ROANOKE, Va. – The week starts out calmly, thanks to high pressure being close to the area. That will lead to more sunshine and less wind than we saw this past weekend.
Highs Monday reach the 60s in the mountains and lower 70s elsewhere.
As high pressure drifts eastward, the wind shifts out of the south and southeast. That will keep the flow of warm air into the region with similar high temperatures to what we expect Monday.
Clouds increase throughout the day Tuesday ahead of a powerful storm system.
This storm will produce a multi-day severe weather threat from the Southern Plains Monday to the Deep South Tuesday.
It moves in our direction Wednesday.
Rain is likely, but the severe weather threat is questionable. There’s plenty of wind to support stronger storms, but it comes down to whether or not there’s any instability (thunderstorm fuel). If severe storms do develop, damaging wind gusts would be the main concern. There’s enough spin in the atmosphere to watch for the potential of an isolated tornado.
Rain likely starts out during the morning Wednesday.
Rain and storms will likely be scattered throughout the afternoon before tapering off later at night into Thursday morning.
We’ll still be quite warm Thursday with most any rain staying east of the area. Eventually, colder air moves in just in time for the weekend. A gusty wind will place snow showers on the west-facing slopes late Saturday into Sunday.