THE WEEKEND LOOKS FANTASTIC WITH PLENTY OF SUNSHINE AND SEASONAL TEMPERATURES… RAIN CHANCES INCREASE AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK
Saturday will be a picture perfect day featuring plenty of sunshine and a northerly breeze which will keep temperatures in the sixties for most of us, with the exception of some inland locations that may go above 70 degrees. Sunday will probably be a tad warmer but again it will be cooler along the coast. Winds will eventually veer to a more easterly direction. On Monday, the high pressure responsible for this beautiful weather will move further off the coast resulting in a more southerly wind flow. This will bring in warmer air. By Tuesday, we will see more clouds and there may be some showers by nightfall as a frontal system moves into the region. Showers seem a pretty good bet on Wednesday. At this point in time, this system doesn’t appear to be a severe weather maker for Hampton Roads. Speaking of severe weather, this past week was a remarkable week for many across the south due to extremely powerful and long tracked tornadoes that devasted many communities. At the time of this writing, over 300 people have been confirmed dead and the death toll may still go higher. Alabama was the hardest hit. What caused these storms to be so intense and so numerous? There are several reasons, but when you combine an active jet stream, a cooler drier air mass moving into a very warm, moist and unstable air mass, wind shear or varying wind direction and speed with height in the atmosphere, you have all the ingredients for a dangerous super-cell tornado. There are other factors but these, I think, are the most significant. It’s nearly impossible to survive a direct hit of such an intense tornado, unless you have a safe room or well fortified basement.
Thursday’s thunderstorms brought about 0.40 inches of rain to my backyard, which isn’t a lot but I’ll take it. The rainfall deficit at ORF is over 4 inches for the year now. I’ll have more on the potential for rain this week in my Sunday morning post.