Strong to severe storms return for Memorial Day Weekend

It has been quite a stormy pattern throughout the Commonwealth for the past several days and yet more appears on the way as a potent system has our name on it as we head toward the midpoint of the holiday weekend.

Friday and Saturday

We continue to watch multiple storms systems ride along the boundary that got stuck in the region when showers and storms moved through earlier in the week. This will provide a focusing mechanism for scattered showers and storms as we head through our Friday afternoon. Widespread severe weather does not appear likely, but we could see some scattered strong thunderstorms at times with some gusty winds and quite heavy rain. Highs otherwise hang out near 80º. We’ll continue to watch storms roam the region overnight as lows fall back into the lower 60s.

Saturday looks like, by far, the driest of the holiday weekend, but we still can’t rule out some scattered showers and thunderstorms as we head through the afternoon. They should be fewer and farther between as highs make a run into the middle to upper 80s. We’ll be keeping an eye on storms to our west overnight as lows fall back one into the middle 60s.

Sunday and Monday

Sunday looks increasingly like a day we will have to watch very closely around the region. Models continue to show a stronger low pressure system spinning up across the midwest region and making a beeline for the Ohio Valley. With the increased wind shear in the atmosphere along with the low passing nearby during the afternoon and evening hours, the stage is set for a potentially significant severe weather day across the region. Things will be determined by just how the storms to our south and west on Saturday set up. Some may try to linger into the morning hours. That will be crucial to how we destabilize throughout the region. If we’re able to break out into sunshine, then we’ve got a big problem.

We’ve got plenty of turning of the wind with height and plenty of fuel, so we’re going to have to watch out for supercell thunderstorms with could produce very large hail, damaging winds, strong tornadoes and even a very heavy rain threat. Continue to check back with us on social media for updates, but this appears to be quite the active setup as we head through Memorial Day weekend.

We’ll get those storms out of here as we head later in the overnight hours on Sunday and into Monday. More showers and thunderstorms will be possible as we head through the afternoon and evening hours, but strong storm threats look to be further to our south.

Looking Beyond

With this weekend’s severe weather concerns, we haven’t looked too far into the future. But the current trends indicate the potential for some scattered showers and storms at times through next week. Severe weather doesn’t appear to be a big concern. As a matter of fact, we may finally start to calm down for a bit as we head through the early parts of June. Temperatures look cooler as well, closer to average, which will be in the middle to upper 70s, hovering around 80º or so.