SUNSHINE RETURNS TO HAMPTON ROADS... THE WEEKEND LOOKS GOOD WITH NO MAJOR HEAT WAVES IN SIGHT... RAIN CHANCES RETURN SUNDAY NIGHT

A very slow moving cold front brought showers and thunderstorms to Hampton Roads on Wednesday and Thursday. My Virginia Beach neighborhood picked up 1.20 inches of rain on Wednesday and on Thursday, I picked up 0.40 inches. The lightning was quite intense in some areas on Wednesday and I've seen a report that one home was struck by lightning, which resulted in a structural fire. The front is currently moving southward through South Carolina and it should begin to stall out. Temperatures shouldn't be too bad on Friday, but due to more sunshine, it should be warmer than Thursday. The forecast high for ORF on Friday is 89 degrees. Humidity levels should come down just a bit. The weekend looks okay but there may be shower later on Sunday as humidity levels rise again. Showers and storms seem possible early next week. The tropics are quiet for now, but forecasters believe that this is going to change very soon. The Cape Verde season is expected to begin in earnest, which could bring a long tracked tropical cyclone across the North Atlantic Ocean. Currently, an area of disturbed weather is gathering south of the Cape Verde Islands. This system may be Tropical Storm Danielle in a few days. We'll see if that pans out. The tropics have been quiet thus far this season due to dry air at the mid-layers, unfavorable upper-level winds, dust from the Sahara Desert, among other things. Forecasters do believe that some of these inhibiting factors are lessening with time so as I said, things should begin to pick up soon. Stay tuned! I will have an update on Saturday.