THIS PRELIMINARY FRAME OF DATA - UPDATED 8/20/26 8:20PM EDT OBSERVER NOTES: SURFACE FRONTS (FROPA) - (times noted are EDT) 4th - boundary zone develops across NErn NC and moves N through SErn VA bringing heavy SHRA and TSRA 14th - cold @ 2100 ET becomes stationary boundary zone early on 15th 16th - warm front 18th - onshore seabreeze FROPA FROST - none NEW STATION DAILY RECORDS: ( database to 7/1/76; daily record archives at http://genserva.com/wxr/rec.htm ) THU AUG 20, 2026 - A NEW STATION DAILY WIND GUST record was established today with a gust of 29 mph at 3:00PM EDT in the West Cradock section of Portsmouth. The previous record for this date was 27 mph in 1997. TUE, AUG 18, 2026 - The low temperature today of 79° at 6:34AM EDT in the West Cradock area of Portsmouth establilshed a NEW STATION MAXIMUM LOW TEMPERATURE RECORD for the date. The previous record was 78° set in 1985. FRI, AUG 14, 2026 - The low temperature today of 79° at 6:40AM EDT in the West Cradock area of Portsmouth ESTABLISHED A NEW MAXIMUM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORD for the date. The previous record was 78° set in 1997. SUN, AUG 2, 2026 - A NEW STATION DAILY WIND GUST record was established today with a gust of 35 mph at 4:18PM EDT in the West Cradock section of Portsmouth. The previous record for this date was 32 mph in 2025. TUE, AUG 4, 2026 - A NEW STATION DAILY RAINFALL RECORD was set today when 3.19" of rain fell in the West Cradock area of Portsmouth. The previous record for the date was 2.68" set in 2023. THU, AUG 6, 2026 - The low temperature today of 77° at 5:30AM EDT in the West Cradock area of Portsmouth ESTABLISHED A NEW MAXIMUM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORD for the date. The previous record was 76° set in 1989. +------+------+------+------+---+----+----+----+-------------+-----+-----+------+------+------+----+----+---+-------+-------+ | | | | | | | Number of Days | | | | Greatest Depth on Ground | +-----------------+------------------+----+----+-------------+--------------+-----------------+ of Snow, Ice Pellets or Ice | | Max Temperature | Min temperature | |Thunder 4 |Precipitation | Snow, Ice Plts + & Date 0.0" | +--------+--------+---------+--------+----+----+-------------|Maximum Daily | 0.0" +-------+-------------+-------+ | >=90°F | <=32°F | <=32°F | <=0°F |----|----|Fog/Dense Fog|3.19" on the 3rd | | | Greatest 2-day total: 3.20" on the 3rd & 4th| |--------+--------+---------+--------+----+----+ 0 0 |-------+------+---------+----+--+-------------+---------------| | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |----|----|-------------| Sky cover: Sunny/Fair/Clear 12 Partly Cloudy 7 Cloudy 1 | +--------+--------+---------+--------+----+----+-------------|--------------------------------+-----------------------------+ | Number of Days Rainfall | | | >=0.01 11 >=0.10 5 | | | >=0.50 2 >=1.00 1 | | | TRACE 0 | | +--------+--------+---------+--------+----+----+----------------------------------------------+-----------------------------+ | Notes: | |> 1st: high pressure gave way to warmer temps on a southerly flow with frequent breezes in the 20 mph range; still humid | | but dry | |> 2nd: overrunning warmer temps, higher humidity and increasing S'ly winds brought a few SHRA and a TSRA during the day, | | partly cloudy skies | |> 3rd: still warm and humid with a -SHRA around sunrise; scattered SHRA and TSRA across SErn VA, all by-passing this locale| |> 4th: building humidity, strong summer sun, rising lift with increasing wind, boundary zone across the SErn VA and NErn NC| | all combined to produce heavy tropical rains in fairly slow moving thunderstorms across this locale. New record daily | | rainfall record (see above); FLASH FLOODING in portions of the city with minor field flooding here | |> 5th: early AM SHRA then becoming mostly sunny; quite humid after record rains of the 4th and afternoon temps hitting 90° | |> 6th: sunny/fair skies much of the day; a batch of clouds with only light sprinkles of rain moved in from the SSE, then | | dissipated quickly after moving over the lower Chesapeake Bay; no rainfall noted here; nice breezes developed during the | | day oft gusting into the 20 mph range, continuing into the evening. | |> 7th-9th: strong high pressure over the area & to our E and SE continued a SSE then SSW flow of Gulf Stream and Atlantic| | moisture across SErn VA; mostly sunny days/fair/clear nights with warm temps; high humidity but in afternoons dry; steady| | drying afternoon surface flow under sunny skies led to considerable drying of vegetation | |> 10th: another hot day; favorable atmospheric conditions for TSRA development across central and eastern VA in the late | | afternoon and evening; a severe thunderstorm watch posted for Portsmouth followed by a severe thunderstorm warning | | around 7PM; TSRA brought 0.34" | of rain to the station; quite strong, nearby cloud to ground lightning strokes for ~15 | | minutes. | |> 11th-12th: carbon copy days locally; high pressure holds over SErn VA with