Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Charleston, WV
Issued by NWS Charleston, WV
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264 FXUS61 KRLX 141832 AFDRLX AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Charleston WV 232 PM EDT Tue May 14 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Showers give way to more widespread rain and embedded thunderstorms overnight into Wednesday. Mainly dry Thursday, then unsettled to end the week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 120 PM Tuesday... Subsidence in the wake of a shortwave departing to the northeast has yielded only isolated additional showery activity late morning into early this afternoon. Lower level cloudiness left in the wake of morning precipitation has also impeded insolation with temperatures running a few degrees under most guidance. There is some clearing of clouds evident in visual imagery across the TN Valley and should see at least some better surface heating moving up into the Southern Coalfields prior to maximum diurnal heating. This may yield an uptick in showers, with perhaps a few rumbles of thunder heading into this afternoon. Otherwise, the primary driver of precipitation late this afternoon into Wednesday will be a rather weak northern stream low currently located over the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Will see precipitation chances ramp up as shortwaves rotating around the associated upper low along with broad scale ascent associated with the left front quadrant of a 100KT H250 jet nosing up the TN Valley. Through then overnight any showers or thunderstorms should be moving along decently. Risk for severe storms through the late afternoon will be rather limited by the significant cloud cover squashing surface heating, but couldn`t rule out a stronger storm or two where clouds can break given around 35KTs of deep layer shear - primarily across E KY into SW VA. During the day Wednesday, as the upper low opens into a weak wave and the surface low drifts overhead, could see more of a concern for high water issues with very slow moving and repetitive precipitation cores in the presence of warm cloud depths of around 9000 ft and precipitable water values approaching 1.5 inches. With recent relatively dry conditions and the greenup now complete, any issues would likely be very isolated - somewhat more likely if these repetitive cores happen to cross an area of especially poor drainage or built up area. Risk for severe weather will be severely limited by weak flow through the column. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... As of 232 PM Tuesday... Showers and any lingering convection come to an end early Thursday morning as an upper level trough and adjoined surface low shift off the eastern seaboard. Shortwave ridging helps to ease potential for activity for Thursday afternoon, but diurnally driven convection looks to sprout along the higher terrain during peak heating hours. A brief moment of reprieve looks plausible Thursday night ahead of another upper trough aiming for the Ohio Valley for the end of the work week. After a cool start to the morning Thursday within lingering precipitation, temperatures are progged to recover into the upper 70s along the Ohio River Valley in the afternoon. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 232 PM Tuesday... Unsettled weather slithers back into the forecast for the end of the work week as a negatively titled trough charges through the country. Showers overtake the area from west to east throughout the day Friday, with coverage ramping up by the evening and overnight hours. Rain, and embedded thunderstorms, then stretches into the weekend as a surface low slowly meanders over the Ohio Valley in the midst of its parent trough stationed over the Central Appalachians. There still remains a wide array of model solutions for how activity pans out for Sunday onward, so opted not to stray too far from central guidance for the time being. This portrays a slightly drier day on Sunday as the trough sluggishly shifts eastward, but keeps slight chance/chance POPs along the spine of the Appalachians for the afternoon. Once this features departs further eastward, there will be a brief dry spell for Monday morning, but diurnally driven convection looks feasible within an afternoon cumulus field that develops. After a brief cool down over the weekend, temperatures recover back into the 70s/80s for the end of the weekend into the start of next week. May have to become vigilant for hydro issues as the weekend wears on, especially if heavier bursts of rain track over areas that receive an adequate amount of accumulation from preceding activity. && .AVIATION /18Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... As of 120 PM Tuesday... Overcast ceilings 030-040 this afternoon with a few patches of MVFR with patchy showers deteriorate overnight as more widespread precipitation enters the region. Initially, will have enough boundary layer flow to keep things somewhat stirred up through around 05Z, but weakening flow through the remainder of the overnight should allow a completely saturated column to begin to generate IFR ceilings and perhaps some fog heading into morning. For now, will code primarily IFR, but at least spotty LIFR will also be possible, especially where showers are more persistent. Should see a brief break in precipitation Wednesday morning before showers begin to fill in after this TAF period Wednesday afternoon. Winds generally light, favoring a southeast direction, except 6-8KT with some gusts into the teens in downslope near BKW this afternoon. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY... FORECAST CONFIDENCE: Medium ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Fog could be more dense than advertised overnight. EXPERIMENTAL TABLE OF FLIGHT CATEGORY OBJECTIVELY SHOWS CONSISTENCY OF WFO FORECAST TO AVAILABLE MODEL INFORMATION: H = HIGH: TAF CONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL. M = MEDIUM: TAF HAS VARYING LEVEL OF CONSISTENCY WITH MODELS. L = LOW: TAF INCONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL. UTC 1HRLY 18 19 20 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 EDT 1HRLY 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 00 01 CRW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H M M L H HTS CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H L H H BKW CONSISTENCY M H H H H H H H H H H H EKN CONSISTENCY H H H H H H M M H H H M PKB CONSISTENCY M H H H H H H H M M L L CKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H M M L H AFTER 18Z WEDNESDAY... Scattered IFR visibilities and ceilings are possible in heavier rain showers Wednesday afternoon. && .RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WV...None. OH...None. KY...None. VA...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...JP/MEK NEAR TERM...JP SHORT TERM...MEK LONG TERM...MEK AVIATION...JP