half-foot or more. Big Meadows, high on the ridgetop in Shenandoah National Park, collected 17 inches of snow from that early-season storm. Nothing like that is on our horizon, but a day or two later this week might struggle to get out of the 50s. That's right, I said 50s. When the heat was even worsePosted Aug09, 2007 at 07:04 PMThere's a saying that no matter how bad the weather is, it's been worse before. And that's true with this current heat wave we're in. Even though we've crossed 100 each of the last two days in Roanoke, reaching 101 today, it has truly been worse here before, in duration, in intensity, or both. * 1953: It was 100 for 3 days in a row to end July (July 29-31, with a 101 on July 31) and 4 days in a row to end August and begin September (Aug. 29-Sept. 1, with 101 on Sept. 1) * 1977: A record 8 days of 100-degree heat for the summer, with 3 straight from July 6-8 and a record 5 straight from July 17-21, peaking at 102 on July 18 and July 20. What's more, there were 4 days at 99 (3 straight from Aug. 6-8) and 5 days at 97 that summer, including a 4-day stretch of 97-99-97-97 from July 13-16, leading into the July 17-21 run of 100s. *1983: 3 murderously hot days from Aug. 20-22 at 104, 105, and 104. The 105 stands as Roanoke's all-time record high temperature. So while we still have a chance at our first three-peat of triple-digit heat since 1983 on Friday, it doesn't look likely that this current heat wave will match the ones listed above. National Weather Service's Top 5 events of 2006Posted Dec30, 2006 at 05:24 PMI picked my Top 10 area weather events of 2006 today. At the same time, the National Weather Service was picking its Top 5 events, and our top two match. The weather service's picks for No. 3 and No. 4, the Bull Mountain fire and Pittsylvania County tornadoes, occurred outside The Roanoke Times' readership area, so I didn't include those. The National Weather Service at Blacksburg covers not only much of Southwest and Southside Virginia, but also parts of southeast West Virgnia and northwest North Carolina. I also did not include the weather service's No. 5, April 7 severe weather, but you could argue I should have with damage and and an injury at Buchanan. 90 degrees today?Posted May29, 2006 at 11:33 AMThis Memorial Day has a good chance to be our first 90-degree day of 2006 in Roanoke ... and Tuesday will have a similarly good chance to hit 90 as well. We haven't had a 90-degree day since it hit 92 on Sept. 23 of last year. Sunday's high of 88 is our highest temperature to date in 2006 ... and that was only two degrees below the May 28 record of 90 set in 1955. The record high temperature for May 29 in Roanoke is 91 in 1991 ... so tying or breaking a record today is certainly within reach. Blacksburg's record for May 29 is 84, also set in 1991 ... that, too, is definitely in play today. Blacksburg hit 84 on Sunday, but that was three degrees short of the May 28 record. Bluefield, West Virginia, set a record high of 86 on Sunday. Normal high temperatures for May 29 are 79 in Roanoke and 75 in Blacksburg. This little mini-heat wave is unlikely to keep May from being a cooler-than-normal month overall, however, as 16 of the previous 28 days have had below normal temperatures. Click here to follow Roanoke's current conditions and Blacksburg's current conditions today. Rain has helped, but is it enough?Posted Apr28, 2006 at 11:21 AM4-28-06 Jane Graham has an article today in the Roanoke Times' New River Current examining whether the recent rains have helped the long-term drought much or not. Read the article linked above for the long answer, but the short answer is some, but not enough. Also, here's the latest drought monitor map from the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb. You will see that the size and severity of the drought have improved some in our area and in the parched southern Plains. Oklahoma and Texas stand to get some more rain this weekend, perhaps in buckets, and we will probably follow suit early next week. But will it be enough to tide us over against the typically drier summer and early fall months? We'll see. |
About this blog
Kevin Myatt works on the copy desk for The Roanoke Times and is its principal weather geek, writing a weekly weather column and advising the newsroom on weather topics. He helps guide students on a storm chasing trip to the central U.S. each May and was an editor for "Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States." .....Advertisement.....
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