Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wakefield, VA

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000 FXUS61 KAKQ 182004 AFDAKQ AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 404 PM EDT TUE JUN 18 2013 .SYNOPSIS... WEAK LOW PRESSURE TRACKS ACROSS THE REGION TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT AS A COLD FRONT PUSHES SOUTH. THE LOW MOVES OFF THE COAST WEDNESDAY WHILE THE COLD FRONT SETTLES ACROSS THE CAROLINAS. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE REGION FROM THE NORTH THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING/...
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PER LATEST WATER VAPOR...SHORTWAVE HAS REACHED EXTREME WRN VA. AT THE SFC...COLD FRONT HAS MADE VERY LITTLE SRN PUSH FROM EARLIER TODAY AS A STATIONARY FRONT REMAINS ALIGNED FROM THE LOWER MS VALLEY INTO THE MID ATLANTIC REGION. WAVE ALONG THE STATIONARY BOUNDARY OBSERVED ON RADAR/OBS LOCATED OVER CNTRL VA HAS HELPED ENHANCE CONVECTION THIS AFTERNOON NORTH AND WEST OF RICHMOND. THIS WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE CASE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING AS WAVES ALONG THE FRONT CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE REGION. THE MOST PROMINENT WAVE IS CURRENTLY LOCATED OVER ERN TN AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH COOLING CLOUD TOPS. SFC WAVE WILL CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN AS IT PROGRESSES EWD ACROSS NRN NC/SRN VA LATE THIS AFTERNOON...AIDED BY THE AFOREMENTIONED UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE. THIS WILL PUSH THE FRONT EWD ACROSS THE AREA. AS THIS OCCURS...BETTER PRECIP COVERAGE EXPECTED THROUGH THE EVENING. THETA-E ADVECTION AND TEMPS IN THE LOW 80S AND DEWPOINTS IN THE LOW 70S WILL MAINTAIN A MARGINALLY UNSTABLE AIRMASS (1000-1200 J/KG CAPE) ACROSS ERN VA INTO NERN NC. MARGINAL LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES AND LOW LEVEL WSWLY FLOW OF 30-40 KT MAY PRODUCE BRIEF GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH UNDER THE STRONGEST STORMS. OVER CNTRL VA...WEAK LAPSE RATES DUE TO DEEP MOISTURE (PRECIP WATERS ~2 INCHES) WILL PREVENT STRONGER WINDS FROM MIXING DOWN. WEAK TO MARGINAL SHEAR WILL INHIBIT ANY ORGANIZED CONVECTION. THE MAIN THREAT WILL CONTINUE TO BE HEAVY RAINFALL AS PRECIP WATER REMAIN AROUND 150% OF NORMAL. TOTAL QPF AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY RANGE FROM ONE HALF INCH TO ONE INCH. SECONDARY SHORTWAVE WILL REACH NWRN VA LATE TONIGHT...HELPING PUSH THE FRONT OFFSHORE. BEST MOISTURE WILL ALSO BE SHUNTED OFFSHORE...BUT REMNANT MOISTURE AND SUBTLE FORCING FOR ASCENT WILL RESULT IN CONTINUED SHOWERS THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE COAST. MILD TONIGHT WITH TEMPS IN THE MID/UPPER 60S.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY/...
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TROUGH AXIS WILL LOCATE ALONG THE MID ATLANTIC COAST WEDS...AS A STRONG HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE PLAINS. WILL MAINTAIN SLIGHT CHANCE POPS WEDS ALONG THE COAST FOR LIGHT SHOWERS AS SUBTLE FORCING FOR ASCENT AND REMNANT MOISTURE REMAIN. CONFLUENCE ALOFT WILL ALLOW COOL HIGH PRESSURE TO BUILD OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION...EXTENDING INTO THE MID ATLANTIC REGION. COMBINATION OF NWLY FLOW...LOWER HEIGHTS AND DECREASING LOW LEVEL THICKNESS VALUES WILL TRANSLATE TO TEMPS IN THE LOW 80S WEDS AFTERNOON. REMNANT MOISTURE AND STEEP LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES WILL PROVIDE FOR GENERALLY PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES. N/NELY WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. ONSHORE WINDS ALONG THE COAST WILL KEEP TEMPS GENERALLY IN THE MID/UPPER 70S OVER THE MD/VA ERN SHORE (THANKS TO OCEAN TEMPS STILL IN THE UPPER 60S) AND ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST. BAGGY MID LEVEL TROUGH AND NWLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE MID ATLANTIC REGION THROUGH FRI. SFC HIGH PRESSURE WILL SLIDE OFFSHORE THURS-FRI. ONSHORE WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY. FRONT CURRENTLY IMPACTING THE REGION WILL STALL OFF THE SE COAST...WITH BEST MOISTURE REMAINING WELL SOUTH OF THE REGION. MODELS SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR DIURNALLY DRIVEN CONVECTION OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN...BUT EXPECT PRECIP TO STAY W OF THE FA. TEMPS WILL REMAIN SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL AS NWLY FLOW AND ONSHORE WINDS CONTINUE (MID 80S...COOLER ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST). COOL MORNING TEMPS THROUGH THE SHORT TERM WITH TEMPS GENERALLY IN THE LOW 60S. SOME INLAND LOCALES (ESPECIALLY OVER THE ERN VA PIEDMONT) WILL FALL INTO THE UPPER 50S.
