Down 3.63″ for the year for precip.  Well we’ve had 3 months of below average rainfall (red boxes).  However, some weather watchers have reported that some fields are still wet, and there is still water sitting in some ditches.  Here’s the 411:   We had a pretty wet March as you can see.  We had 11 days of precipitation in January, 7 in February, 15 in March, and 6 so far in April.  (some of those were snow and not rain).  However in that time period we only had 5 days that registered more than a half inch.  This data is taken from the National Weather Service and the site is Norfolk International Airport.  So in the long run we could keep the rain coming.  However, in the short term we stacked up the water a little bit.  There have been a lot of days with some precipitation, but not too many where it was particularly heavy. 

The Future:  Over the next 3 days an area of low pressure will affect our area.  Tonight into tomorrow we’ll see overunning out ahead of the low.  This is when warm moist air flows up over a cooler airmass and wrings out the moisture.  I’ve discussed it in previous blogs in a little more detail.  (Wet Times Are Here)  The area of low pressure moves in tomorrow night and moves offshore on Wednesday.  A warm and cold front will move around the low and will aid in creating rain.  The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) has Hampton Roads in the 1-2 Inch category for rain amounts.  A little higher for the Northern neck and Eastern Snore.  Here’s a look at our computer model.  It is an estimate of rainfall totals up until Wednesday morning.  Please don’t take it as a set-in-stone forecast.  This will change depending on where the fronts set up. 

Also, our computer model has been overestimating precip a little lately.   If some of these numbers do verify, then we will see some localized flooding.  Especially on some area rivers and streams.  The heaviest rain is expected tomorrow morning.  It will probably be a wet commute.  Watch out for ponding on roadways.  Overall I’m calling for a good 1-2 inches of rain for the event.  This is nearly a 3 day period that we’re talking about though.  We’ll have to refine the forecast as we go along.  Just note that we will be wet for a couple of days.

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler