Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS State College, PA
Issued by NWS State College, PA
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157 FXUS61 KCTP 181916 AFDCTP Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service State College PA Issued by National Weather Service Binghamton NY 216 PM EST Tue Nov 18 2025 .SYNOPSIS... A quick moving system will bring rain to the area through tonight, along with some elevation-driven wet snow. Mainly dry weather returns for Wednesday and Thursday before another system may bring some rain showers to the area Friday into Saturday. A return to mainly dry weather arrives for the second half of the weekend. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... A fast moving low pressure system will move through the area later today through tonight. Some warm air advection precipitation ahead of this system has moved into parts of the Commonwealth, but with dry air in place, much of this has been virga or simply just very light precipitation. At some of the higher elevations, temperatures are just cold enough at the onset to start as some light snow, but any accumulations will be minimal due to marginal temperatures and the light intensity of the snow. Tonight will be somewhat of a tricky forecast due to potential wet bulbing allowing for temperatures to be a few degrees cooler wherever there is steadier precipitation. This could allow for rain to transition back to snow during the steadier precipitation, especially at the higher elevations over east- central PA near/along the I80 to US220 corridors in the 06-12Z window. Snow accum is most likely on non-paved and elevated surfaces with minimum temps hovering near to slightly above the freezing mark. Precipitation should end/shift to the east by 7AM/12Z Wednesday. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... High pressure will bring mainly dry weather to the area for Wednesday and Thursday, but lingering low level moisture will likely keep clouds in place for most of the Commonwealth. Clouds will be present area-wide on Thursday, but Wednesday may actually have some sunshine for areas north of I-80. Seasonable temperatures are expected with highs in the mid 40s to lower 50s && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Another system will slide eastward from the Ohio Valley Friday into Saturday, but there is a bit of uncertainty regarding how far north the precipitation gets. Some guidance, such as the 12Z ECMWF keeps most of the precipitation south of the Commonwealth, while other guidance, such as the 12Z GFS, as the axis of steadier precipitation moving right through PA. The NBM captures this uncertainty relatively well with chance PoPs across most of the area. After this system moves through, drier weather arrives for the second half of the weekend into early next week. && .AVIATION /18Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... Mainly VFR conditions are present to start the TAF period early this afternoon, but ceilings and visbys will gradually lower by the late afternoon/early evening as rain moves into the area. IFR restrictions are expected, especially tonight. Rain will be mixed with wet snow in the higher elevations. After the rain/snow moves out of the area by Wednesday morning, there will still likely be some IFR ceiling restrictions around through most of the morning on Wednesday. Some gradual improvement is expected by late Wednesday morning/early afternoon. Outlook... Wednesday afternoon through Thursday...Partial improvement in conditions, but some lingering restrictions possible due to lower clouds. Friday through Saturday...Rain and associated restrictions likely. Sunday...Mainly VFR. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...BJG NEAR TERM...BJG SHORT TERM...BJG LONG TERM...BJG AVIATION...BJG