Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC
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003 FXUS62 KRAH 220917 AFDRAH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Raleigh NC 415 AM EST Sat Nov 22 2025 .SYNOPSIS... A stationary front will lift north of central NC this morning. This will be followed by a cold front that will push south through central North Carolina Saturday afternoon and evening. Behind the front, high pressure will build in from the north Sunday and Monday. && .NEAR TERM /TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 156 AM Saturday... The warm front continues to slowly creep northward into the central Piedmont/Coastal Plain this morning. Areas north of the front continue to see obs with reduced visibilities from fog. Latest guidance suggests the front should clear the NC/VA border through sunrise this morning. As such, expecting the fog to largely clear from south to north the next several hours. Will monitor observational trends, but the Dense Fog Advisory will likely be cleared earlier than previously thought. Aloft, a few weak vorticity perturbations are generating light rain to our north in VA, and along the NC/SC border this morning. Further southwest, a bit steadier rain is moving over the north-central Piedmont of SC. Expect some of this activity to advect east across the NC/SC border through a bit after sunrise, but generally diminish with eastward extend this morning. By mid-morning, swly sfc flow will pick up a bit with gusts up to 20 mph at times (highest south and east of Raleigh). High temps will warm into the mid to upper 70s this afternoon with partial clearing likely. The main upper short-wave expected to pass over us later today is currently sliding into the Ohio Valley. This feature, and associated weak mid-level height falls will generate isolated to scattered pre-frontal showers and storms for portions of our area today. Latest CAMs have backed off on coverage some, but best chances still appear across the northern Piedmont/Coastal Plain mid- afternoon and translating south across the Sandhills/southern Coastal Plain late afternoon/early evening. Dew points will reach the lower to mid 60s across the NC/SC border, which should promote some instability and probably best storm chances in that vicinity. Shear will be potent, and could lead to some organization. However, lapse rates aren`t overly impressive and as such think any severe threat would be low at this point. Any lingering convection should move south of our area by early tonight. Wnwly flow will usher in dry air behind the passing cold front tonight, but the colder air will lag a bit, promoting overnight lows in the upper 40s to mid 50s. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT/... As of 207 AM Saturday... PWAT drops to 50 to 75% of normal under dry nwly flow on Sunday as mid-level ridging moves into the southeast. Expect dry and cool weather with highs in the mid to upper 60s Sunday afternoon. Clear and calm conditions with high pressure overhead Sunday night should promote good radiational cooling potential. Expect lows to dip into the mid to upper 30s area-wide. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... As of 400 AM Saturday... A surface high will move east and offshore the VA and Delmarva coast on Monday, turning the low-level flow southeasterly and increasing high temperatures by a couple degrees on average compared to Sunday, in the lower-to-mid-60s. Clouds will increase on Monday night as the flow aloft turns southwesterly ahead of the next shortwave trough moving from the Central Plains to the Upper Great Lakes. A warm front will lift through the area on Tuesday with dew points quickly increasing into the 50s and lower-60s and high temperatures in the lower-60s to lower-70s. Isentropic upglide will result in persisting cloud cover and a chance for light rain. Meanwhile a surface low will move ENE from the Northern Plains to the Upper Great Lakes and southern Canada from Tuesday through Thursday, with the associated shortwave closing off into a mid/upper low during this time. The 00z runs of the GFS and ECMWF have come into better agreement compared to last night with the GFS trending toward the more progressive solution, bringing the associated cold front through central NC on Wednesday evening. The ECMWF still brings it through earlier in the day. At this time the best chance of showers is on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, when lows will only drop into the 50s. Average rainfall amounts on Tuesday and Wednesday are around half an inch in the ensemble means, though locally higher amounts will be possible. Isolated storms also can`t be ruled out on Wednesday and shear will be strong with 60-70 kts of mid-level flow. However, instability looks pretty marginal (around 500 J/kg of CAPE or less) which would limit the severe threat, especially if the front comes through early in the day as the ECMWF has been depicting. Wednesday`s temperatures will depend on the exact timing of the front, but for now the forecast calls for highs increasing further to upper-60s to mid-70s with lows Wednesday night in the 40s. High pressure building in from the west will bring a return to dry, mostly sunny, and cooler conditions on Thursday and Friday. Highs will drop to the mid-50s to lower-60s on Thursday and lower-to-mid- 50s on Friday. Lows will get down to the lower-to-mid-30s by Friday morning. && .AVIATION /06Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 106 AM Saturday... TAF period: IFR TO LIFR stratus and fog will persist at KINT/KGSO/KRDU/KRWI early this morning through near sunrise. Ceilings and visbys should lift to VFR as sfc flow picks up from the sw ahead of a cold front after sunrise. We`ll see some partial clearing this afternoon, which could trigger a few showers and tstorms, with best chances at KRDU/KRWI/KFAY between ~20 and 00Z. Dry post-frontal VFR conditions are then expected Saturday night through Sunday morning. Outlook: Dry VFR conditions are expected Sunday and Monday. Our next chance for rain and sub-VFR conditions would be Tuesday through Thursday as a frontal system approaches and moves across central NC. && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Badgett NEAR TERM...Luchetti SHORT TERM...Luchetti LONG TERM...Danco AVIATION...Luchetti