Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wilmington, NC

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767 FXUS62 KILM 271322 AFDILM Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington NC 922 AM EDT Fri Jun 27 2025 .SYNOPSIS...
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Temperatures will remain near to above normal through early next week with only isolated showers and thunderstorms expected as high pressure prevails. An approaching cold front will bring increasing rain chances and slightly cooler temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday.
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&& .UPDATE...
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No significant changes were needed to the forecast with the morning update. The 12z MHX and CHS soundings confirm the difference in moisture implied by 6.95 micron water vapor satellite imagery showing a band of moisture advecting northwestward around the upper low centered over Georgia. This modest increase in moisture also lends support to the idea of at least isolated showers and thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Lapse rates aloft remain poor, but at least any growing cumulus won`t have to deal with as much dry air entrainment as yesterday. Heat indices should peak no higher than about 102 this afternoon as dewpoints mix down into the 70-72 range inland from the seabreeze/marine airmass.
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&& .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Ridging aloft, now centered north-northeast of the local area continues to weaken today as a broad 5h low moves over GA/MS. Overall little air mass change from Thu and temperatures are once again expected to be 3-5 degrees above normal. Environmental parameters are also quite similar to Thu when no diurnal convection was able to develop. Above normal temps and dewpoints in the lower 70s will create a healthy amount of SBCAPE, 2k-3k J/kg. However, the mid-levels remain on the dry side and mid level-lapse rates barely rise above 6 C/km. Only real forcing mechanism today will be the sea breeze which may be able to kick off a few storms, but not expecting a lot of coverage. Bulk of the CAMs and even the global models show minimal convective coverage this afternoon and evening. After what happened yesterday, a big nothing, plan to keep POP in the slight chance realm. As stated, nothing happened on Thu, but some of that could have been down to the environment being "worked over" in the wake of the extreme convection on Wed. Thus feel keeping a mention of storms in the forecast is warranted although the prospects don`t look good. Skies clear out tonight as diurnal clouds mix out with the loss of heating. Temperatures remain above normal in spite of the clear skies with boundary layer winds and moist low levels keeping lows around 3 degrees above normal. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... Mid level ridge will be centered offshore while decaying upper low sits over the western Carolinas. We will have thus lost most of the convectin-suppressing effects of the high but will be too far east to have any PVA-related lift from the dying low. So while forcing will be lacking outside of mesoscale boundaries low level SW flow will be bringing in moisture. Forecast PW values of 1.8-1.9" are between the 75th and 90th percentiles. A fairly normal thunderstorm distribution warranting 30 POPs still looks good, with a lesser value near the NC coast due to NNE storm motion (of 5 kt). POPs will be confined temporally to peak heating. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Not much changes Sunday when compared to Saturday though the upper low will be no more. In the end this means another day of 30 POPs, mainly inland and during the afternoon. Monday too looks to bring unchanging synoptic conditions for a similar forecast. Both days will warm to the mid 90s each afternoon with HI values remaining narrowly below advisory thresholds. The heat will start to taper Tuesday and WEdnesday as rain chances rise ahead of an approaching cold front. Thursday could grow even more unsettled as upper trough leads to some weak height falls and PVA to add some mid level ascent atop the low level lift provided by the front. && .AVIATION /12Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... High confidence in VFR through the valid TAF period. An isolated shower or thunderstorm is possible mid-afternoon through early evening at the inland terminals, but coverage will be limited by the less than favorable environment. Have removed mention of TSRA from FLO/LBT TAFs given the anticipated sparse coverage later today. Any storms that do develop will come to an end during the evening hours with skies clearing. Sea breeze will lead to a slight increase in south to southeast winds at the coastal terminals, midday through early afternoon. Extended Outlook...Brief MVFR/IFR possible due to scattered afternoon/evening thunderstorms each day. && .MARINE... Through Tonight... Typical summer pattern with Bermuda High and Piedmont trough remains in place, keeping southwest flow 10-15 kt across the waters. Strongest winds will be nearshore in the afternoon, associated with the sea breeze circulation. Seas 2-3 ft with a south to southwest wind wave slightly more dominant than the southeast swell. Saturday through Tuesday... Winds will be out of the southwest through the period. They will tend to gradually add a category of speed gradually as the piedmont trough tries to become better defined early next week, and then a further increase at the period`s end due to the approach of a cold front. SE swell energy won`t change much due to little movement of the Bermuda High but wind waves will obviously be on the rise. At this time it appears that both wind and seas will remain below SCA thresholds. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...None. SC...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...ILM UPDATE...TRA NEAR TERM...III SHORT TERM...MBB LONG TERM...MBB AVIATION...III MARINE...ILM