Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wilmington, NC

Current Version | Previous Version | Text Only | Print | Product List | Glossary On
Versions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
-- Remove Highlighting --
-- Discussion containing changed information from previous version are highlighted. --
000 FXUS62 KILM 181908 AFDILM AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 308 PM EDT SAT MAY 18 2013 .SYNOPSIS...
-- Changed Discussion --
RAIN CHANCES WILL INCREASE THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS WEAK LOW PRESSURE ALOFT DRIFTS ACROSS THE CAROLINAS...WITH DAY AND NIGHT TIME TEMPERATURES RUNNING NEAR NORMAL FOR MIDDLE MAY. BERMUDA HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD TOWARD THE EAST COAST MID THROUGH LATE WEEK...BRINGING A DRYING AND WARMING TREND.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
-- Changed Discussion --
AS OF 3 PM SATURDAY...SLOW MOVING AND DIFFUSE MID LEVEL TROUGH WILL BEGIN TO IMPACT THE AREA IN A MORE SIGNIFICANT MANNER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MOST OF THE HIGH RESOLUTION GUIDANCE AS WELL AS THE SREF IS AGGRESSIVE ON QPF ACROSS THE WESTERN ZONES BY 0000 UTC AND HAVE RAISED POPS TO LIKELY IN THESE AREAS. THE COAST SHOULD REMAIN RELATIVELY FREE OF ACTIVITY AS THE MARINE INFLUENCE AND THE DISPLACEMENT FROM THE BETTER MID LEVEL FORCING TAKES ITS TOLL. THERE REMAINS A DEFINITE CONVECTIVE NATURE TO THE ACTIVITY SO I HAVE INCREMENTALLY LOWERED POPS FOR THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. THE LACK OF THUNDER PROBABLY WARRANTS A CHANGE IN WEATHER TYPE WITH ONLY ISOLATED THUNDER BEING MORE APPROPRIATE. WITH ALL THE MOISTURE AND NO WEAK FRONTS AROUND TO DISTORT OVERNIGHT LOWS...SLIGHTLY WARMER VALUES THAN MOS IS ADVERTISING APPEARS TO BE THE BEST STRATEGY.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/...
-- Changed Discussion --
AS OF 3 PM SATURDAY...BATCHES OF SHORT-WAVE ENERGY EVIDENT IN VAPOR ANIMATIONS TWISTING AND CURLING WELL UPSTREAM OVER THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY WILL APPROACH AND MOVE ACROSS THE CAROLINAS SUNDAY AND MONDAY. COLUMN MOISTURE/PWAT VALUES WILL INCREASE AND WE MAY SEE A FEW DEGREES OF H7 COOLING AS THESE DISTURBANCES MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. THESE SUBTLE FEATURES OF SLIGHT COOLING ALOFT AND INCREASING MID-LEVEL MOISTURE MAKE A LARGER DIFFERENCE THIS TIME OF YEAR WHEN CONVECTION BREWS. WILL MAINTAIN HIGH SCATTERED TO LIKELY POP VALUES SUNDAY INTO MONDAY GIVEN THESE ANTICIPATED INGREDIENTS. CONSIDERABLE CLOUDINESS WILL TEMPER MAX TEMPS IN THE LOW 80S MOST LOCATIONS BOTH SUNDAY AND MONDAY...WHILE KEEP NIGHT TIME READINGS VERY MILD. AN H7 COLD FRONT WILL BRING A WIND-SHIFT AND DRYING ALOFT LATE MONDAY AND HAVE TAPERED POP VALUES INTO VERY EARLY TUESDAY. EXPECTED RAIN AMOUNTS/QPF BOTH DAYS ADDS UP TO A 1/2 TO 1 INCH ALONG AND NEAR THE COAST...AND POTENTIALLY 1-2 INCHES OVER OUR WESTERN ZONES AND FAR INTERIOR FOR THE PERIOD SUNDAY AND MONDAY.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
-- Changed Discussion --
AS OF 3 PM SATURDAY...BROAD UPPER RIDGING IN PLACE ON TUESDAY AS WILL BE WEST ATLANTIC SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE. MAIN POINT OF UNCERTAINTY REGARDING MID LEVEL SHORTWAVE/PRONOUNCED SHEAR AXIS. SOME GUIDANCE HAS IT ALREADY OFFSHORE FOR WHAT SHOULD BE A RATHER QUIET AFTERNOON WITH NEAR SEASONABLE TEMPS WHILE OTHERS HAVE IT ALONG THE COAST FOR SLIGHTLY MORE ACTIVE AFTERNOON OF CONVECTION. GIVEN HOW WEAK THE FLOW IS WILL SHOW LOW END CHANCE POPS. WITH THIS FEATURE OUT OF THE PICTURE WEDNESDAY EXPECT A FURTHER WARMUP AND MERELY ISOLATED CONVECTION ALONG BOUNDARIES LIKE THE SEA BREEZE AND OUTFLOW FROM ANY ACTIVITY FROM THE PRIOR AFTERNOON. A VERY GRADUAL UPTICK IN MID LEVEL SWRLY FLOW EXPECTED THURSDAY AHEAD OF TROUGINESS STRENGTHENING OVER OH/UPPER MS VALLEYS. THURSDAY THUS BEGINS AN UPWARD TREND IN CONVECTIVE COVERAGE AS MOISTURE MAY DEEPEN. THE ACTUAL CYCLONIC FLOW ASSOC WITH THE TROUGH WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGION THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY FURTHER BOLSTERING RAIN CHANCES AND TEMPERING DAYTIME HIGHS BACK TOWARDS CLIMO.