Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Charleston, SC

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000 FXUS62 KCHS 180754 AFDCHS AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 354 AM EDT TUE JUN 18 2013 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO RETREAT FARTHER INTO THE ATLANTIC EARLY THIS WEEK. A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH FROM THE NORTHWEST TUESDAY...THEN SLOWLY PROGRESS THROUGH THE AREA WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BUILD FROM THE NORTH INTO THE WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
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THROUGH SUNRISE...A STRONG CLUSTER OF TSTMS WHICH MOVED THROUGH THE CHARLESTON METRO AREA AROUND 3 AM IS PUSHING STEADILY OFFSHORE. ONCE THIS ACTIVITY MOVES INTO THE ATLANTIC...EXPECT RELATIVELY QUIET CONDITIONS THROUGH SUNRISE. SATELLITE SHOWS SOME CLEARING OCCURRING ACROSS SOUTHEAST GEORGIA WHICH COULD WORK FARTHER UP ALONG THE LOWER SOUTH CAROLINA COAST OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. CLOUD SEE SOME PATCHES OF LOW CLOUDS AND FOG FORM GIVEN THE LIGHT WIND FIELDS THAT ARE IN PLACE. TODAY...IT LOOKS TO BE ANOTHER ACTIVE DAY FOR SHOWERS/TSTMS. MODELS ARE SIMILAR IN SHOWING ANOTHER POTENT SHORTWAVE TRAVERSING SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AS INSOLATION PEAKS. SOME FILTERED SUNSHINE THIS MORNING SHOULD ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO RISE QUICKLY...REACHING THE UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S AWAY FROM THE BEACHES BY EARLY AFTERNOON. THE RESULTANT SEA BREEZE AS WELL AS LINGERING CONVECTIVE OUTFLOWS AND POSSIBLY SOME DIFFERENTIAL HEATING BOUNDARIES WILL SERVE AS THE PRIMARY FOCI FOR CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT. GENERALLY FOLLOWED THE 4KM WRF/S CONVECTIVE SOLUTION TO CONSTRUCT HOURLY POPS WHICH MATCHES FAIRLY WELL WITH THE LATEST H3R. GIVEN THAT...WILL GO WITH A 50-70 POP REGIME TODAY...WITH THE HIGHEST GRIDDED POPS ALIGNED NORTH OF A METTER-BEAUFORT-CHARLESTON LINE. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE WITH PWATS 1.8 TO 2.0 INCHES AND AN ISOLATED SEVERE TSTM OR TWO CAN NOT BE COMPLETELY RULED OUT...ESPECIALLY WHERE UPDRAFTS ARE ENHANCED DUE TO MESOSCALE BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS.
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&& .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
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TONIGHT...SHOWER/TSTM ACTIVITY WILL LINGER INTO THE NIGHT AS A COLD FRONT MEANDERS CLOSER TO THE REGION. THE FRONT LOOKS TO REMAIN TO THE WEST PRIOR TO SUNRISE...KEEPING THE AREA WELL WITHIN THE WARM SECTOR. WEAK IMPULSES/VORTICITY LOBES WILL LIKELY KEEP AT LEAST SCATTERED ACTIVITY GOING FOR MUCH OF THE NIGHT...ALTHOUGH IDENTIFYING THE AREAS WHERE POCKETS OF CONVECTION WILL OCCUR IS PROVING DIFFICULT. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS GOING ALL NIGHT. LOWS WILL RANGE FROM THE LOWER 70S INLAND TO THE MID 70S AT THE COAST. WEDNESDAY...THE WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE RIDING ALONG THE COLD FRONT WILL HAVE SHIFTED OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COASTLINE BY DAYBREAK...WHILE THE MAIN SHORTWAVE RAPIDLY PROGRESSES TOWARD THE EAST COAST AND PUSHES THE FRONT INTO THE FORECAST AREA. THE COMBINATION OF UPPER LEVEL FORCING WITH FRONTAL CONVERGENCE WILL SUPPORT SOLID THUNDERSTORM CHANCES UP TO 50 PERCENT DURING THE DAYTIME HOURS...BEFORE THE FRONT SLIPS FARTHER SOUTH/SOUTHEAST AND PULLS DEEPEST MOISTURE TOWARD THE ALTAMAHA RIVER AFTER SUNSET. HIGHER RAIN CHANCES WERE CONSIDERED...YET FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT TIMING DISCREPANCIES REGARDING THE PROGRESSION OF THE FRONT IS EVIDENT BETWEEN MODELS...LENDING SOME UNCERTAINTY TO COVERAGE DETAILS. WILL TREND CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL DOWNWARD FROM NORTH TO SOUTH OVERNIGHT...WHILE STILL MAINTAINING 20 TO 30 PERCENT POPS THROUGH THE PRE DAWN HOURS ON THURSDAY. INSTABILITY WILL BE COMPROMISED BY PERSISTENT CLOUD COVER...AND WITH UNIMPRESSIVE WIND PROFILES...THE MAIN HAZARD FROM THE STRONGEST CONVECTION WILL BE HEAVY DOWNPOURS DUE TO SLOW STORM MOTION. THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO STALL NEAR THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THE FORECAST AREA AS IT BECOMES PARALLEL TO THE FLOW ALOFT LATE IN THE WEEK. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE REGION FROM THE NORTH...WITH THE PATTERN EVENTUALLY TRANSITIONING INTO AN INLAND WEDGE/COASTAL TROUGH TYPE SCENARIO. EXPECT BEST CONVECTIVE COVERAGE TO BE FOUND ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE STALLED FRONT DURING THE DAYTIME HOURS...WITH SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHIFTING MORE TOWARD THE COAST AND OFFSHORE EACH NIGHT WITHIN COASTAL TROUGH CONVERGENCE. HIGH TEMPERATURES EACH DAY WILL GENERALLY RANGE FROM THE UPPER 80S NORTH TO AROUND 90 DEGREES SOUTH...WITH LOCALLY COOLER CONDITIONS ALONG THE COASTLINE. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL TREND A FEW DEGREES COOLER THAN EARLIER IN THE WEEK...RANGING FROM THE UPPER 60S INLAND TO LOWER 70S COAST.
