ROANOKE, Va. – We are tracking a slow-moving storm system that will send periods of heavy rain and storms into the area Thursday night and Friday.
Prior to that, we start Thursday with patches of morning fog and mist before temperatures rise into the 70s.
After 7 p.m., however, is when the rain approaches areas like Grayson, Carroll and Patrick Counties. These advance northward, with the chance for localized flooding, throughout the night.
All it takes is 1-2″ of rain in a six-hour time frame for parts of the New River Valley to see flooding, so we’ll keep close tabs on that.
Occasional showers and thunderstorms continue overnight, with another line likely forming around or shortly after sunrise Friday.
This line moves slowly from west to east Friday morning through early Friday afternoon.
The threat for damaging wind gusts and/or hail is slightly higher as you go along and east of US 29, but it can’t be ruled out in areas closer to US 220 (Covington, Botetourt, Roanoke, Franklin and Henry Counties).
The threat for a tornado is low - but it isn’t entirely zero - as there is some low-level spin in the atmosphere ahead of our front.
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Once the front passes through, we get one last gasp of scattered showers and thunderstorms late Friday afternoon and evening.
Drier air moves in just in time for the weekend, courtesy of a strengthening area of high pressure.
This will also play a role in us getting warmer each day.
Highs Saturday reach about 75 to 80°. We’ll be in the 80s Sunday after a cool morning. Lastly, Memorial Day will be the warmest of the holiday weekend with highs well into the 80s.
Some of us reach into the 90s next Tuesday and Wednesday.