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .AVIATION /18Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... AS OF 18Z...IN GENERAL...EXPECT VFR THROUGH MUCH OF THE PERIOD. HOWEVER...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS SHOULD DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND IMPACT THE INLAND TERMINALS DIRECTLY AND AFFECT THE COASTAL TERMINALS WITH DEBRIS CLOUDS. SHOWERS AND STORMS...DEBRIS CLOUDS AND THE PERIOD FOR ABOUT 3 HOURS AFTER SUNRISE SUNDAY MAY RESULT IN BRIEF PERIODS OF MVFR CONDITIONS AT ALL TERMINALS WITH THE GREATEST POTENTIAL AT LBT/FLO. LINGERING CLOUDS AND THE PROXIMITY OF THE UPPER LEVEL ENERGY TRIGGERING THE STORMS SHOULD PRECLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SIGNIFICANT FOG TONIGHT. OUTSIDE STORMS...S TO SW WINDS OF 5 TO 10 KT ARE EXPECTED DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS THROUGH THE PERIOD. EXTENDED OUTLOOK...AFTN SHOWERS/TSTMS POSSIBLE THROUGH MONDAY. OTHERWISE VFR. && .MARINE...
-- Changed Discussion --
NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... AS OF 3 PM SATURDAY...THE ONLY SURFACE FEATURE TO IMPACT THE COASTAL WATERS IS THE SEA BREEZE AND THIS IS TYPICAL OF A SUMMERTIME PATTERN. OTHERWISE...LOW LEVEL WIND PROFILES...THROUGH 850MB...SHOW ONLY A MARGINAL INCREASE OVERNIGHT TO ABOUT 16 KNOTS...UP FROM ABOUT TEN KNOTS. THIS WILL WARRANT AN INCREASE IN THE FORECAST TO A RANGE OF 10-15 KNOTS FROM THE SOUTH. SIGNIFICANT SEAS WILL SEE AN INCREASE FROM AROUND TWO FEET TO 2-3 FEET. SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 3 PM SATURDAY...LESS THAN IDEAL MARINE CONDITIONS EXPECTED SUNDAY AND MONDAY BUT NO HEADLINES OR CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS ARE EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. SW WINDS OF 15-20 KT AND 4 FT SEAS WILL MARK A GOOD PORTION OF THE MARINE FORECAST SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY AS BERMUDA HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS WEST TOWARD THE COAST AND LOWER PRESSURE INLAND INTERACT. SEAS WILL BE COMPOSED OF GROWING S WAVES WITH PERIODS AROUND 6 SECONDS AND LOW-AMPLITUDE ESE SWELL WAVES. MARINERS SHOULD CONSIDER GETTING A FIX ON RADAR TRENDS BEFORE HEADING OUT SINCE TSTMS MAY DOT THE WATERS...FAVORED MOSTLY LATE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. WINDS AND WAVES WILL BE LOCALLY HIGHER IN AND NEAR TSTMS. LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... AS OF 3 PM SATURDAY...SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW SHOULD PERVADE THE ENTIRE PERIOD AS HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY ACROSS THE WESTERN ATLANTIC. THE FLOW MAY INCREASE TOWARDS THE END OF THE PERIOD AS RIDGE AXIS INTO THE CAROLINAS DEVELOPS AND MOVES TO THE NORTH. THIS COULD ALSO STEER JUST ENOUGH SWELL ENERGY INTO THE REGION TO BUILD SEAS A FOOT OR TWO.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...NONE. NC...NONE. MARINE...NONE. && $$ NEAR TERM...SHK SHORT TERM...MJC LONG TERM...MBB AVIATION...RAN/SHK

USA.gov is the U.S. government's official web portal to all federal, state and local government web resources and services.