High heat, severe storms possible by Tuesday

Tuesday the most impactful weather day of the week

ROANOKE, Va. – Monday's weather is pretty mundane, with highs 85-90° and a spotty storm or two. Tuesday, however, appears to be a little different. We're tracking the potential for high heat, as well as the potential for severe thunderstorms. Let's break both of those down for you below. 

Cliff Notes: It's going to get quite hot during the day, and there's a higher chance than usual of severe weather later in the day. If storm timing gets pushed back a few hours, the severe threat may go down. Check back for updates on timing and possible impacts.

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High Heat

Assuming that there's no dense morning cloud cover from a dying complex of storms to our northwest, we'll see highs reach 88-94° Tuesday afternoon. Doesn't seem so bad, right? When you factor in the humidity, it's far less than ideal. 

This is what it may feel like after lunchtime Tuesday. Some area schools can't handle that kind of heat, so we'll let you know if any schedule changes are made. 

Severe Weather Potential

The second thing we'll be watching is the potential for severe weather, as a cold front inches closer to the region. The Storm Prediction Center has most of the area in the Slight (Level 2 of 5) risk for severe weather. Areas near and north of I-64 are under their Enhanced (Level 3 of 5) risk.

Timing

A cluster of showers and storms to our northwest will begin to weaken, as it approaches the area Tuesday morning.

This may, however, provide a boundary for a few new storms early in the afternoon Tuesday. If our morning cluster of storms moves farther north, however, then there would be no boundary for storms early Tuesday afternoon.

The main threat comes during the evening, as the aforementioned cold front gets closer to us. A line, or broken line, of showers and thunderstorms is likely to form and move quickly from west to east. 

Possible Impacts

The main concern with anything that develops Tuesday will be the potential for damaging wind gusts. A storm or two may produce quarter-sized hail and/or localized flooding. There are some indications that rotation will be possible in a storm or two as well. We'll monitor that, and all threats, closely.

Make sure you have the StormTeam 10 app available, and that you are checking back for updates on the timing and possible impacts from this storm system.


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.