Weather Alerts for Virginia

Recent Locations: Gainesville, FL Beaumont, TX Hampton, VA

Current Alerts for Hampton, VA: Blizzard Warning Winter Weather Advisory

3. Winter Storm Warning for: Caroline; New Kent; James City; Western King William; Eastern King William; York

4. Winter Storm Warning for: Northern Fauquier

5. Winter Storm Warning for: Northern Virginia Blue Ridge; Central Virginia Blue Ridge

6. Winter Storm Warning for: Tazewell; Mercer; Summers

7. Winter Storm Warning for: Westmoreland; Richmond; Northumberland; Lancaster; Gloucester; Middlesex; Mathews; Western King and Queen; Eastern King and Queen; Western Essex; Eastern Essex

8. Winter Weather Advisory for: Bland; Giles; Bath; Monroe; Eastern Greenbrier

9. Winter Weather Advisory for: Dickenson; Buchanan

10. Winter Weather Advisory for: Eastern Hanover

11. Winter Weather Advisory for: Eastern Highland; Eastern Pendleton

12. Winter Weather Advisory for: Goochland; Nottoway; Amelia; Powhatan; Dinwiddie; Prince George; Charles City; Western Louisa; Eastern Louisa; Western Hanover; Western Chesterfield; Eastern Chesterfield (Including Col. Heights); Western Henrico (Including the City of Richmond); Eastern Henrico

13. Winter Weather Advisory for: Newport News; Hampton/Poquoson

14. Winter Weather Advisory for: Rappahannock; Culpeper; Stafford; Spotsylvania; King George; Southern Fauquier

15. Winter Weather Advisory for: Sussex; Surry; Southampton; Isle of Wight; Norfolk/Portsmouth; Suffolk; Chesapeake; Virginia Beach

16. Winter Weather Advisory for: Wise; Russell; Washington

Want more detail? Get the Complete 7 Day and Night Detailed Forecast!

Current U.S. National Radar--Current

The Current National Weather Radar is shown below with a UTC Time (subtract 5 hours from UTC to get Eastern Time).

National Weather Forecast--Current

The Current National Weather Forecast and National Weather Map are shown below.

National Weather Forecast for Tomorrow

Tomorrow National Weather Forecast and Tomorrow National Weather Map are show below.

North America Water Vapor (Moisture)

This map shows recent moisture content over North America. Bright and colored areas show high moisture (ie, clouds); brown indicates very little moisture present; black indicates no moisture.

Weather Topic: What is Rain?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Rain

Rain Next Topic: Shelf Clouds

Precipitation in the form of water droplets is called rain. Rain generally has a tendency to fall with less intensity over a greater period of time, and when rainfall is more severe it is usually less sustained.

Rain is the most common form of precipitation and happens with greater frequency depending on the season and regional influences. Cities have been shown to have an observable effect on rainfall, due to an effect called the urban heat island. Compared to upwind, monthly rainfall between twenty and forty miles downwind of cities is 30% greater.

Next Topic: Shelf Clouds

Weather Topic: What is Sleet?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Sleet

Sleet Next Topic: Snow

Sleet is a form of precipitation in which small ice pellets are the primary components. These ice pellets are smaller and more translucent than hailstones, and harder than graupel. Sleet is caused by specific atmospheric conditions and therefore typically doesn't last for extended periods of time.

The condition which leads to sleet formation requires a warmer body of air to be wedged in between two sub-freezing bodies of air. When snow falls through a warmer layer of air it melts, and as it falls through the next sub-freezing body of air it freezes again, forming ice pellets known as sleet. In some cases, water droplets don't have time to freeze before reaching the surface and the result is freezing rain.

Next Topic: Snow