WSLS has issued a Weather Authority Alert Day for Tuesday, July 21 and Wednesday, July 22 as a cold front pushes toward the southeast and scattered storms are expected to develop. The most active stretch is expected in the early to mid-afternoon Tuesday, with the strongest storms around 4 pm.
That timing matters because the storms are expected to arrive in the middle of the day, when people are already on the move and roads are busiest. Delaney, who graduated from Virginia Tech in 2023 with a B.S. in Meteorology and joined the WSLS 10 Weather Authority in August 2024, said the setup could bring damaging winds, hail, heavy rain and a slight chance of a tornado.
The main concern is wind damage. Heavy rain and high rain-rates could also make power outages likely, while low-lying and urban areas, along with roadways near rivers and creeks, are likely to feel the effects first. For Tuesday, the Storm Prediction Center has the region under a slight risk, or 2/5 risk, which means scattered severe storms are possible rather than guaranteed, with conditions favorable enough for a few storms to turn strong. For rain, the Weather Prediction Center has the northern half of the region in a slight risk, or 2/4 risk, and the southern half in a marginal risk, or 1/4 risk, for heavy rain and high rain-rates.
That is where the forecast carries its built-in friction: the tornado threat is slight and non-zero, but it is not locked in, and the outlook can still shift because it is part of a 3-day forecast. The severe risk for Wednesday remains in the marginal and slight categories, with damaging wind gusts, small hail and heavy rainfall still possible. Storms are expected to start around noon Tuesday, become most widespread around 4 pm, and stay on and off through Wednesday, which leaves the Alert Day focused less on one sharp burst than on a two-day stretch of unsettled weather.
For readers, the practical takeaway is simple: Tuesday is the day to watch closely, and Wednesday does not end the threat. The strongest storms are expected around 4 pm Tuesday, but the pattern is broad enough that another round of damaging weather could follow after that.
