Why a local weather blog?

So is a Mecklenburg Virginia Weather Blog necessary? That is not only a good question, it's a valid one. The chief reason for publishing these weather-related posts four times weekly is that Mecklenburg county resides in what I call a "weather seam". 

First of all, the underlying weather coverage for all of the U.S. is the National Weather Service (NWS). Each office's area of responsibility is known as a County Warning Area, or CWA. Here is the CWA for the NWS offices which cover Virginia:

Note that Mecklenburg county - starred in this map - is on the far western edge of the NWS Wakefield CWA. That has implications for local weather coverage, one of which is the radar beam height. The Wakefield radar horizon is >4000 feet in South Hill and about 8000 feet for Clarksville. This makes it difficult for meteorologists in that office to tell what's going on at the surface during active weather. In contrast, the radar from the Raleigh NC office has a beam height of 3000 to 4000 feet across Mecklenburg county. (I know, weird huh?)

The other major factor placing Mecklenburg in a "weather seam" is the television market's division of responsibility, known as the Designated Market Area (DMA). This designation is by the Nielsen Company, which measures the economics of television markets. Here is the DMA map for Virginia:

Mecklenburg county is at the purple star. It is the northernmost county - the ONLY Virginia county - of the Raleigh NC television market. That's why television weather forecasts for Mecklenburg don't originate from Virginia TV stations, which can be a bit awkward especially when a Raleigh station doesn't include the county in its graphics.

These two reasons, coupled with the growth in the county (thanks to the recreational draw of Buggs Island Lake / Kerr Reservoir plus the recent increase in remote working), are why this blog was started. Posts during the work week cover the current weather conditions plus the forecast for 48-72 hours ahead. In addition to an update on the day's conditions, Sunday posts take a peek at the weather during the week ahead.

Feel free to comment on any individual post, or submit an email to regardingwx@outlook.com for any comments, recommendations, or other expressions of interest in Mecklenburg county weather.