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&& .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/...
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A WEAK INLAND WEDGE/COASTAL TROUGH PATTERN WILL PERSIST INTO SATURDAY...BEFORE THE TROUGH DAMPENS BY SUNDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OVER THE ATLANTIC. THE FORECAST AREA WILL THEN REMAIN ALONG THE WESTERN PERIPHERY OF THE ATLANTIC HIGH PRESSURE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL RANGE FROM AROUND 20 TO 30 PERCENT EACH AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...BEFORE DIMINISHING OVERNIGHT AS MORE TYPICAL FOR EARLY SUMMER. THE INITIALLY WEAK AND ILL DEFINED UPPER LEVEL PATTERN WILL TRANSITION INTO BROAD RIDGING ALOFT...SUPPORTING A GRADUAL WARMING TREND THROUGH THE PERIOD. HIGH TEMPERATURES AROUND 90 DEGREES AWAY FROM THE COASTLINE SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WILL WARM INTO THE LOWER 90S BY MONDAY AND TUESDAY.
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&& .AVIATION /07Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
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TSTMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE KCHS TERMINAL 06-08Z BRINGING GUSTY WINDS AND LOCALIZED IFR VSBYS. THE NEAR TERM RISK FOR TSTMS SHOULD END BY 08Z WITH A RETURN TO VFR CONDITIONS. VFR WILL DOMINATE AT KSAV THROUGH SUNRISE WITH THE BULK OF THE TSTMS ACTIVITY PASSING TO THE NORTH OF THAT TERMINAL. HIGH RESOLUTION MODELS SHOW ANOTHER BATCH OF SHOWERS/TSTMS MOVING ACROSS THE COASTAL CORRIDOR BY LATE MORNING AFTERNOON AS A POTENT SHORTWAVE PUSHES THROUGH. WILL CARRY TEMPO GROUPS FOR 4SM TSRA BR BKN040CB FROM 18-21Z AT KCHS AND 16-19Z AT KSAV TO COVER. ADJUSTMENTS WILL MOST CERTAINLY BE NEEDED AS THE MORNING PROGRESSES. EXTENDED AVIATION...PERIODIC FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY IN ASSOCIATION WITH SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHRA/TSRA...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS.
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&& .MARINE...
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TODAY...SOUTHERLY FLOW REGIME WILL REMAIN IN TACT. WINDS WILL GENERALLY REMAIN 10-15 KT WITH SEAS 2-4 FT NEARSHORE WATERS AND 4-5 FT OFFSHORE WATERS. TONIGHT...WINDS WILL PICK UP SLIGHTLY AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. WINDS LOOK TO PEAK 15-20 KT OVER THE GEORGIA OFFSHORE WATERS AND THE CHARLESTON COUNTY COASTAL WATERS WITH 15 KT ELSEWHERE OUTSIDE OF THE CHARLESTON HARBOR. SEAS WILL REMAIN 2-4 FT NEARSHORE AND 4-5 FT GEORGIA OFFSHORE WATERS...BUT MAY FLIRT WITH 6 FT AT TIMES ABOUT 15 NM EAST OF THE CHARLESTON COUNTY COAST. SITUATION LOOKS TO MARGINAL FOR A SECOND PERIOD SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...SO WILL DEFER ANY ADVISORY DECISION TO THE NEXT FORECAST SHIFT. WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...A COLD FRONT WILL SLIP INTO THE COASTAL WATERS WEDNESDAY AND LIKELY STALL NEAR THE GEORGIA MARINE ZONES THURSDAY. SOUTHERLY WINDS EARLY WEDNESDAY WILL THUS BECOME EAST/NORTHEAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY BEHIND THE DESCENDING FRONT. A BRIEF SURGE IN NORTHEAST FLOW IS POSSIBLE THURSDAY AFTERNOON...AS HIGH PRESSURE RAPIDLY BUILDS FROM THE NORTH AND BRIEFLY TIGHTENS THE GRADIENT. WIND SPEEDS COULD INCREASE TO 15 TO 20 KT OVER PORTIONS OF THE WATERS AT THAT TIME...YET CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN BELOW SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS. MODERATE EAST/NORTHEAST FLOW WILL CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY WITHIN A COASTAL TROUGH TYPE PATTERN...BEFORE WINDS BECOME LIGHTER ON SATURDAY AS THE CENTER OF HIGH PRESSURE SHIFTS OFFSHORE.
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&& .CHS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. SC...NONE. MARINE...NONE. && $$ ST/WMS

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