Published: May 01, 2007 07:47 pm      

Mercury sets record; cooler days ahead

BLUEFIELD — A new high temperature for May 1 was added to the record books Tuesday, but don’t put away all the long sleeve shirts just yet. Forecasters believe it will be more than a week before the area sees such highs again.

“The record high was 82 set back in 1962,” Meteorologist Dennis Sleighter of the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va., said.

When Sleighter consulted the bureau’s records at 2:15 p.m., the temperature had climbed to 85 degrees at the Mercer County Airport. There was a chance that it would climb even higher.

By 3 p.m. the weather service had reported a maximum temperatur of 86 degrees.

Temperatures across the region almost matched or even exceeded the Mercer County area’s record high. At 3 p.m., temperatures had hit the 82-degree mark in Beckley and 84 in Lewisburg.

Readings posted for Virginian localities by the National Weather Service at 3 p.m. showed 81 degrees for Tazewell, 82 degrees in Richlands, and 87 degrees for Blacksburg and Abingdon.

A weather front approaching the region from the northwest was expected to drop local temperatures back down to cooler levels.

“Wednesday should be about 10 degrees cooler than today,” Sleighter said Tuesday. “This should be the last day in the 80s for a while. It will probably be at least another eight to nine days before we even get close to that [Tuesday’s high] again.”

By Thursday the Bluefield area’s highs should be in the mid-60s again, he said. The cool spell should continue until Saturday or Sunday.

Temperatures could start climbing back into the 70s by Monday or Tuesday next week, he said.

How Tuesday’s heat was welcomed varied from person to person.

“Well, I’d have to say I love it,” said Arnold Yost, 72, of Bluefield, Va. “I wish it would stay this way. I’m planting potatoes today, it’s such a good day outside.”

Sixteen-year-old Corey Drake of Bluefield had a different experience with the heat. He had spent much of his day under the sun.

“It was horrible,” he said. “It’s really hard to be working in it.”

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com