A Brief Shift In The Weather Pattern

Temperatures for the past couple weeks have been way above normal across most of the Mid-Atlantic.

We aren't the only ones dealing with the heat. Check out temperature departures across the United States. You can see the most of the eastern half of the U.S. has been toasty while the western half has been cooler than average.

We are still watching for a brief transition in the weather pattern during the next couple weeks. NAO will dip below zero, which typically means near or below average temps.

You can spot the impact on next week's temperature forecast. Though it looks like this might not last long. We could be headed towards another warming period by the start of May!

Beautiful Start To Weekend!

After a strong cold front swept through Central Virginia last night (see severe weather reports here), rain is ending early this Friday morning and skies are also clearing from west to east.

Here's the visible satellite image at 7:30 a.m.:

High temperatures this afternoon will be about 20 degrees cooler than recent days, but that merely puts our temperatures back to average for this time of April. With clear skies overnight, lighter winds, and drier air, a cold start to both Saturday and Sunday mornings is expected, with lows dipping into the upper-30's and low-40's. No other significant chances for precipitation are in the forecast over the next week. A weak cool front will slide south into the Commonwealth Monday and Tuesday, bringing more cloud cover and reinforcing cooler air to the region.

Severe Threat Now Over

The strongest storms have now moved into the Chesapeake Bay and the atmosphere is now stable. Scattered showers will be possible for the next few hours, but the threat for severe thunderstorms is now gone. Enjoy sleeping tonight!

Tornado Watch Issued

Weather Update - 6:20 PM

Storms are beginning to fire out west and will eventually overspread central VA in the next few hours. For all you weather enthusiast out there, here is a link to a great website to help track storms as you hang out here on the blog...enjoy!

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/mesoanalysis/new/viewsector.php?sector=17&parm=pmsl&underlay=1

Strong to Severe Storms Tonight

As Aaron mentioned yesterday, conditions are favorable for strong to potentially severe thunderstorms this evening and overnight in Central Virginia. A broad upper trough is approaching the East Coast today, with a strong surface cold front tracking east with showers and thunderstorms along and ahead of this front. Early Thursday morning, the cold front is tracking through central Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. Once this front reaches western Virginia this evening, rain will start out west by 6 p.m. and reach areas east of I-95 by 11 p.m. A squall line will likely develop with frequent lightning, strong wind gusts, heavy rainfall, and potentially some hail. The risk for tornadoes is extremely low, but an isolated spinup could occur.