MEMORIAL DAY WILL BE LIKE A TYPICAL SUMMER DAY HERE IN HAMPTON ROADS... A FRONTAL SYSTEM BRINGS WITH IT MORE CLOUDS AND THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUN

Memorial Day should be just about perfect for most outdoor activites. Although there may be an isolated shower or thunderstorm late in the day, they should be few and far between. On Sunday, an disipating frontal boundary combined with a sea breeze was just enough to trigger convection in some parts of Hampton Roads, including my neighborhood. Showers and thunderstorms erupted late in the day bringing about 0.40 inches of rain in my backyard. I was quite pleased with this rain since Va Beach missed out on much of the rain this past week. Forecasters didn't predict the rain yesterday but you have to always remember that if you have ample moisture in place, it doesn't take much to trigger a shower or thunderstorm during the late afternoon as long as a trigger is in place. Disturbances in the upper atmosphere moving through or old frontal boundaries can act as these triggers. On the other hand, think about how many hot and humid summer afternoons that we see very little if any thunderstorm activity. When the atmosphere is "capped", that is very warm aloft, the chance of storms is very low. Well, getting back to the forecast... a frontal system should spark some showers/thunderstorms on Tuesday. High pressure builds back in during the mid-week period.