It’s been a nearly perfect Fourth of July weekend in Southwest and Southside Virginia weatherwise, but what’s left of Tropical Storm Chantal will rain on the summer parade of fun in many areas on this Sunday afternoon and evening.
Chantal made landfall along the South Carolina coast early Sunday and moved inland as a depression, swirling bands of heavy rain through central and eastern North Carolina.
As it continues northward and then northeastward through Sunday afternoon and evening, bands of rain will spread into parts of Southside and Central Virginia, with more scattered showers and storms possible westward at least as far as the Blue Ridge.
Amounts of rain will be under an inch most places, but a band of 1-2 inches, locally up to 3, may develop in Southside and Central Virginia somewhere between the U.S. 29 corridor (Danville to Lynchburg to Charlottesville) and Interstate 95 (north-south through Richmond).
Localized flash flooding is possible where heavier rain falls for an hour or two. Halifax County was included in a flash flood watch mostly affecting North Carolina counties, and other nearby counties could be added. 
Farther west, showers and storms are expected to be more hit-and-miss, but some locally heavy rain is possible in any stronger storms that develop.
Chantal’s arrival marks the change from the sunny and mostly dry weather that blessed barbecues and firework displays over the holiday weekend back to sticky and intermittently stormy weather that filled several days before the drier holiday shift.
There will be chances of showers and storms in our region every day in the coming week, mostly in the afternoons and evenings, increasing toward the end of the week as a cold front possibly becomes stalled near our region. A stronger cold front may be able to clear out the stickiness for a cooler, drier period near mid-July.
There will still be a good amount of sunshine with most highs in the 80s to lower 90s, near normal for early July.
Chantal is also a reminder that Atlantic tropical season is well under way, being the third named storm. The season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, typically peaks in late August to mid-October.
Journalist Kevin Myatt has been writing about weather for 20 years. His weekly column, appearing on Wednesdays, is sponsored by Oakey’s, a family-run, locally-owned funeral home with locations throughout the Roanoke Valley. Sign up for his weekly newsletter:
