Wednesday, July 2, 2014

7/2: Stormy Thursday; pleasant Independence Day weekend

Well it was an interesting day storm wise across the valley.  The first line of storms moved through early this afternoon prompting severe thunderstorm warnings.  Below is a picture taken in Harrisonburg by Allie Puckett... Notice a bit of a lowering center screen indicating what looks to be a wall cloud.

The second round occurred this evening with one cell even prompting a tornado warning to be issued across parts of southeastern Rockingham county.  Radar velocities (picture below) showed signs of broad rotation for a time although it never really tightened up. 

I was busy at the time so I didn't get to chase but I did snap a picture of a faint double rainbow as the storm passed. 


Conditions will be similar tomorrow as a cold front works towards the area.  This, along with a bit of tropical moisture out ahead of tropical storm Arthur, will lead to a band of rain with embedded thunderstorms that should set up right along the Appalachians.  Some of these will be heavy.  The cold front will pass Thursday night setting up a very, very nice 4th of July weekend.  High pressure will work in and lower temperatures back into the lower 80s with much more comfortable humid levels.  Higher elevation locations may even drop into the 40s Friday night. 

Shenandoah Valley Next 3 Days
Thursday: high 86. low 69. 70 % chance of showers/thunderstorms 
Friday: high 82. Low 63. Partly cloudy
Saturday: high 83. Low 55. Sunny

In other news, Tropical Storm Arthur continues to spin off the Florida coast.  As of 8pm, it has max sustained winds of 70 mph and is moving north at 8 mph.  It appears that it will indeed become a hurricane over the next 24-36 hours.


Here's the latest track from the National Hurricane Center:



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