Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Sterling, VA

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000 FXUS61 KLWX 190744 AFDLWX AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 344 AM EDT SUN MAY 19 2013 .SYNOPSIS...
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A STATIONARY BOUNDARY WILL REMAIN SOUTH OF THE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT BEFORE LIFTING NORTH OF THE AREA MONDAY. A WEAK MID-LEVEL TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH MONDAY. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC MIDWEEK...WITH SOUTHERLY RETURN FLOW PROVIDING WARM TEMPERATURES TO THE REGION. A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH FROM THE GREAT LAKES LATE THIS WEEK.
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&& .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
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NEARLY STATIONARY BOUNDARY ALONG THE COASTAL VIRGINIA/NORTH CAROLINA BORDER WAS SNAKING ITS WAY WESTWARD THROUGH THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS AND INTO THE OHIO VALLEY EARLY THIS MORNING. MEANWHILE...HIGH PRESSURE WAS LOCATED OVER THE NORTH ATLANTIC. SURFACE SYNOPTIC FEATURES ARE FORECAST TO REMAIN NEARLY STATIC TODAY. FRONTAL BOUNDARY MAY SLIGHTLY OSCILLATE NORTH-SOUTH...BUT BOUNDARY IS FORECAST TO REMAIN SOUTH OF THE CWA. RESULT WILL BE A CONTINUATION OF EAST-SOUTHEAST FLOW IN THE LOW LEVELS WITH CLOUDY AND COOLER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS. BASED ON RADAR TRENDS...HAVE BACKED OFF ON POPS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT. IF PRECIPITATION FALLS FROM THE SKY THROUGH DAYBREAK IT WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE DRIZZLE THAN ANYTHING ELSE. HOWEVER...MEASURABLE RAINFALL ASSOCIATED WITH SHOWERS WAS NOTED ACROSS SOUTHERN VIRGINIA AT 07Z...AND THESE ARE FORECAST TO MOVE TO THE NORTH AND FURTHER DEVELOP NORTHWARD THROUGH THE DAY. POPS FROM 21Z SREFS HAVE BEEN OVERDONE AND GENERALLY DISCOUNTED AT LEAST INITIALLY. TODAYS FORECAST REFLECTS POPS WEIGHTED MORE TOWARD RADAR TRENDS INITIALLY THEN BLENDING WITH GUIDANCE FROM RECENT RUNS OF THE HRRR AND WRF-ARW WHICH ARE NOT TOO TERRIBLY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THE 00Z NAM SUGGESTS. NAM ALSO SUGGESTS SOME INSTABILITY...LIKELY ELEVATED IN NATURE...BEING PRESENT ACROSS SOUTHWEST PORTIONS OF THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON. HAVE INCLUDED MENTION OF THUNDER IN THESE AREAS. ANY OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. KEPT GREATER BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON AREA FREE OF THUNDER GIVEN RELATIVELY STABLE ONSHORE FLOW. GUIDANCE WAS TOO WARM FOR MAXIMA YESTERDAY...AND AM FEARFUL THAT GUIDANCE IS ALSO TOO WARM FOR TODAY WITH BOTH MAV AND MET GENERATING MID 70S. HAVE BLENDED BIAS CORRECTED MAV/MET AS A BASIS AND MANUALLY ADJUSTED MAXIMA DOWNWARD SEVERAL DEGREES PARTICULARLY EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE AS ONSHORE FLOW...CLOUDS AND EVENTUALLY RAINFALL ARE EXPECTED. FOR TONIGHT...MODELS ARE SUGGESTIVE THAT THE STATIONARY FRONT WILL START TO MAKE ITS WAY NORTH. EVEN IF LOW LEVEL FLOW TURNS MORE TO THE SOUTH...AM NOT CONVINCED THAT ENOUGH WIND IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER WILL BE ABLE TO PUSH THE FRONT THIS FAR TO THE NORTH. THEREFORE FORECAST REFLECTS THIS BOUNDARY REMAINING SOUTH OF THE CWA...KEEPING LOW CLOUD COVER OVER THE CWA. NORTH OF THE BOUNDARY...LIFT ENHANCED BY A SHORTWAVE AT 500 MB IS LIKELY TO BRING AT LEAST SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER THE CWA. STAYED CLOSE TO BIAS CORRECTED MAV/MET FOR MINIMA.
