Rain and storms set to return...again
ROANOKE, Va. – After a few days of some catch-up rainfall, we experienced drier and brighter conditions on Friday. That changes again soon.
A few t-showers will form this afternoon, but the rain really fills in again tonight. And Saturday will be a wet, gloomy, and cool day with periods of rain and a few storms in the forecast. It won’t rain the entire day, but it will be a good idea to have the raingear handy as it could rain for a good part of it. Some bouts of heavy rain are possible. Temperatures will be cool, only reaching the low-to-mid 70s.
Sunday is expected to bring slightly better news: more sun, a little warmer, and showers should be much more isolated. However, a lingering upper-level system could still trigger some rain, so please keep an eye on the radar if spending time outside. Temperatures will reach the mid-to-upper 70s to close out the weekend.
The weather could very well remain unsettled early next week because of tropical moisture impacting the area. For now, rain is in the forecast on Monday and Tuesday, with Wednesday being a transition day for us between wet and dry weather. Some leftover showers are possible on Wednesday before we dry out and see more sunshine later next week. High pressure, our fair-weather friend, should return on Thursday and Friday.
Watching the tropics—possible impacts next week
There is plenty of activity out in the Atlantic basin. Hurricane Umberto formed a couple days ago and is forecast to become a Category 4 hurricane by Sunday morning. Farther south and east, another system is developing with a strong probability of organizing as well—if it gets a name, it would be Imelda. And it could become a tropical depression or tropical storm within the next 18 hours as it moves over the Bahamas.
It is too soon to know specific impacts, but this second potential storm will bring tropical rain to parts of the East Coast—including parts of Virginia—as soon as early Monday, lingering into at least Tuesday night, if not part of Wednesday. The track and intensity of this tropical disturbance is so important to our forecast here at home, so please stay tuned. Pin It if you catch any amazing cloud or storm photos for a chance to be featured at wsls.com/pinit!