ROANOKE, Va. – Storms move steadily west to east Saturday morning. As they do it’s easier for storms to form, and in the late morning storms have the best chance to develop in Lynchburg and Southside.
The heaviest rain stays east of I-81 in the later morning hours. Once the front pushes through your town any leftover showers are rather light.
By noon most of the front is east of us. Storms pick up energy as the system heads to the Atlantic coast, but severe storms stay closer to Richmond and Baltimore.
Some showers stick around through the afternoon. Any additional rain totals are light.
High winds caused broken tree limbs while this system moved through Saturday morning. Some extra wind damage is possible in the late morning. Hail can develop, but the flood and tornado risks are low.
Rain totals mostly stay below an inch. East of I-81 it’s easy for more than half an inch of rain to add up.
Winds are breezy right along the front, but in the afternoon the breeze is on the lighter side. It’s certainly not the best afternoon for a picnic, but you can still drive around if needed.
Cooler air fills in behind the front bringing lows down to the 30s and 40s. We can only warm up into the 60s Sunday starting a pattern that lasts much of next week.
Since January most of our days have been near or above average, but next week is a decent stretch of below average temperatures. Highs have a hard time getting out of the 60s even with warmer air at the end of the week.
Storms systems next week mostly miss us to the south. There is enough moisture for rainfall Wednesday, and clouds are consistent through the later half of next week.