ROANOKE, Va. – For the last couple days, we’ve been well under the influence of a cool air wedge. That’s left us cloudy, gloomy and damp at times. We expect the clouds to linger throughout the day Wednesday, as the wedge holds on tightly.
Highs will climb a few degrees higher than they did Tuesday afternoon, but we’ll still stay 10 to 15° below average for late May.
Once the wedge breaks up Thursday, highs will reach the 70s.
Showers and storms, however, will form in this newly-warmed atmosphere. Most of these form west of US-220 during the evening and night.
A line of heavy rain and storms is likely overnight into Friday morning. Our recently-waterlogged ground may lead to a localized flood threat by then.
Our main storm system still lingers west Friday. Any breaks in the sun can warm us up, destabilizing the atmosphere enough for strong to severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening.
Isolated storms form again Saturday with highs in the upper 70s and lower 80s. As high pressure takes control of our weather, we turn drier and hotter Sunday and Memorial Day.
That sets the tone for much of next week, which is reflected in the Climate Prediction Center’s most recent 6-to-10 day outlooks.
For updates on our next chance for storms and the holiday weekend forecast, make sure to download our weather app.