NORFOLK, Va. — Nailing the Friday forecast highs across Hampton Roads will be no walk in the park.
This is one of those days I was warned about back in 1997 when I first moved to Hampton Roads. Then Chief Meteorologist Jeff Lawson said, “Craig, there will be days when the models say one thing and the actual air temperature is much different.” It normally occurs in the spring and early summer when we get a “backdoor cold front” coming in off the ocean.
That’s what we’re going to get on Friday. The front should hit the Southside around 8 a.m. As we reach midday, it will slide further west, and by 4 p.m. it will be clearing the southwest part of the region.
If the models are correct, 4 p.m. temperatures should be in the mid-50s for parts of the Eastern Shore and in the upper 80s to the southwest around Emporia and Ahoskie.
Temperatures in Virginia Beach could be around 64 degrees while Chesapeake and Norfolk will be closer to 70 degrees.
The exact timing of the front will have a massive impact on how warm different parts of the area get. Another wildcard is the amount of cloud cover we see. At this point, it looks like clouds will increase through the afternoon, and that could lower some of the inland temperatures a little bit.
The bottom line: Friday should be very interesting. Afternoon temperatures will be much cooler near the coast than farther inland.
As of Thursday afternoon, it looks like our high in Norfolk Friday should be close to 78 degrees and occur around noon, with temperatures falling throughout the afternoon.
You can count on our team here at 13News Now to keep you updated on the subtle changes, and we will eventually pinpoint that afternoon high.