ROANOKE, Va. – Thursday night update - 11:30 p.m.
The Weather Authority Alert Day for Thursday, April 11, has expired.
Thursday night update - 10:30 p.m.
The tornado watch has been canceled for the entire area.
Thursday night update - 6:45 p.m.
A tornado watch has been issued until 11 p.m. for the areas shaded on the map attached to this article, which include:
- Roanoke
- Blacksburg
- Smith Mountain Lake
- Lynchburg
- South Boston
- Martinsville
- Hillsville
- Danville
As a reminder, a tornado watch means that forecasted conditions favor tornado development, more urgent than that, is a tornado warning, which means that a tornado is happening or is expected soon.
We will continue to bring you the latest coverage. If a warning is issued, we will cover it on-air in it’s entirety.
Late Thursday Afternoon Update
Clouds have broken in parts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. That’s leading to the development of storms. We’ll watch those storms and how they interact with our area until about 10 or 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
Thursday Afternoon Update
We’ve seen plenty of cloud cover, drizzle, rain and fog so far.
That’s kept the atmosphere stable enough to prevent storms to this point. Any breaks of sun will create an unstable atmosphere, raising the threat for severe weather between 5 and 10 p.m.
Below is a look at the worst-case scenario regarding storm potential Thursday evening.
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Thursday Morning Update
Showers move in as the morning continues. Storms take a few more hours to develop, but once they do storm chances linger into the evening.
Damaging wind gusts are the main threat from these storms. Those winds could cause power outages so be sure to have batteries and a flashlight on hand Thursday evening. High winds even last later into the week.
Flooding is also likely due to rain that reaches more than an inch in many spots in less than 24 hours.
Rain moves north during the morning. By 10:00 AM some heavy rain develops in the NRV.
That heavy band moves north with storm potential through noon. In the following hours the system loses some energy and tracks out of our region. We still have showers in the afternoon, but the storm threat stays lower.
In the late afternoon the cold front approaches from the west. Storm chances rise after 6:00 PM with most of our damaging wind chance.
Storm chances are highest in the north and last into the evening. After 10:00 PM the storms move out leaving us with calmer weather for Friday.
While our storm risk is particularly high in the Highlands and Lynchburg zones the main threat stays to our northwest. The eastern Ohio River valley sees the worst weather Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile the flood risk extends from that region through Pennsylvania and south towards us. Rain totals of multiple inches could easily overrun common flooding areas.
Winds pick up with gusts to 30 mph consistently on Thursday. Gusts get even higher after the front putting Friday up to 50 mph. It takes until next week for winds to get back to what we are used to.
Wednesday PM Update
Showers and thunderstorms are on the way Thursday, and some could pack a punch. Chief Meteorologist Jeff Haniewich is here to time it all out for you.
The Storm Prediction Center has put us under a marginal risk for severe weather on Thursday. This is a level 1/5 and a couple of storms could turn strong in the afternoon.
Throughout the day we will see scattered showers with the potential for storms to get fired up by the late afternoon hours.
Flooding is a concern due to rain from prior days. Localized flooding is a possibility in heavy pockets of rain.
While localized flooding is a concern, there is also a concern for damaging wind gusts. Hail and an isolated tornado are not expected, but are not completely ruled out for tomorrow afternoon.
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