Sunday · May 31, 2026

the last Sunday in May — 76°, mostly sunny, and the quiet before June.

Sunday opens at 76° and mostly sunny — warmer than the fifties we've been waking to all week, softer light than yesterday's full blaze. South wind at 3 mph means still air downtown, the kind of morning where the courtyard holds the cool from overnight and you linger over coffee before the afternoon warmth settles in. Tonight dips to 58° under gathering clouds, a gentle close to May.

The Taubman Museum is open noon to five today — the current exhibitions run through mid-June, so this is one of the last handful of Sundays to catch them before the rotation. The museum's free, the galleries stay cool, and it's a fifteen-minute walk from the flats if you take Church south to the plaza. Mill Mountain Theatre's dark tonight, but the lobby box office opens at noon if you want to grab tickets for next weekend's run. A Few Old Goats is pouring on the main floor from noon straight through evening — the taproom tends to fill by mid-afternoon on Sundays, especially when the weather's this cooperative.

Seventy-six degrees is greenway weather. The Roanoke River Greenway runs east from Wasena Park — park near the footbridge, walk the paved trail under sycamore canopy, and you'll stay cool even as the afternoon peaks. It's a flat, easy three miles out and back, shaded most of the way, with the river running low and quiet on your right. If you want elevation, Mill Mountain's loop trail starts just past the zoo entrance — it's a shorter climb than the fire road, mostly wooded, and the overlook at the top clears above the trees. Both options work today; the greenway's the easier call if you're deciding last-minute.

Tomorrow shifts partly sunny with a high near 78° — a degree or two warmer, but cloud cover moves in through the afternoon and isolated showers arrive after 8 p.m. Not enough to rearrange plans, but enough to know the stretch of clear, steady warmth we've had since Memorial Day is closing. June opens Tuesday, and the pattern changes with it.

At the flats, the courtyard's shaded through late morning, then sun fills the space by one or two. A Few Old Goats taps the weekend's last kegs on the main floor — walk over from your suite, settle in at the bar or the tall tables near the windows, and let Sunday take its time. The patio stays open through evening if you want to catch the cool air after sunset. May's last day tends to feel like that — unhurried, a little reflective, the kind of afternoon that doesn't need a plan.

Sources checked today: National Weather Service (Roanoke), Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke Outside.
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