Strong cold front to bring heavy rain, cooler air into first days of fall

The wedge sets up shop through Tuesday before a strong cold front moves through

Tracking a fall cold front Wednesday and Thursday

ROANOKE, Va. – The last weekend of summer certainly felt like it. Clouds continue to roll in, thanks to an onshore wind out of the east. This will hold temperatures down a bit compared to the weekend.

Highs Monday reach the low to mid 70s in the higher elevations and upper 70s/low to mid 80s from the Roanoke Valley east toward Lynchburg and Southside.

Recommended Videos



High temperature forecast for Monday, 9/20/2021

Come Tuesday, the wedge will be in place. That keeps high temperatures in the 60s and 70s. As warm, moist air moves in above us, we’ll see periods of rain developing. Some of this could turn heavy along the ridges, where the air rises more.

FutureTracker - Tuesday afternoon

By Wednesday, our strong, fall front will move slowly from west to east. We may see a batch of rain in the morning, with a line of heavier rain and storms moving through later in the day. Some of the storms could be quite strong.

FutureTracker - Wednesday afternoon

We’ll see rain totals of about 1-3″ (isolated higher) throughout the week, so localized flooding may be a possibility too.

Weather impacts through Thursday

The big thing we’ll notice is the rush of fall air that comes in on the back side of this front. Temperatures Friday and Saturday mornings will likely start in the 40s. For some of us, this hasn’t happened in more than three months.

Morning lows through Friday, September 24, 2021

The last impact this front will have will be on the tropics. Storms like Peter and Rose won’t have the chance to get to the U.S., because this front will help guide Peter out to sea.

Tropical headlines as of 3 a.m., September 20, 2021

About the Author

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.

Recommended Videos