


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Greer, SC
Issued by NWS Greer, SC
298 FXUS62 KGSP 161802 AFDGSP Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC 202 PM EDT Thu Oct 16 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Cooler temperatures expected through Friday night following the passage of a backdoor cold front. Warmer on Saturday with a cold front approaching the area on Sunday, leading to the next chance for rain. Cooling off again Monday behind the front and another cold front expected by Tuesday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/... As of 130 PM EDT Thursday: Not much of a change in the weather as high pressure continues. The omega blocking pattern starts to breakdown overnight and into Friday as the ridge propagates eastward. At the surface, the axis of high pressure moves overhead and remains locked into the eastern portion of the CONUS through the near term. Subsidence aloft keeps rain chances away as well. Light winds with very low-end gusts of 5-10mph possible this afternoon with daytime mixing east of the mountains. Slightly cooler air filters in from the N/NE, keeping daytime temps a tick below yesterday. Clear skies could edge the temps slightly above forecast, but not expecting much of a difference. Temps reach the mid to upper 70s today and Friday. Overnight lows dip into the 40s and 50s, colder in the NC Piedmont as the majority of drier air filters in. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... As of 142 PM EDT Thursday: Upper ridge will move over the eastern CONUS Friday night through Saturday as the weak surface high riding underneath gradually moves off the Eastern Seaboard later on Saturday. This in response to a digging upper trough and attendant cold front that will be in the midst of crossing the central CONUS by sunset Saturday. Weak moisture advection out of the southwest tries to get going ahead of the front, but the antecedent dry airmass and stubborn ridge will make it hard for a lot of moisture to become available. The upper trough continues to propagate towards the area on Sunday as the cold front enters the NC/TN border Sunday morning. This is where the heaviest QPF response seems to be located. As the trough moves across the Midwest and Great Lakes region it takes on more of a negative tilt and in turn, lifts the better forcing for ascent north of the region as the cold front slips across the CWFA during the daytime period Sunday. As a result, the lackluster of moisture ahead of the front and departing upper jet will limit how much any of the main frontal bands can remain attached, especially once the bands shift east off the Blue Ridge Sunday afternoon. The kinematics actually don`t look too bad as 60-70 kts of deep layer shear is in place and a few of the deterministic guidance try to nose in a couple hundred J/kg of SBCAPE into the southern parts of the CWFA. Also, the LREF guidance has increased its probabilities to 30-50% chance for >250 J/kg of SBCAPE, with the hot spots being the Smokies earlier in the day and then along and south/east of I-85 during peak heating. However, latest guidance barely have much at all in regards to obvious QPF response to overlap with the aforementioned environment. In this case, confidence remains low on any type of severe threat, but still have to call it a nonzero threat until we get better hi-res guidance. The front is expected to make a full fropa across the CWFA by Sunday night with strong dry air entrainment behind the front, leading to clearing skies by the overnight hours. Another cooler night Friday as decent radiational cooling conditions will be in store and allow overnight lows to drop at or slightly below normal. Anomalously high thicknesses in place from the ridge and some form of compressional warming ahead of the cold front will help temperatures rise ~5 degrees above normal for afternoon highs on Saturday. An uptick in dewpoints and increasing cloud cover will keep temperatures elevated overnight Saturday with lows 4-8 degrees above normal. Clouds and precip in the mountains in association with the encroaching cold front will keep afternoon highs on Sunday at or slightly below normal, while decent warming ahead of the front outside of the mountains will allow for afternoon highs to climb a few ticks above normal for the Piedmont zones. Decent low-level CAA behind the front Sunday night and clearing skies should allow overnight lows to run 2-5 degrees below normal. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 158 PM EDT Thursday: Near to slightly below normal temperatures expected for Monday following the fropa Sunday night as a weak surface high sets up shop over the CWFA during the daytime period Monday. Model guidance continue to trend in the direction of another round of height falls and cold front moving across the area on Tuesday, with the better forcing residing to the north and limited moisture availability. Slight chance to chance PoPs are in the forecast for the mountains and foothills on Tuesday, but looking mostly dry elsewhere. Dry airmass sticks around through the latter half of the workweek. Temperatures will be ~5 degrees above normal Tuesday ahead of the next front, followed by another cool down to near or slightly below normal temperatures through the rest of the forecast period. && .AVIATION /18Z THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... At KCLT and elsewhere: VFR conditions prevail across all sites through the TAF period. SKC skies through tonight before SCT/FEW250 returns Friday afternoon. There could be the typical mountains valley fog with a brief window for IFR restrictions at KAVL before sunrise. Confidence is not high enough to prevail so will keep a TEMPO going for 3/4SM vsby for KAVL. Winds start to decrease into this evening out of the NE before becoming VRB overnight. Light winds pick up again Friday out of the south/SE. Outlook: VFR conditions to persist through Saturday, except for the potential for mountain valley fog and/or low stratus each morning. A cold front may bring showers and associated restrictions Sunday, with dry conditions returning on Monday. && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...None. NC...None. SC...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...CAC NEAR TERM...CP SHORT TERM...CAC LONG TERM...CAC AVIATION...CP