Powerful storm system to produce multi-day severe threat from Plains to our area

March goes out like a lion with rain and storms Thursday

Regional severe weather outbreak expected across the Deep South and TN River Valley Wednesday

ROANOKE, Va. – It’s about time the wind left us alone a little bit, but it is quite the cold start to the day. After starting in the 20s, Tuesday will prove to be much calmer with increasing clouds north of a warm front. High temperatures will still be a solid 10° below average for late March.

High temperature forecast for Tuesday, 3/29/2022

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Come Wednesday, the warm front will slowly lift to the north. That means high temperatures will slowly creep into the 50s and 60s from south to north. The wind will begin to pick up, especially in the western mountains, the later in the day and night that we go.

Wind speed and wind gust forecast for Wednesday, 3/30/2022

That’s all ahead of our next storm system. This will start to produce a severe weather threat late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning in parts of the Plains.

Rain and severe storms begin in parts of the Plains late Tuesday into early Wednesday

As the storm picks up Gulf moisture, it will become stronger and produce a regional outbreak of severe weather in parts of the Deep South Wednesday.

Regional severe weather outbreak expected across the Deep South and TN River Valley Wednesday

That line of storms will generally weaken before putting rain and gusty wind in our area Thursday morning.

Rain moves into the area Thursday morning

There’s plenty of wind above the surface to sustain a few stronger storms (especially east of the Parkway) from midday onward Thursday. Our severe weather threat comes down to how much instability/storm fuel there is left in the atmosphere.

A few strong to severe storms will be possible midday onward Thursday

If a few severe storms do develop, the main threat would be localized wind damage, an isolated tornado and perhaps localized flooding too.

Storm threats for Thursday, 3/31/2022

Make sure to have our app downloaded in case of any severe weather, not just Thursday, but through the rest of the spring and summer.


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.