ROANOKE, Va. – Meteorological summer runs June 1 to August 31, and it’s going to start off on a hot note this time around.
Highs Wednesday will be fairly similar to what we saw Tuesday afternoon, so make sure you’re hydrating, taking breaks, etc.
Come Thursday afternoon and evening, a front will tap into our heat and humidity. This will lead to the chance for a few strong-to-severe thunderstorms. That chance, however, is slightly higher as you go toward the northern part of the Commonwealth.
Localized wind damage and hail are the main threats with any storm that gets strong. The tornado threat is much lower than what it was last Friday.
Storms here begin firing up west of the Blue Ridge Parkway between about 2 and 3 p.m. Thursday.
These will be scattered, but the chance lingers up until about 9 p.m. or so.
After midnight, the chance for storms goes down.
We’ll start Friday off muggy and in the 60s. As the day goes on, however, a breeze out of the north will take humidity out of the equation. It will feel really pleasant Friday and Saturday.
At the same time, we’ll be keeping an eye on a tropical system emerging out of the Yucatan Peninsula. This is the “ghost” of Agatha, a hurricane in the Eastern Pacific that made landfall in Mexico earlier in the week.
Its remnant moisture and energy have a 70% of becoming tropical in the Atlantic, at which point the storm would get a new name - ‘Alex.’
If this storm rides closer to the East Coast of the U.S., we’ll be on the western flank. This is where air sinks, so that would lead to drier weather Sunday and Monday.
However, if it’s farther offshore, that means a front will inch closer to us and provide the chance for afternoon showers and storms Sunday and Monday.
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