Clear skies and more autumnal weather on this week's docket

This (Monday) morning's low temperatures in the low 60s around Mecklenburg County will be the warmest morning lows of this work week. As this post is being penned cooler and drier air is filtering into western Virginia, and the remnant cloudiness from the weekend is clearing out. Locally, expect skies to brighten and the sun to reappear by the lunch hour.

Temperatures this afternoon will top out in the mid- to upper 70s across the area, with light northerly breezes stirring the air. After sunset at 6:51 p.m. local thermometer readings will begin to nosedive, bottoming out near the 50º mark by dawn Tuesday. Tomorrow's daily high will top out in the low 70s, accompanied again by a northerly breeze.

Precipitation totals over this past weekend remained scanty across the county. (Boydton was an outlier, with a weather station there recording almost an inch of rain from a localized shower.) With no precipitation in the forecast until this coming weekend the drought concerns remain. This graphic shows the percentage of current soil moisture compared to the long term average:

The drought continues across much of the Old Dominion, especially along and west of the Blue Ridge crest and south of U.S. Route 460. Hopefully the El Nino setup will shift the moisture flow enough to provide a wetter fall and winter to alleviate the dryness.