It’s not the weekend just yet, but we are looking at some colder weather moving in during the next couple of days.  Today isn’t too bad.  At least for temperatures.

Yesterday we had some great weather in the afternoon. Skies were mostly sunny for a while, and we had highs in the low 60s.  Today we expect a lot more clouds and also a few sprinkles or light showers.  We had a couple this morning just north of the metro.  This isn’t a big weather system, but a small pocket of moisture and energy was slipping through.

Satellite/Radar

We are on the edge of an upper level low. The center of which sits over towards the Midwest. That’s where there is still quite a bit of snow falling today, and that is where the colder weather lies…for now.  The jetstream is actually running over us today.  The upper level river of faster moving winds helps to push weather systems from west to east across the U.S.  Today that is helping to create the spotty showers/sprinkles over our region, but it should also push them through rather quickly.  Now over the weekend the jetstream is really going to dip to the south.  Since it is typically the dividing line between warm and cold airmasses, this means that we are going to see some colder temperatures.  Especially for early March.  This cold air is expected to push all the way down to north Florida.

Weekend Weather Pattern

For a while it looked like the upper level trough (dip) was going to create an area of low pressure at the surface off of our coast.  Now it looks like it will stay farther offshore.  So I’ve taken out the chance for a sprinkle or a flurry on Sunday.  Don’t be surprised if it slips back-in though with that big upper level trough overhead.  As for temperatures.  Today highs will be in the low/mid 50s.  Friday will see highs near 50.  Then we’ll be in the low/mid 40s for Saturday and Sunday.  Lows will be in the upper 20s to low 30s.  Dogh!  We won’t warm up into early next week.  Hopefully, we can warm up a bit more as we go into later next week.

Someone asked about the pollen.  It is going up steadily.  I don’t see how the tree pollen is going up as maple trees are only now budding, but the forecast is for it to be high.  I didn’t think the trees dropped the pollen until the seedlings fell from the trees.  Mold is probably high though with all of the rain recently.  I’ll be using the pollen forecast starting up in the next couple of weeks. I’m not looking forward to this upcoming allergy season.

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

I’ve been sitting at my computer for the last 20 minutes staring at this screen and trying to come up with a witty opening line.  I got nothing.  Nope.  So I’ll just get right on it.  First thing,  if you haven’t pre-ordered Over The Ocean’s Be Given To The Soil record then you need to do it now.  Only 100 double vinyls will be pressed and even if you don’t own a record player, these are pieces of art (plus you’ll get a digital download code for your iPod pleasure).  They are going fast so click here to get your very own.  It will be released April 2 and you can catch them Friday, April 5 on The Hampton Roads Show.

There is another battle brewing at NorVa Tuesday March 12 for the honor to open for Slightly Stoopid on March 24 and you still have a shot at throwing your name into the ring.  Midnight tonight is the deadline to have your band considered for the battle.  If you want to be among the 6 bands that will battle it out, send an email to Chris Bates at chris@thenorva.com and be sure to include “Slightly Stoopid” in the subject and relevant links to your music and social networks.  The bands will be announced tomorrow and if you’re one of the 6 then will get to start selling your tickets to your faithful and loyal fans Friday.  Each band will get 100 tickets to pre-sell and the more you sell, the better the chances you have to win since the winner will be determined by the audience.  This is a great opportunity to perform at The NorVa and to showcase your music to the public.

Big things are coming up next week including the much anticipated release of The Last Bison’s Inheritance (Tuesday), the release of City Voice’s Transparency EP (Tuesday) and the release of Logan Vath’s Better Man or Ghost (Friday).  Also happening next week is the the little tidbit I had been teasing last week.  Next Wednesday,  Ambassadors, the Brooklyn-based band that has an epic following here thanks to 96X and their awesome songs Litost, Falls and Unconsolable, will be playing at the Jewish Mother Hilltop and the next day as they head up to DC they will be making a pit stop to the WAVY Studios for an 3 song acoustic performance that you will see here on the Live Music Friday blog and on wavy.com.  So make sure you check this spot around 12p on Thursday March 7 to see an exclusive performance from Ambassadors.  They’ve been working on some new tunes for their next record, so I’m going to see if I can get them to perform one just for you.

