Severe Storms This Evening

If you pay much attention to your surroundings at all, you’ll know someone somewhere is getting slapped with severe weather currently. Unfortunately (or, fortunately, from a severe weather guy like myself), I got caught in it in the developing stages; otherwise, I would have had an update on here much sooner. The storm I experienced was actually two storms in the beginning, one forming in Mitchell County, the other in Yancey. They then moved into Unicoi County and, literally, extended and merged to form one large, linear cell in the center of the county. They went on to move into Washington and Carter counties, and have since merged with other storms to form the large mass moving into Southwest Virginia as I type this. It was one of the most lightning- and hail-intensive storms I’ve experienced. I can’t count the number of strokes I witnessed that landed within two miles of my house. After shutting down the computer and one TV for fear of a power surge (I eventually counted over ten), I turned off the lights in my house. I figured I was going to be without them soon anyway, and the sheer volume of the lightning provided quite a show. I never actually lost power, thankfully. I did see quite a hailstorm going on outside, however. I noticed hail up to the size of nickels. This went on for about ten minutes, with the storm itself lasting around fifteen. .57″ of rain in 15 minutes isn’t bad at all (that’s a rate of a little over two inches per hour), and we definitely needed it. I just now rebooted my computer, after enjoying dinner.

Right, enough with my gibberish story. The storm has lost some of its ummph, but is still producing enough to warrant a warning for Russell, Scott, Wise counties in Virginia. The storm is still capable of producing golf ball-size hail, as well as quite a bit of lightning and heavy rain. Thankfully, the only real center of population the warned segment of the storm is affecting is Coeburn. Heavy rain extends from the aforementioned counties into Washington County, VA, as well. As I type this, the NWS in Morristown has allowed the warning to expire. However, hail, some gusty wind, heavy rain, and lightning will continue in the mentioned areas.

Temperatures & Heat Indeces as of 5 PM EDT

Temperature in white; heat index in yellow.

Heat Continues Through the Weekend

The record heat we’ve experienced much of the week is continuing this afternoon. Let’s have a look at the latest temperatures across the region, as of the 4 PM observation time:

Tri-Cities: 93F
Abingdon: 91F
Wise: 90F
Marion, VA: 91F
Boone: 88F
Jefferson: 88F
Hickory: 96F
Asheville: 74F

A thunderstorm affected the Asheville ASOS, which is the reason for the 74-degree reading.

Expect hot and humid conditions to continue through the weekend and early next week. Isolated showers and strong to severe thunderstorms are also likely in the afternoons and evenings.

Sunday Evening Roundup

(I decided to change the page banner. I figured it could use a change. I’m not sure what in the world that little thing is to the right of the text, but it comes with the image.)

Leading off: A flash flood warning remains in effect until 8 PM for Smyth County in Southwest Virginia. This stems from a heavy thunderstorm that dropped up to 3″ of rain early this afternoon…..A small thunderstorm is moving into western Lee County in Southwest Virginia. Watch out for brief heavy rain with this one…..A squall line is forming across northeast Kentucky and southern West Virginia. If it holds up, it could affect Southwest Virginia by 7:30 PM…..Thunderstorms are forming west of Knoxville. There have been a few warnings out for these, as well as a flash flood warning or two. These may or may not hold up long enough to move into our area this evening.

On deck: Partly to mostly cloudy and hazy skies look to be the main thing through the evening. As mentioned, a few storms may make their way into the area, including that squall line forming across Kentucky. A storm or two may reach severe limits, though this isn’t looking too likely across Northeast Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Temperatures will slowly drop into the upper 60s to lower 70s by midnight, excepting areas that receive rainfall (these will likely be cooler).

Looking ahead: Afternoon thunderstorms look to be a possibility through the week. A few may be severe. Temperatures look to range from the lower to upper 80s, with upper 70s to lower 80s likely in the higher elevations.

Snow Advisories Issued for Higher Elevations

MRX (TN Higher Elevations):

… Snow Advisory now in effect from 6 PM this evening to 4 PM EDT
Monday…

The Snow Advisory is now in effect from 6 PM this evening to 4 PM
EDT Monday.

Rain showers will mix with and gradually change to mostly snow
showers by this evening. The snow showers will continue
Monday… with 3 to 5 inches of snow accumulation possible.
Most accumulating snow will be above 3000 feet.

-

MRX (Southwest VA Higher Elevations):

… Snow Advisory remains in effect from 6 PM this evening to 8 am
EDT Monday…

A Snow Advisory remains in effect from 6 PM this evening to 8 am
EDT Monday.

Rain showers will develop today… then mix with and gradually
change to mostly snow showers by this evening. The snow showers
will continue overnight… with an inch or two of snow
accumulation by daybreak Monday. The main areas of light snow
accumulations will be the higher terrain of southwestern
Virginia.

-

GSP (NC Higher Elevations):

… Snow Advisory remains in effect until 6 am EDT Monday…

A Snow Advisory remains in effect until 6 am EDT Monday.

Scattered showers will develop early this afternoon across the
central and southern mountains of North Carolina. The coverage of
the showers will increase this afternoon… and will change to snow
showers across the smokies… balsams… and other ridge tops at or
above approximately 3500 feet. The light snow showers will become
more numerous tonight… with snow accumulations ranging from 1 to
2 inches at the higher elevations. Locations in the lower
mountains valleys… especially closer to the Tennessee border
could see a dusting of snow to less than one half inch by daybreak
Monday.