RICHMOND, Va. -- Weak high pressure will remain in place over the region through today, keeping dry and increasingly warm weather in Virginia.
Today will be warmer with sunshine and a few afternoon clouds with a high in the upper 80s.
Showers and thunderstorms will move into the area very late tonight into early Saturday morning as an upper-level trough approaches Virginia. Locally heavy rainfall will be possible. The rain will shift east and northeast by late afternoon, with dry and hot weather expected Sunday.
The storm track and all associated impulses will shift northward next week as high pressure becomes established over much of the nation. This pattern will bring us a prolonged period of seasonal heat and humidity, with a low chance for isolated thunderstorms each day.
There are currently two disturbances of note in the Atlantic Basin. The lead disturbance is over the central Atlantic and has a low chance of development as it moves northwest towards the Lesser Antilles. The more impressive wave has emerged from the west coast of Africa, and has a good chance of developing into a tropical cyclone over the next 5 days. The next named storm would be called "Fred".
A new tiered approach to severe thunderstorm warnings began Monday. Severe thunderstorm warnings will now fall into 3 categories:
Base severe thunderstorm warnings are for winds 60+ and/or quarter-sized hail.
Considerable severe thunderstorm warnings are for winds 70+ and/or golf ball-sized hail.
Destructive severe thunderstorm warnings are for winds 80+ and/or baseball-sized hail. The issuance of a destructive severe thunderstorm warning will automatically trigger an EAS warning to your mobile phone.
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