Weather

Southwest and Southside Virginia are a ring or two outside Helene’s inland bull’s-eye but have experienced significant and damaging water and wind effects.

Last week’s rainy coastal storm didn’t quite earn the name, but this week’s Helene may be a destructive hurricane on the Gulf Coast.

This storm never reached its potential as a tropical system, but it has dampened what could have been a hot week.

Jo Heinlein of Wytheville and Donna Smith of Eagle Rock tied for best heat guesses, but Heinlein’s early-bird entry breaks the tie for the gift card prize.

Updated: Coastal low never became a tropical storm, but has flooded Wilmington area, and promises an inch or more of rain on most of dry Virginia.

Tropical system’s effects on Virginia are likely to be indirect as recent chilly mornings give way to warmer temperatures.

Summerlike heat probably still has a play, but by the time it might come back, it will have a harder time holding on as the sun gets lower and sets sooner.

Last week’s fall preview quickly flipped to a mid-July rewind this week, but cooler, wetter weather appears to be set to return.

Temperatures reached the 40s for many in western Virginia on Wednesday morning and will likely be similar on Thursday morning before a slow warmup.

Camille was no longer a hurricane and never stalled when it hit Virginia in August 1969. But its legacy as an unrivaled though intensely localized catastrophe is etched in stone.