DATE: Saturday, November 8, 1997            TAG: 9711080315
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   29 lines

SUNDAY'S SUNSHINE IS EXPECTED TO REPLACE THE RAIN'S GRAY GLOOM

Another weekend. More rain.

Fall's effort to make up for a dry summer shows no sign of letting up, with another rainy weekend in store for Hampton Roads. But the weather gurus are saying the sun should make an appearance by Sunday afternoon and stay for several days.

That will be a change from recent weeks, with gray, gloomy, damp days as the rule rather than the exception. Just one week into November, 2.12 inches of rain have been measured at the National Weather Service office at Norfolk International Airport. That's within three-quarters of an inch of the normal total precipitation for the month: 2.85 inches.

The annual rainfall now stands at 31.94 inches and is still below the average of 39.19 usually recorded by the date. But that 7 1/4-inch shortage is much better than the double-digit deficit that existed just two months ago.

And more is on the way. Today should be cloudy with patchy light rain or drizzle and a high in the mid 50s - a far cry from just a year ago when the temperature hit a record 81 on this date. Tonight is expected to be cloudy with a chance of light rain or drizzle and a low in the mid 40s. The chance of rain is 30 percent.

Sunday should see an end to the wet weather with morning cloudiness yielding to partly cloudy skies in the afternoon and a high near 60.

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