ROANOKE, Va. – Cinco de Mayo won’t be quite as warm as Wednesday, but it will still be a rather pleasant day. We start off comfortably with temperatures in the 50s. Highs reach the 70s with clouds increasing - especially later in the day.
These clouds come ahead of a storm system that brings rain and the possibility of severe storms between roughly 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday.
Our first round of rain moves in during the morning Friday. While there will be some heavy pockets, the threat for any damaging thunderstorms is low at that time.
A warm front nearby will induce enough wind shear and spin in the lower levels of the atmosphere Friday afternoon.
Storms early in the afternoon will target the New River Valley and move east from there.
Sunshine is a bad thing Friday. That warms the atmosphere, making it more conducive for storms.
As storms form along this front late afternoon and early evening, they’ll have the potential to produce damaging wind gusts. Hail and a tornado are also possibilities, especially in Southside.
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Friday night and Saturday’s severe weather threats will be lower. However, our storm system will still be close enough to fire off more showers and a few rumbles of thunder Saturday. That chance is slightly higher heading into the afternoon.
By Mother’s Day, this slow-moving storm will be offshore. We’ll be breezy and cooler with lower humidity. Highs will only reach the 60s.
After Mother’s Day, we’ll be sandwiched between our dearly-departed storm system to the east and high pressure to the west. Temperatures will be near the average (low to mid 70s) with rain chances remaining low through the first half of next week.