Independence Day Forecast Update

The first half of the holiday weekend should be partly cloudy and pleasant, with temperatures near seasonable averages. Afternoon highs Friday and Saturday will be in the mid- to upper-80's, with morning temperatures in the mid-60's. Saturday evening, there will be a slight chance for a couple of isolated showers and storms popping up, but these should be of the hit-or-miss variety.

By early Sunday, though, our next storm system will be moving into the state, bringing more widespread chances for showers and thunderstorms. A few of those storms may be severe across the southern third of the state, with damaging winds and large hail possible. At this time, it looks like the rain and storms should exit the Commonwealth by late Sunday night.

Have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July!

Ashland/Doswell Wall Cloud

A supercell thunderstorm moved from extreme western Hanover county through southern Caroline county Wednesday night. A persistent circulation indicated by doppler radar prompted tornado warnings as the storm moved between Ashland and Doswell, very close to Kings Dominion. A CBS 6 viewer known only by "Kevin" snapped the above photo as the storm moved by. The photo was taken facing north, and the storm was moving from left to right (west to east). As you can see from the picture, the wall coud extended very low to the ground, and on Doppler Max 6, there was a well-organized mesocyclone evident. We are fortunate this one didn't produce a tornado.

Gullywashers Wednesday Night

Strong to severe thunderstorms moved through Central Virginia Wednesday night, pounding the Ashland area with penny size hail, downing some tree limbs in other parts of the state, and dumping nearly three-quarters of an inch of rain in half an hour on one of our Weather Watchers in Coatesville. There was a Tornado Warning issued on the storm near Ashland last night, but no touchdown was confirmed.

Here are some of the rain totals from the storms Wednesday:
Coatesville 0.7" in 30 minutes
Reedville 0.6"
Fredericksburg 0.41"
Richmond Intl Airport 0.37"
Newland 0.2"
Locust Grove 0.2"
Farmville 0.16"
Wakefield 0.07"