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Weather Journal

with Kevin Myatt

Severe weather erupts across Southwest Virginia

Posted May08, 2008 at 10:01 PM

A tornado watch remains until 1 a.m. and several counties in southside Virginia have been placed under tornado warnings this evening based on radar-indicated rotation within strong thunderstorms. Numerous reports of hail have also occurred across Southwest Virginia. Most everyone has gotten a lightning show with some heavy rain.

This has been caused by the first of three strong low-pressure systems expected to move near the area in the next week. This one caught us following a warm, humid afternoon, so some storms have become severe.

Latest watches and warnings from the National Weather Service-Blacksburg

Latest storm reports from the state and region

Latest National Weather Service-Blacksburg radar

Comments

# 1

[May 8, 2008 10:39 PM]

Doug Griggs
The areas affected by tonight's severe tstorms and tornados is almost identical to the areas hit 2 weeks ago. Just 20-35 miles south and east of the Blue Ridge. I bet the topography of this area is what makes it so much more prone to severe weather than Roanoke Valley. Comments, KM?
# 2

[May 9, 2008 12:11 AM]

Kevin Myatt
Yes, Doug, it often seems like Henry County, eastern Franklin County, and points east are more prone to severe weather. There are many reasons ... often it's hotter, southerly/southeasterly winds bringing moisture are less obstructed, a "lee-side" trough of low pressure sometimes forms on the east side of mountain ranges causing winds to locally back in from the east inducing spin, etc. I haven't studied tonight's situation enough to know if any of those were at play, but that's some things that can cause severe weather to be worse just east of the Blue Ridge in the Piedmont. Perhaps that would be a worthy topic for a future Weather Journal column.
# 3

[May 9, 2008 8:27 AM]

Joe H
When I got to the office this morning, one of the guys mentioned that some index for this area, the name or meaning of which he didn't really know, was abnormally high last night, according to the news on TV. Evidently, we had values in the 60s which indicates very severe weather. I wasn't familiar with any such index, so I searched around some and found a 'total totals' index, the two indices that make up the total totals, and something called a "k" value. All of these seemed to have value ranges that aligned roughly with what he was describing. Do you know which index he heard about and what it actually means? Thanks for the help; I hate not knowing.
# 4

[May 9, 2008 3:51 PM]

Kevin Myatt
Joe: I can't say I know for sure right off the bat ... there are various "indexes" that calcuate instability, wind shear, moisture, etc. and develop a number range for the likelihood of severe weather in a given area ... Significant Tornado Parameter, SWEAT index, Energy Helicity Index, are a few examples by name ... let me know if you find out anything more about what was said on this.
# 5

[May 10, 2008 8:16 AM]

Wayles
Joe - He may have been referring to the Dew Point. I was watching local live weather coverage on channel 10 and they mentioned that high dew points such as what we saw Thursday night also indicated more instability in the atmosphere.
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Weather bulletins

  • Storm Chase Trip 2008 -

    Recent severe weather in our region has only heightened both the interest level and the seriousness we have in the subject as we prepare to head out on the 2008 storm chase trip Sunday morning (May 11). It is quite possible we will be heading into some threat of severe storms almost right out of the gate on Sunday in Southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee, though our main goal is to get far enough west by Tuesday for a possible Southern Plains severe weather outbreak.

    Below is a link to the main chase page that includes our position mapped on radar and a link to a blog being kept by the students on the trip:

    Storm Chase 2008 tracking page

    Of course, I will be providing daily updates here on Roanoke.com as we head into a very confusing and uncertain weather pattern.

    Storm chase team members are listed below by residence and school/professional affiliation
    :
    Dave Carroll (Blacksburg), Pulaski County High School teacher and Virginia Tech adjunct instructor, leader
    Kevin Myatt (Roanoke County), Roanoke Times weather columnist, co-leader
    Sandy LaCorte, (Davidson, N.C.) North Carolina-Asheville graduate (as of May 10, officially a meteorologist!), student trainer
    Morgan Weeks (Floyd), North Carolina-Asheville meteorology student
    Jennifer Henderson (Pearisburg), Virginia Tech instructor in interdisciplinary studies
    Jessica Burchard (Greensboro N.C.), Virginia Tech student
    Trevor Owen (Danville), Virginia Tech student
    Jordan Rollins (Seaford, Del.), Virginia Tech student
    Andrew Smith (Mechanicsville) Virginia Tech student
    Taylor White (Blacksburg), Virginia Tech student
    Marielle Taft, (Cabin John, Md.) Walt Whitman High School (Bethesda, Md.) student
    Joel Willis, Pulaski County High School student

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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."

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