Roanoke, VA – UPDATE
The Weather Authority Alert Day issued for Sunday, June 30 has been lifted.
ORIGINAL STORY
Sunday is going to be a hot and humid day, which will certainly make for a situation where we need to monitor the risk of dangerous heat. These conditions combined with an approaching cold front also creates the risk for strong to severe storms. Therefore, we have gone ahead and issued a Weather Authority Alert Day for Sunday, June 30th due to the risk of dangerous heat and severe storms.
Temperatures across the region will soar into the low to mid 90s across the region. These temperatures combined with significant moisture will make the air feel very muggy, and cause heat indices to rise significantly. Lynchburg and Southside could see heat index values approaching 100-105 by the mid to late afternoon.
The other aspect of this alert day is the risk for severe weather. NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has placed the eastern half of our region (including Roanoke, Lynchburg, and the Highlands and Southside areas) in a slight risk (level 2/5) for severe weather tomorrow, and a marginal risk (level 1/5) for western portions (including the New River Valley).
The greatest severe threat is damaging winds up to 70 mph, which are capable of downing trees and powerlines, especially when combined with heavy rain. Stronger storm cells could also produce damaging hail and torrential rain. The tornado risk is extremely low and appears to be confined to the northeastern United States. Models currently show storms firing up in the early afternoon and wrapping up during the early to mid evening hours.