


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS State College, PA
Issued by NWS State College, PA
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695 FXUS61 KCTP 160327 AFDCTP Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service State College PA 1127 PM EDT Tue Jul 15 2025 .SYNOPSIS... * Elevated risk of excessive rainfall and flash flooding Wednesday afternoon and evening * Scattered thunderstorms with locally heavy rain forecast through at least Thursday * Heat risk builds Wednesday and likely peaks on Thursday with potential for heat index value to exceed 100 degrees in south central PA && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING/... With stray evening showers all but dissipated, mainly clear skies tonight will set the stage for areas of fog/stratus developing into early Wednesday morning. It will be muggy with min temps 65-75F or 5 to 10 degrees above climo. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... Fog/low stratus will mix out shortly after sunrise giving way to a mix of sun and clouds into the late morning Wed. Key message centers around an elevated risk of flash flooding due to multiple rounds of heavy shower/tstm clusters Wed afternoon into Wed night. Given impressive thermodynamics (MUCAPE 1500-3000 J/kg), 99th+ percentile PW (1.5-2.2") and midlevel vorticity associated with an MCV, localized rainfall rates of 2"/hr are probable in convection Wed afternoon and evening. Repeat rounds of heavy rain/storms could quickly produce point totals of 2-4" in some areas. This may result in instances of flash flooding, particularly if the heavy rain falls in basins that picked up heavy rainfall earlier this week. On a positive note, latest HREF guidance keeps the heaviest rain west of those areas hardest hit on Monday, but we will continue to monitor for trends east. Another positive note is that the CAMs have most convection firing along NW-SE oriented boundaries, then advecting towards the northeast with the flow. This would tend to favor multiple rounds of convection rather than true training. Although a flood watch has not been issued, we will continue to consider it into the day Wednesday if the signal for flash flooding does trend higher. While vertical shear will remain limited, SPC did expand the MRGL risk over central PA to account for potential isolated strong wind gusts in water loaded downdrafts that could occur in the most intense storm cores. Building heat and increasing dewpoints are expected through midweek with a peak in Heatrisk on Thursday afternoon. A heat advisory may be needed for portions of south central and southeast PA including the mid and lower Susquehanna Valley. Additional PM thunderstorms with the potential for heavy rainfall are likely on Thursday as a cold front pushes to the southeast from the Lower Great Lakes. Minimum QPF signal over the southeast half of the CWA may be related to capping and warm temps aloft that would limit convective initiation/coverage. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Signal in the latest suite of model guidance suggests that we could be in for a bit of a drier and less humid stretch of wx heading through the end of the week/start to the weekend. Sfc cold front stalls just south of the MD line Saturday then returns back to the north as a warm front by Sunday. So on balance, Friday and Saturday could be dry in most places for the majority of the time. Rain is likely to return to the forecast Sunday, with at least chance PoPs continuing through Tuesday with scattered thunderstorms. Typical max temps near the historical avg for mid to late July with nighttime lows a few deg abv climo. && .AVIATION /02Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... The rest of this evening should remain mostly quiet. There are a few rain showers lingering across the state, but these showers are mostly stationary and the probability of any restrictions due to them remains less than 30 percent. Skies overnight will remain mostly clear to scattered high clouds in some spots. Winds tonight will remain calm with recent model soundings showing little to no winds in the lowest 1km. Given the moist atmosphere and calm winds fog is expected to impact most airfields overnight tonight. Any fog that does develop will be patchy in nature and quickly lift around sunrise. For Wednesday, a weak upper level trough in combination of high dewpoints and heating will result in the increasing chance of shower and storms across the area after late morning. Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms are expected across the region by Wednesday afternoon and evening. The timing of these storms will be difficult to nail down given the nature of the surface convergence that will be driving them, but most airfields will see periods of thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon. These storms may linger into at least early Thursday morning, until a weak cold front drops south and east of the area. Outlook... Thu...Sct/Nmrs SHRA/TSRA. Fri-Sat...Mainly dry. Sun...Showers and storms likely. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Steinbugl NEAR TERM...Steinbugl/Colbert SHORT TERM...Steinbugl/Colbert LONG TERM...Jurewicz/Steinbugl/Colbert AVIATION...Bowen