This is the third Tuesday in a row that starts warm and ends wet. Ninety degrees by late morning, partly sunny through lunch, then storms building after 2pm — 60% chance, enough to plan around. Temps drop to the mid-80s once the cells roll through. Tonight clears to partly cloudy and 66, which means the patio becomes pleasant again after 9pm. Northwest wind barely registers at 2 mph, so the air just sits.
The Taubman is open noon to 5pm today — good timing if you want to dodge the afternoon storms inside with the American and European collections. O. Winston Link Museum runs 10am to 5pm, five minutes west on Shenandoah Avenue, all that black-and-white railroad drama in air conditioning. Mill Mountain Theatre has a 7:30pm curtain tonight for their summer musical run; check their site for the current title. A Few Old Goats Brewing on the main floor here opens at 4pm — they're pouring the Honey Wheat and the new rotating IPA, and the picnic tables on Campbell get shade from the building after 5.
If you want outside time, take it before 1pm. The Roanoke River Greenway runs east from Wasena Park — flat, paved, shaded in stretches, about ten minutes' drive. You'll get two or three miles in before the sky turns. Mill Mountain is the other move: drive up Walnut, park at the overlook, take the short trail to the star. Views are hazy today but the elevation drops the temperature five degrees. Both options require watching the radar after lunch.
Wednesday looks like a replay — 87°F, 70% storms, slightly better odds of rain in the morning this time. The pattern doesn't break until the weekend. If you've got flexibility, stack your outdoor plans early or wait for evening. The afternoon window is narrow and unreliable.
At the flats, the courtyard will be damp by 3pm but dry again by dinner. The brewery pours until 10pm tonight, and the side patio — tucked against the building — dries fast. The evening cool-down after storms is the best part of this weather: 66 and clear, no humidity, the kind of night that makes you sit outside an extra hour.