That’s it for me today.  I’ll catch up with tomorrow with a preview of this week’s Live Music Friday featured artist: The UnXpected.   SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MUSIC

The wet weather is gone, but the rain stacked up in a few locations yesterday.  We had many weather reports of around an inch.  Here is the list of reports that I have:

Norfolk International Airport: 1.16″

Newport News Airport: 0.89″

Doris (Eastern Shore): 1.04″

Donna (S. VA Beach): Over 1″

Pam/Barry (Gloucester courthouse): 1.75″/1.8″

Brian (Smithfield) 1.07″

Greg (Currituck) 1.4″

Scott (Yorktown) 0.8″

Now along with the daily tallies I have some climate information to add to it… My weather watcher Scott (above) gave me some more details on the rain.  So far he has had 4.34″ for the month.  He has had 9.11″ for the year.  This is above his local average of 7.01″.  Norfolk airport now has 4.8″ for the month, and 7.56″ for the year.  This is 1.27″ above the average for the year.  Elizabeth City picked up an inch yesterday.  So now they have 5.05″ for the year which puts them 1.17″ below their average.  Again, I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that that number doesn’t represent that area very well as many residents have had standing water in the fields and ditches for weeks.  Luckily the whole region will see drier weather for the next few days.  It will give the ground a chance to absorb some of the recent rainfall.

The short term is quiet.  Today we’ll be warm and dry.

Today’s Forecast

Highs will be in the low 60s with a mix of sun and clouds. Winds will be southwest at 10-15mph with a few gusts to 20mph.  Tomorrow we will start cooling down with highs in the low/mid 50s.  Then over the weekend we will have some pretty cold air for early March.  Highs will be in the low 40s.  Lows will be in the 20s and 30s.  This colder weather will stick around into early next week.

On a larger scale… There has been some talk over the last few months about the long-range computer models.  Especially when it comes to the GFS (American NOAA model) versus the European model.  There was a recent science blog that I caught from Eric Berger that really put things into perspective in terms of how much money goes into each of these.  Model Blog    It is very interesting.  It’s also worth noting that there have been a couple of recent events where the European model was not correct, and the GFS had a more correct solution. 

Enjoy today’s weather and the article!

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

Well the President is coming to town this afternoon, and unfortunately we are expecting a high chance for rain along with strong gusty winds at that time.  Also, heavy snow is falling once again in the Midwest along a fairly strong area of low pressure.  This has already caused many problems and a couple of deaths. Here’s more on that story from the Associated Press: Midwest Storm.

Locally, a warm front stretching out of a weaker area of low pressure near Tennessee will push through Hampton Roads.  This will help to boost our high temperatures into the upper 50s.  We will probably have a few 60s over North Carolina.

Warm Front Affects Us Today

The rain has been steadily pushing towards our region this morning.  It is expected to really move in later this morning into the midday hours:

Rain Arrives Around Midday

The winds are not that strong this morning.  However, winds will really pick up by this afternoon.  Winds will gust out of the southeast at 30mph.  Especially near the shore.  Scattered showers will continue this evening.  Then the rain will taper off around midnight.  The forecast rain totals are not that impressive this time.  In the last event we had an average 1-2 inches of rain.  This time we are forecasting a half inch up to an inch.

Forecast Rain Totals

This should mostly be rain showers, but a few isolated thunderstorms are possible.  Mostly over North Carolina where it will be warmer.

By tomorrow we will be drying out behind the front.  I wrote in yesterday’s blog about how we will not cool down behind the front with the way the winds are coming in behind it.  So tomorrow we will be warm/mild with highs in the low 60s and partly cloudy skies.

Tomorrow’s Forecast

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s weather.  By Thursday the cooler weather will finally filter down into the region.  So highs will be back in the 50s.  Over the weekend even colder air will pour into Hampton Roads.  Some of the latest models have an area of low pressure forming offshore and east of this cold air on Sunday.  So I put in a chance for a snow flurry or a few sprinkles for that day.  Stay tuned to see if the low forms closer or stronger.

In terms of climate, the drought across our region is well over.  We have a had a lot of rain recently.  Here is the latest US Drought Monitor:

US Drought Monitor

We have had between 6 and 8 inches of rain between Norfolk, Richmond, and Wallops Island since the beginning of the year.

