Summer-Like Warm-Up

A strong ridge of high pressure is building into the eastern U.S. starting today, and will influence our weather in Central Virginia through this weekend. Southwest flow will bring in milder air and plenty of sunshine beneath this high pressure, which will allow high temperatures to reach the 80's by Friday, and near 90 degrees by Sunday. Here is a view of the upper ridge by Saturday afternoon:

The record highs to beat are:

Saturday, May 1: 94 degrees (1942)

Sunday, May 2: 92 degrees (2007)

I think by Sunday, we may be very close to tying or breaking the record high! This stretch of summer-like heat will come to an end Monday, though, as the strong ridge weakens and slides southeast and a cold front begins tracking through the Commonwealth from the northwest. Ahead of this front on Sunday and Monday, showers and thunderstorms will be possible. Here is a view of the surface weather map by Monday evening:

The front will clear the state Monday night, bringing cooler temperatures with highs back in the 70's Tuesday into mid-week.

Full Fish Moon Tonight

Tonight's full moon has an interesting name: the fish moon. The Native American tribes of the coastal regions of the east coast gave it that name, because April is the month when shad swim upstream to spawn. What can I say, it's a quiet weather day.

Any Aches and Pains Yesterday?

You've probably heard more than one person "up in age" say they can tell when storms are coming by the pain they feel in their knee. Yesterday was one of those days when all of us could sense something was going on in central Virginia. The pressure dropped to 29.20" of mercury, which is the lowest it has been since January 7th of 2009 when the pressure fell to 29.19". My wife told me she could feel it in her ears, and my son who is normally very happy, was crying from an apparent ear ache. The time was about 7 PM, when a strong storm moved through the Richmond area. Most of the time our surface pressure ranges from 29.50" to 30.50", with strong areas of high and low pressure resulting in readings on either side of that range.