Weather! A message from Ellen, drought information, and a marathon forecast

I’m not a regular viewer of Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show, but this video has been making the rounds this morning. Ellen’s a comedienne first and foremost, but there’s definitely some truth to what she’s saying here. Do you agree? What is the media doing right with weather coverage? Wrong? What would you like to see […]

November 12, 2010; 4:02 PM • by Weather Dan

I’m not a regular viewer of Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show, but this video has been making the rounds this morning.

Ellen’s a comedienne first and foremost, but there’s definitely some truth to what she’s saying here. Do you agree? What is the media doing right with weather coverage? Wrong? What would you like to see done differently?

This summer’s drought is still in the news as well. Governor Bob McDonnell announced on Wednesday that 59 counties and the City of Suffolk have been declared primary disaster areas by the United States Secretary of Agriculture. This declaration makes low-interest loans available for farmers and others in the localities that have suffered losses, and makes them eligible for any additional aid that Congress may approve. Locally, Hanover, Caroline, Goochland, Louisa, Amelia, and Powhatan Counties all received this designation.

The City of Richmond, and Henrico and Chesterfield Counties, in addition to another 18 cities and 22 counties in the Commonwealth were designated as contiguous disaster areas. Farmers in both the primary and contiguous disaster areas will be eligible for assistance from the US Department of Agriculture’s Farm Services Administration. Affected farmers should contact their local FSA office for more information.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about the weather from this week. Wasn’t it gorgeous?! The best part is that it’s going to stick around this weekend. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, all will be repeats of what we’ve seen all week long. We’ll only top out in the low 60s today, but highs both tomorrow and Sunday will top out in the upper 70s. Lows Friday and Saturday night will fall into the mid 30s, and will only make it into the low 40s Sunday night.

I’m told there’s also a marathon this weekend. The 8k is the first race to start on Saturday, at 7:00am. This is going to be one of the coldest hours of the day; runners taking off then (and spectators) will see temperatures near 36 degrees. As we progress farther past sunrise, temperatures will quickly climb, reaching 39 by the time the half marathon kicks off at 7:30 and 45 by the time the marathon starts at 8:00am. There will be plenty of sun during the day, and we’ll see the warmest temperatures of the day as the marathon ends at 3pm. Good luck to everyone running!

If football is more your speed, then there are two contests nearby this weekend:

SpiderCast (vs. Rhode Island, 2:00pm): If you’re sticking in town for the Spiders game, you probably already have an idea of what to expect – lots of sun and warming temperatures
for the morning tailgate, reaching about 66 by kickoff. We’ll see some pretty rapid cooling beginning near the end of the game, as it coincides with sunset. Plan on temperatures in the upper 50s by the fourth quarter.

CavCast (vs. Maryland, 3:30pm): You can expect similar weather if you’re headed out to Charlottesville. Temperatures will be slightly cooler, with highs in the low 60s at kickoff, dropping rapidly after sunset, into the low 50s by game’s end.

Unfortunately, it looks like our weather is going to come crashing to a halt early next week. A developing low will approach the area on Tuesday, bringing us our next best chance for rain. I’ll have another update on Monday.

November 12, 2010 4:02 PM 0