Summer heat builds after a few afternoon storms Tuesday

Tuesday will likely be the last day of below-average temperatures for the month of May

High pressure's role on our weather mid-to-late week

ROANOKE, Va. – The past two afternoons have felt more like March and April in parts of the area, thanks to abundant cloud cover. Clouds stick around Tuesday, but temperatures will feed off a southerly breeze and rise into the low to mid 70s.

As a front washes out nearby, storms will still fire up on a hit-or-miss basis after about 12 p.m. or 1 p.m. The best chance for these hit-or-miss storms will be up until about 7 p.m. in areas near and west of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

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FutureTracker - Tuesday afternoon

Anyone that sees rain should consider themselves fortunate, as this has been the driest spring in about 15 years for most of the area.

Spring of 2021 has been the driest since 2006 for many

Chances will be limited for the rest of the week, as high pressure continues to build over the Eastern U.S. The sinking motion associated with high pressure will lead to a big-league warm-up from Wednesday through at least the weekend.

Summer returns later this week and this weekend

Most of us will be in the low to mid 80s Wednesday and Thursday with highs of 85-91° Friday through Monday. If the pool is warm enough, we’re expecting great weather (outside of a few stray storms each afternoon this weekend) for a swim. This will likely be the hottest weather we’ve seen since early September 2020.

Pool forecast for Friday through Sunday afternoons

This pattern shows no signs of slowing down into the early part of next week, either. While high pressure may break a little bit, it won’t be enough to slow the heat or the dry weather.

The Climate Prediction Center 6-10 day outlook (see below) confirms that.

Climate Prediction Center 6-10 day outlook through May 27, 2021

For updates on the forecast, radar and alerts, make sure to download our app.


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.