Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Pittsburgh, PA

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421 FXUS61 KPBZ 100058 AAA AFDPBZ Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA 858 PM EDT Wed Jul 9 2025 .SYNOPSIS... A typical warm and moist summer airmass will remain in place this week and allow scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms to develop over the Upper Ohio River Valley each day. Thunderstorm chances will be a bit higher this weekend as a weak cold front sags into the area from the Great Lakes. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT/...
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KEY MESSAGES: - Potential for occasional fog overnight --------------------------------------------------------------- A stabilized airmass is noted near and north of a stalled sfc boundary across ern OH to swrn PA. The airmass is currently characterized by cool temps in the low-mid 70s F and dews approaching 70F. Although a good deal of mid-level cloud cover remains, radiational cooling amid decoupled sfc wind will promote at least patchy fog development overnight. Otherwise, no notable weather impacts are evident, with lingering storms remaining well to the south of the Upper Ohio Valley.
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&& .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/...
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KEY MESSAGES: - Weak troughs moving along northern edge of subtropical high will support scattered diurnal thunderstorm development - Low probability of severe and flash flooding at any one point but a couple spots could see significant weather each day - Temperatures a bit above normal with a gradual warming trend peaking out on Saturday around 90F ---------------------------------------------------------------- Upper High Centered over Southwestern US as it often does in summer with subtropical ridge over the southern part of CONUS. Westerlies continue to stay over the northern states with a tendency for troughing over the Great Lakes. This results in a seasonably moist and unstable airmass with daily rounds of diurnal thunderstorms that will be poorly organized with weak shear. In fact Corfidi upstream MCS motion vectors become light and variable for the rest of the weak so expect slow moving storms that will produce heavy rainfall. Preciptable Water values around 1.5" will not be excessive but will be high enough to support locally heavy rain given the slow storm motions. Mid levels become a lot drier tomorrow so a bit more DCAPE in profiles and a slightly higher potential for wet microbursts on Thursday. Overall not much organization for the thunderstorms and coveraged will be scattered with very sparse coverage of heavy rainfall and damaging winds each day. A difficult situation to message because it is likely that only 1-2 locations each day are impacted by significant weather. Many spots will be dry each day and it is difficult more than 6-12 hours in advance to get your arms around where the chances for impacts will be higher.
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&& .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
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KEY MESSAGES: - Weak front brings better chance of thunderstorms Sunday - Not much cooling with temperatures remaining about 5 degrees above normal ------------------------------------------------------------------- Not a lot of change to the pattern and, even with weak summer flow regime, a good bit of spread on the timing and intensity of weak troughs drifting through the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes areas. Looks like best shot for a weak front to enhance thunderstorm chances will be on Sunday. NCAR AI severe probabilities based on ECMWFE are highest on Sunday and that seems reasonable. Would also be a higher threat of heavy rain and flash flooding that day as Precipitable Water values increase from about 1.5" to the 1.75-2.00" range. Pattern for Monday thru Wednesday becomes a bit more complex and uncertain as we could see a series of weak trough/ridge couplets. Certainly could be a dry day or two in that time range but not much confidence at this time.
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&& .AVIATION /00Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
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Fog development is likely tonight with light-to-calm wind and a near-saturated low-level airmass. Hi-res model ensemble shows highest probability (60%+) of IFR/below vsby in the area that experienced the most/most-prolonged rain today: primarily along and south of an axis from near PHD to BVI to LBE. North of this axis, localized fog is possible (30-40% chance). Given that probability of sub-6SM vsby and sub-2SM vsby are virtually identical at all sites, the implication is that fog occurrence is less certain, but if it occurs, it is likely to be IFR or below. If not for the lingering clouds slowing down cooling, dense fog would be more confident. However, the lingering clouds are likely to limit dense fog formation on a widespread basis, and any such observations at terminals ought to be localized. For now, have taken terminals to MVFR or IFR (2-5SM), but it remains possible that cigs or vsby could reach categories lower than that. Any fog is likely to dissipate quickly Thu morning with a broad return to VFR conditions. Additional storms are expected after 18z and will present as more scattered in coverage. Timing will be difficult to pin down with development potentially off of Lake Erie`s lake breeze initially, with subsequent initiation driven by storm outflow. Any showers/storms could bring brief heavy rainfall and gusty wind. PROB30 was included at all sites for now, pending refined mesoanalysis Thu morning, which could help identify targeted areas and timing. Outlook... A weakly forced but warm/humid environment is favored through the end of the week that will allow for intermittent periods of showers/thunderstorms. Confidence is likely to be lower on timing various rounds of precipitation as well as the resultant cig/vsby impacts they could have during the morning hours. More significant upper-level and surface boundary movement appears to arrive over the weekend, which will create a better focused period for convection and restriction development.
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&& .PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PA...None. OH...None. WV...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Craven NEAR TERM...Kramar SHORT TERM...Craven LONG TERM...Craven AVIATION...Kramar/MLB