A little bit of tropical moisture leads to sporadic downpours through Friday

Not everyone sees rain. Where it does rain, however, it pours.

Tracking moisture levels Thursday

ROANOKE, Va. – High pressure to the north, in tandem with two areas of low pressure south of us, will bring the air in out of the east and northeast Thursday. This is a weak form of what we call ‘the wedge.’

Because of this, we’ll see more clouds, high temperatures in the 70s and 80s and sporadic downpours Thursday.

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What the wedge means for Thursday, 9/16/2021

Highs in the New River Valley will be in the mid to upper 70s in the NRV, upper 70s and lower 80s in the Roanoke Valley and Highlands and low to mid 80s in Lynchburg and Southside (about 5-10° lower than the past few days).

High temperature forecast for Thursday, 9/16/2021

The wedge weakens a little bit Friday, but only enough for temperatures to rise an additional degree or two compared to Thursday. The subtle warming trend continues throughout the weekend. Morning temperatures start in the low to mid 60s before rising toward the low to mid 80s each afternoon.

Sunflower Festival forecast for 9/17-9/19/2021

That trend is forecast to continues into the early part of next week, as the jet stream stays well north of us. That big dip that you see over the Plains, however, is a cold front. That may move toward our area by mid-week, bringing with it the chance for showers and storms around the first day of autumn.

Upper air pattern on Monday, 9/20/2021

Autumn kicks off Wednesday, September 22 after 3 p.m. This is the time when the sun’s rays shine directly over the Equator, otherwise known as the Autumnal (Fall) Equinox.

Autumnal equinox - 2021

About the Author:

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.