Weather! Chance of severe weather this weekend

A strong area of low pressure that spawned numerous tornadoes across southeast Colorado, southwest Kansas and the Texas panhandle yesterday is tracking east, bringing a moderate threat of severe weather across the Gulf Coast for the next two days. There were 32 tornado reports yesterday, though some of these may be duplicate reports for the […]

April 23, 2010; 12:58 PM • by Weather Dan

A strong area of low pressure that spawned numerous tornadoes across southeast Colorado, southwest Kansas and the Texas panhandle yesterday is tracking east, bringing a moderate threat of severe weather across the Gulf Coast for the next two days. There were 32 tornado reports yesterday, though some of these may be duplicate reports for the same tornado from different people.

Speaking of severe weather, if you’re still interested in becoming a SKYWARN spotter, an Advanced Class is being held on Tuesday April 27 at the Henrico Government Center on 7701 E Parham Rd. According to the Twitter feed for the SKYWARN Amateur Radio team at Wakefield, if you’re interested in becoming a spotter, review the documentation for the Basic Class and then email to register for the Advanced Class on Tuesday. Both the documentation for the Basic class and email contacts for Tuesday’s Advanced class are located on the National Weather Service Wakefield website.

For Richmond, we’re likely going to miss most of the severe weather, at least until Sunday. For Friday, we’re seeing clouds this morning associated with a weak cold front that probably won’t do much to the temperatures or drop any rain, but it will signal the beginning of an overcast weekend. Highs today will reach back into the mid 70s, though I doubt most of this cloud cover is going to break. Temperatures tonight will fall into the low 50s

The cloudiness will continue for Saturday, with cooler air moving in temporarily. There won’t be much fluctuation in temperatures during the day, only increasing from the mid 50s into the low 60s. Toss in a side of scattered showers all day, and it’s going to make for a fun beginning to the weekend all the way around. Saturday night lows don’t fall off much, only dropping back into the upper 50s as clouds and rain remain. A warm front passes through the area overnight, driving some pretty heavy rain overnight.

This warm front is going to make for an unstable atmosphere on Sunday, meaning that some of the rain will be replaced by thunderstorms. The Storm Prediction Center is currently forecasting a slight risk of severe weather for Sunday.

There are still some uncertainties with the forecast, and I’ll try to provide updates in the comments as the SPC issues new forecasts. Scattered thunderstorms won’t be out of the realm of possibility, and there will be rain showers off and on through the day and into the evening. High temperatures Sunday will approach 80 on Sunday, and lows Sunday night will fall back into the mid 50s, as rain continues.

Keeping up with the theme, intermittent rain and moderate temperatures will continue into early next week. Monday’s looking like a bit of a wash, but I’ll have a new forecast ready to begin the week.

April 23, 2010 12:58 PM 0