Blazing heat across eastern U.S.; low-to-mid 90s for our area

Blowing past record high temperatures the next two days

ROANOKE, Va. – October heat waves (three straight days of 90°+ heat) are very rare. It's only happened twice in Roanoke and Lynchburg, nine times in Southside and has never happened in Blacksburg. 

A strong area of high pressure anchored over the eastern U.S. is making this heat wave a record breaker across our area.

Recommended Videos



Make sure you're hydrating early and often, especially for your kids that may have after school practice in this heat.

We'll likely blow past Wednesday's record highs, as temperatures soar into the low to mid 90s area-wide. 

By Thursday, not much changes except for a little more of a breeze out of the west. Temperatures may actually rise an additional 1-2°.

Don't count on that lasting into the weekend, though. A cold front to our west will glide through, with only a stray shower Thursday night in the Highlands. Highs Friday afternoon will be 75-80° in areas west of the Parkway and 80-85° in areas east of the Parkway. 

Humidity levels drop off and the wind stays pretty breezy. Once the wind calms down, we'll cool down Friday night into Saturday morning.

This sets us up for a pretty seasonable weekend. Clouds will begin increasing Saturday night and into Sunday with a few showers west of the Parkway late Sunday. 

This comes with our second cold front of the week, and is set to move through late Monday into Tuesday. It gives us perhaps the best chance for widespread rain that we've had in about two months.

Exactly how much rain is still to-be-determined. We're watching it closely, and keeping our fingers crossed that it can put a sizable dent in the drought.


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.