ROANOKE, Va. – Summer officially started this past Saturday afternoon, and it has felt every bit like it since then. That summer feel continues Monday, with high temperatures mostly around 85 to 90°.
A weak disturbance passing through the area will spark a few stronger storms near/north of U.S. 460.
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The window of opportunity for storms in this area will be between about Noon and 5 p.m. The rest of the us stay mostly storm-free. That changes Tuesday, as we track an approaching cold front.
That front teams up with our warmth and humidity to produce a line/a broken line of thunderstorms. This could become strong, given the amount of wind above us.
As this progresses eastward, storms will become a little more spread out.
Anything that forms will a) move a little more quickly from west to east and b) have the chance to become fairly strong. Once our previously mentioned front blows through, storm chances will mainly be confined to Lynchburg and Southside both Wednesday and Thursday.
The rest of us will see humidity levels drop to a more tolerable range throughout the rest of the week.
Storm chances are minimal through Saturday, as we’ll spend most of our time with more comfortable mornings and a mix of clouds and sun by the afternoon.
Late this week into next weekend, we’ll be tracking a layer of dust from the Sahara Desert.
It will be more concentrated south of here, but a thin layer of it may meander this far north. This will limit tropical storm development in the Gulf and Caribbean. It will also lead to some very nice sunrise and sunsets across the southern U.S. This may include our area too!
We’ll have to see how much of it can come this way. Oftentimes, too much dust can reduce air quality for those in more sensitive groups (lung and heart problems).