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&& .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/...
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A RATHER BENIGN PATTERN IS EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE SLOWLY DROPS S OFF THE MID-ATLANTIC COAST. THERE IS VERY LITTLE POTENTIAL FOR SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT DUE TO A LACK OF LARGE SCALE FORCING AND ANY SURFACE FOCUSING MECHANISMS. A GENERAL SHIFT OF THE LOW-LEVEL FLOW FROM SE-SW WILL PRODUCE A STEADY WARMING TRENDS WITH HIGHS RISING INTO THE MID/UPPER 80S SATURDAY...TO THE UPPER 80S SUNDAY...AND EVENTUALLY TO THE UPPER 80S/LOW 90S BY MONDAY AND TUESDAY. LOW TEMPERATURES SHOULD TREND UPWARD FROM AROUND 65 EARLY IN THE PERIOD TO THE UPPER 60S/LOW 70S LATE IN THE PERIOD.
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&& .AVIATION /20Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... SHOWERS WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A COLD FRONT SLOWLY MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. THE MAIN IMPACT WILL BE LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS. EXPECT CIGS AND VIS TO LOWER BRIEFLY INTO MVFR (AND POSSIBLY IFR) CONDITIONS UNDER STRONGER STORM CORES. CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO WANE AFTER MIDNIGHT AS THE FRONT PUSHES OFFSHORE BY DAYBREAK WEDNESDAY MORNING. FOG MAY BE POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT THE REGION LATE TONIGHT INTO THE MORNING AS WELL. SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO LINGER NEAR THE COAST WEDNESDAY MORNING BEFORE THE FRONT MOVES FARTHER OUT TO SEA. OTHERWISE...CONDITIONS WILL START TO DRY OUT AND SKIES WILL GRADUALLY CLEAR FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE MID ATLANTIC REGION FROM THE NORTHWEST. HIGH PRESSURE AND VFR CONDITIONS WILL THEN DOMINATE THE WEATHER PATTERN FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. && .MARINE...
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A FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS ALIGNED SW-NE ACROSS THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION THIS AFTERNOON WITH SEVERAL WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE FRONT. THE WESTERNMOST AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER W-CENTRAL NC WILL LIFT ENE OVERNIGHT AND PULL OFF THE COAST EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. A BRIEF SHALLOW NORTHERLY CAA SURGE SHOULD FOLLOW AS THE LOW PULLS OFF THE COAST. THERE IS A TENDENCY FOR MODELS TO UNDER-ESTIMATE THESE TYPE OF SURGES...SO A SHORT-DURATION LOW-END SCA HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE BAY/LOWER JAMES/SOUND FROM 08-14Z (4-10AM). AS FOR THE OCEAN...THE WIND WILL PROGRESSIVELY BECOME NE THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OFF OF CAPE COD. AT THIS TIME THE STRENGTH OF THE FLOW IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO BUILDS SEAS TO 5FT...SO NO SCA AT THIS TIME. THE HIGH LINGERS OFF THE NORTHEAST COAST THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK...AS A WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE REMAINS QUASI-STATIONARY OFF THE NC OUTER BANKS. THIS WILL MAINTAIN STEADY 10-15KT ONSHORE FLOW...WHICH WILL HELP MAINTAIN 3-4FT SEAS. THE HIGH SLOWLY SINKS S OFF THE COAST DURING THE WEEKEND WITH THE WIND SHIFTING TO S AND REMAINING AOB 15KT.
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&& .AKQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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MD...NONE. NC...NONE. VA...NONE. MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM 4 AM TO 10 AM EDT WEDNESDAY FOR ANZ630>634-638.
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&& $$ SYNOPSIS...ALB NEAR TERM...SAM SHORT TERM...SAM LONG TERM...AJZ AVIATION...BMD MARINE...AJZ

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