“Cut-off low” to bring rounds of scattered downpours this week

Anything that develops the next few days could be heavy

Tropical moisture to bring rounds of rain and storms this week

ROANOKE, Va. – This week got off to a muggy start with some rowdy storms across the area. Just check out these pictures of a textbook supercell that formed right along the crest of the Blue Ridge Parkway Monday evening!

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Storms Tuesday will be scattered as well, which means we’ll have time to warm up. Highs will mostly be in the 70s, with some lower 80s sprinkled about as well.

Zone by zone forecast for Tuesday, 10/5/2021

Not everyone will get wet the next few days, but where it rains - it pours. That’s all thanks to a “cut-off low”, which is an area of low pressure that’s cut off from the rest of the weather pattern. These stall/meander for days at a time and can produce high rain totals.

Explaining a cut-off low

Showers and storms through Thursday will mostly be scattered, but they can form at any time (most during the afternoon). By Friday and Saturday, when low pressure gets closer to us, we’ll see more numerous showers and storms.

Rain/storm coverage through Saturday, 10/9/2021

Most forecast data shows 1-2″ of rain spread out over a few days, but we could see higher totals in areas that get repeated downpours. Localized flooding is a possibility, but that threat appears to be higher farther south of us.

Weather impacts through Saturday, 10/9/2021

This should hopefully bode well for the foliage, which is slow to change across much of the area thus far. You have to head up to higher round to see more changes, but we’re still a while away from peak.

Foliage report as of Tuesday, 10/5/2021

If you get any good pictures, feel free to send them our way via Pin It.


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.