Rain Totals So Far (2013)

These numbers are from the National Weather Service in Wakefield.  It’s hard to believe the number for Elizabeth City though.  Greg, my weather watcher in Currituck, N.C. says that there is still standing water in the fields and ditches down that way.  So maybe Elizabeth City doesn’t represent northeast North Carolina very well.  Here are the numbers compared to the average:

Departure From Average

One thing is for sure…Well, 2 things.  The bugs and the flowers will love this mild/wet weather if it keeps up into March.  I can’t wait to see what allergy season is like.

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

Another Monday has arrived and with that, the cases of the Mondays start to rise as each hour ponders.  Don’t fret, it’s only 4 more days until Friday.  The weekend was bit of a washout for most of it and a perfect opportunity to cozy up on the couch and listen to some great music.  That’s exactly what I did yesterday as I listened to two great albums that you will soon be able to obtain.  First, I took my daughter Penny into my home office and listened to Logan Vath‘s Better Man Or Ghost.  An excellent body of work engineered and co-produced by Mark Padgett of Mae fame.  8 great songs that must be in your possession.  The album will be available on his Bandcamp page Friday, March 8 (click here to preorder) where he will kick off his release day here as our Live Music Friday guest.  His record release party will be Saturday, March 9 at the Jewish Mother Backstage and everyone is invited.  I’ll be there and so should you.

Last night I had the privilege of attending the listening party for The Last Bison‘s Inheritance.  Put together by 96X and The Virginia Arts Festival,  it was a fantastic and intimate gathering of fans, industry folk and friends.  James Steele was MC for the night and welcomed the band onstage, where they sat and shared stories as each track of the new record played.  You definitely will be in for a treat when you listen to this album.  The songs that carried over from Quill have a new life to them and the new songs are incredible.

I will be posting my reviews of them next week to get your ears prepared for an incredible journey.

That’s all for today.  I’ll catch up with you fine folks later this week.  Cheers and SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MUSIC

The song “Here I go again“… from Whitesnake pops into mind when I start this blog today.  Although the song has a different theme overall, we are looking at an almost exact repeat of this last weekend’s weather.  Cold & dry then warm & wet then dry & mild.  So today we are starting with fair skies in the region as high pressure dominates.

Satellite/Radar

A cold front moved through yesterday and picked up the winds in the evening out of the north.  Today those northerly winds will still be going though not quite as strong (10-15mph with gusts to 20 near the shore).

Through the day we’ll continue with fair skies and highs will be in the mid-upper 40s.

Today’s Forecast

Tonight clouds will thicken up.  We’ll see lows in the mid 30s.  Then tomorrow a warm front will lift up from the south.  So once again we will warm up, but rain and moisture will move up as well.  So we will see a chance for rain by the midday hours if not a little sooner.

Rain Around Midday Tomorrow

The warm front will lift through our region during the day tomorrow.  The main area of low pressure will stay in the Midwest causing another round of heavy snow and wintry mess up that way.  Locally the winds will be very strong out of the south with gusts up to 35mph.  That will be the transport for the warmth and moisture.  The warm front is just the boundary between the different air masses.

Tomorrow’s Forecast

Now it looks like a cold front will move through the region.  However, this is one of those magical cold fronts that allow for warming to happen behind it. Huh?  When you see areas of low pressure that move from southwest to northeast as in the above maps, then the cold air doesn’t get much of a southerly push.  So we get the drying, but not the cooling.  Also the winds in that case become more out of the west or southwest.  These are typically warming winds for Hampton Roads.  So basically Wednesday will be nice behind the wanna-be cold front.  We’ll be partly sunny with highs near 60.

Colder weather will snake its way down to Hampton Roads.  High temperatures will cool to the 40s by Friday, and are forecast to stay in the 40s through next weekend.

Tomorrow I’ll talk a little more about how much rain the region has had and compare it to the average.

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

Air Quality is vital to our everyday and long term health. Over the years, scientists have been able to develop satellites that observe the composition of the air in the upper levels of the atmosphere. The problem is, we don’t live there. We live here on the ground, so in 2011 NASA started DISCOVER-AQ (Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality.)  This program’s headquarters is right here in our backyard at NASA Langley Center in Hampton, VA.  For the missions NASA used a P-3B to measure the air quality.

P-3B, Credit: NASA

2011 Flight Path, Credit: NASA

The P3-B flies in a circular pattern to measure the air quality. It flies at various levels from 10,000 ft to as low as 1,000 ft off of the ground. The path took it from the NW corner of D.C. to Baltimore.  This year the mission continued its 2nd tour in California.