only a few high clouds passing across the | | area; trough is located NE to SW across the area but energy triggers remain to the W, SW and S of SErn in NErn NC. after-| | noon haze; warm, more humid nights, lowering afternoon humidity readings | |> 13th-14th: carbon copy days of the last two! high pressure over the area; increase in high and mid-level clouds as more | | energy streams NW to SE across VA. Heaviest SHRA and TSRA to our N, W, and S. DST LTG & THUNDER couple of times; here, | | -SHRA in the mid-to-late evening; partly cloudy day, generally light winds. New daily station max min record (see above)| |> 15th: high pressure wedges down the Middle Atlantic coastal states as cooler air from New England settles S; a mostly | |> 16th: warm front moved through from the SSW bringing a return to more humid weather, slightly stronger, steady SSW winds | | energy moving in from the NW brought showers late evening | |> 17th: early morning -SHRA; then clearing to becoming mostly sunny, hot, humid | |> 18th: still hot early but with an onshore seabreeze coastal FROPA that lowerer temps a few degrees; mostly sunny skies; | | few SHRA develop along the boundary line between warm W flow early day and the NE flow with the FROPA at the coast; 0.08"| | recorded at the station with clearing skies, humid, warm conditions in the evening. | |> 19th: another hot day, very humid AM with some but dryer, but still hot air in the afternoon; high pressure parked over | | the lower Middle Atlantic; light winds | |> 20th: humid AM, hot afternoon, light breezes from the S; thunderstorms develop to the SW and move across the station in | | mid-to-late afternoon; severe thunderstorm watch, the local severe thunderstorm warning until 7PM EDT; watch remained in | | effect until 10PM EDT; welcomed 0.51" of rain at station and just a quarter mile to the N 1.0" of rain | |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| PRELIMINARY LOCAL CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA HOURLY MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION (Water Equivalent) AUGUST 2026: PWRS Portsmouth, Virginia Station: PWRS Portsmouth, Virginia Latitude: 36° 59' 09" N Longitude: 76° 33' 00" W Elevation (ground): 13 feet Time Zone: Eastern ---+-----------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------+--- | | | D| A.M. Hour Ending at | P.M. Hour Ending at |D a| | |a t+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+t e| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |e ---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+--- 01| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |01 02| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |0.15|0.01|0.05|0.01|0.01| | | |02 03| | | | | | |0.01| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |03 04| | | | | | | | | | | | | |0.23|0.52|2.37|0.04|0.03| | | | | | |04 05| | |0.01| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |05 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 06| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |06 07| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |07 08| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |08 09| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |09 10| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |0.31|0.01|0.02| | |10 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |11 12| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |12 13| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |13 14| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |0.02|0.01| |14 15|0.01| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |15 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 16| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |0.17|16 17|0.02| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |17 18| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |0.07|0.01| | | |18 19| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |19 20| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |0.09|0.40|0.01|0.01| | | | | |20 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 21| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |21 22| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |22 23| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |23 24| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |24 25| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |25 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 26| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |26 27| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |27 28| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |28 29| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |29 30| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |30 31| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |31 ---+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+--- | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 |--- ---+----+----+----+----+----+ AM +----+----+----+----+----+NOON+----+----+----+----+----+ PM +----+----+----+----+----+----+---