A View from the P-3B, Credit: NASA

Fresno, CA Haze, Credit: NASA

There are several instruments on board the aircraft, but ground instruments are also used such as PANDORA. That instrument can measure different levels of substances in the lower levels of the atmosphere.

Scientists on the mission discovered that some of the pollution would be trapped in the lowest levels that they measured. The pollution (or areosols) can’t really be measured by satellites because they have trouble distinguishing what they are looking at. DISCOVER-AQ’s data from this recent mission is going to be available soon. So we can better learn what is only a few hundred feet above us in the air.

This was the second stop of the 5-year, $30 million mission to measure air quality. The research will be used to develop better satellites to measure the air we breathe.

To see even more about the mission visit their website: http://discover-aq.larc.nasa.gov/

Meteorologist Jeff Edmondson

It has been a rainy, dreary and chilly Saturday across Hampton Roads. Most of the heavier rain fell during the morning hours before tapering off late in the afternoon. Rainfall totals varied from 0.25″ to over 1″ in some locations. Check out these rainfall totals across the metro area:

Saturday Rainfall Totals

Here is a wider view:

Saturday Rainfall Totals

The higher totals were across the Southside and into N.E. North Carolina as expected. February has been a very wet month across Hampton Roads. Norfolk Int’l Airport picked up 3.61″ of rain so far this month. This number is above the average of 3.12″ for the entire month of February and we still have 5 more days to go.  The rain has mainly ended across the region. Since winds are light and the ground is wet, patchy fog could be a problem tonight as well. Earlier this evening around 6:30PM, we could barely see out of our Tower Cam 10 overlooking the Elizabeth River.

Foggy Tower Cam 10

Watch out for reduced visibilities tonight, especially along the Eastern Shore. We are watching an upper level area of low pressure that will move right over Virginia and the Carolinas tonight. This disturbance could spark off a few more showers after midnight and before sunrise on Sunday. A stray AM shower will be possible across the Southside, with the best chances across N.E. North Carolina. Here is our Future Trak model @ 3AM.

Future Trak @ 3AM Sunday

Any rain will come to an end before sunrise Sunday morning. The clouds will clear out by the afternoon and we will see lots of sunshine with highs in the mid to upper 50s, a few degrees above the average high of 52 degrees this time of year. Enjoy the sunshine Sunday and Monday because another storm system will bring rain and wind back to the region on Tuesday. Have a great Sunday everyone!

-Meteorologist Tiffany Savona

Your umbrella is going to get a full workout today. We are locked in with rainfall all morning. Some areas will see totals near 1.5″ by the time this storm system is gone.

Rain Totals at 9:00am

The amounts are increasing quickly as we have a few lines of heavy rain moving across Hampton Roads this morning. I also got a report from Currituck and Blackwater with rainfall totals already 1.oo inch at 9am.

East Winds, & Mild Temperatures at Noon

Temperatures across the Outer Banks will be in the low-60s today as the warm front lifts to the north. Areas around the front will see the highest rain totals this afternoon.

Future Trak @ 3pm

The low starts to move offshore around 3pm today and what we will have left is scattered showers across the region. We still could see some light rain at 4pm today. Tonight the skies should begin to clear out and we should see some more sunshine for our Sunday. There is a small chance for a sprinkle tomorrow morning around sunrise. So to be safe, I would expect to see the sun in full force after 10am tomorrow. Temperatures this weekend will likely stay in the mid-50s for highs. Tomorrow the wind should be out of the northwest at 5-15mph.

Enjoy the rain & stay dry!

Meteorologist Jeff Edmondson

Some Virginia Beach teens are reaching out to help the less fortunate.   When I visited Ocean Lakes High School on February 5, 2013, I told them about my mission trip to Haiti and some of the community service programs I participate in and I encouraged them to also give back. Well, they told me about the “Teens For Jeans” program that they were working on.

They just sent me these pictures of boxes full of new and gently worn jeans collected at the school.  They received 380 pairs!

The project is part of a larger drive sponsored by Aeropostale.  OLHS dropped off the jeans at the Aeropostale at  Lynnhaven Mall  and they will make sure they get to Union Mission Ministries in Norfolk. Other local schools also collected jeans, and the organization has received 2.5 million pairs to date from across the country,  so this should really benefit a lot of folks who need it!  Maybe you have some jeans to donate? Check out the Teens For Jeans  website for more information.