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&& .SHORT TERM /MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
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LLVL RIDGE WILL AMPLIFY OVER THE WRN ATLANTIC DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE WORK WEEK. BROAD SLY RETURN FLOW ON THE WRN PERIPHERY OF THE HIGH WILL KEEP WHATEVER IS LEFT OF THE REMNANT SFC WARM FRONT NORTH OF THE AREA DURING THIS TIME. SOUTH OF THIS FRONT...A WARM AND A MODESTLY HUMID AIRMASS WILL BE IN PLACE. MAX TEMPS IN THE 80S EACH DAY ALTHOUGH CLOUDS MAY INHIBIT TEMPS FROM REACHING 80F IN SOME LOCATIONS ON MON. BOTH THE 00Z NAM/GFS PROG A MID-LVL SHORTWAVE TROUGH THAT IS CURRENTLY OVER THE TN VLY TO SLOWLY MOVE WD THRU THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION ON MON. LIFT/MOISTURE AHEAD OF THE TROUGH IN CONJUNCTION WITH DAYTIME HEATING WILL SUPPORT DIURNAL CONVECTION OVER THE CWA. POPS HIGHEST TOWARD CENTRAL VA/SRN MD BUT STILL IN CHANCE RANGE. MID-LVL RIDGE BUILDS OVERHEAD TUE AND WED AFTER THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH EXITS THE AREA. COVERAGE OF SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL BE LOW TUE AND WED DUE TO AN ABSENCE OF ORGANIZED LIFT AND A STRENGTHENING SUBSIDENCE INVERSION. KEPT FCST DRY FOR MOST OF THE I-95 CORRIDOR AND CHSPK BAY AS WEAK STEERING FLOW WILL LIMIT HOW FAR EAST CONVECTION PROPAGATES ONCE INITIATED OVER THE MTS.
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&& .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/...
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SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH FROM THE GREAT LAKES/MIDWEST REGIONS WED NGT AND THU BEFORE PASSING THRU THE AREA ON FRI. CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL ACCORDINGLY INCREASE LATE IN THE WEEK AND WILL BE HIGHEST WITH FROPA. ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT WILL TREND MUCH COOLER IN WAKE OF FROPA FRI INTO THE WEEKEND.
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&& .AVIATION /08Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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WITH MOIST ONSHORE FLOW IN PLACE...CONFIDENCE IS HIGH IN THE PRESENCE OF IFR/LIFR FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS THROUGH THIS MORNING. CONFIDENCE LOWERS TO MODERATE REGARDING THE ENDING TIME OF THESE FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS. HAVE FAVORED LAMP GUIDANCE ON KEEPING IFR UNTIL 17-18Z. DESPITE HIGH SUN ANGLE...THESE CONDITIONS COULD LINGER LONGER GIVEN EASTERLY FLOW. ANY IMPROVEMENT THAT OCCURS LATER THIS AFTERNOON IS EXPECTED TO BE BRIEF AS A STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS FORECAST TO REMAIN TO THE SOUTH OF THE AREA TONIGHT. EVEN IF EASTERLY FLOW BECOMES MORE SOUTH-SOUTHEAST...A DEGRADATION TO IFR/LIFR CONDITIONS IS EXPECTED OVERNIGHT PER GUIDANCE. THE ONLY TAF SITE WITH THE INCLUSION OF THUNDER IN THE GRIDS IS CHO...REST OF THE SITES ARE EXPECTED TO BE TOO STABLE FOR THUNDER AND ONLY SHRA WAS MENTIONED IN TAFS. IFR CONDITIONS LIKELY TO START THE DAY MON BEFORE MRNG STRATUS/ FOG MIX OUT FROM W TO E. PREDOMINATELY VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED MON AFTN ALTHOUGH BRIEF RESTRICTIONS IN SHRA/TSRA ARE POSSIBLE. DIURNAL FOG/LOW CLOUDS POSSIBLE AT NGT AND ERY IN THE MRNG EACH DAY IN THE MIDWEEK. CHANCES FOR SHRA/TSRA WILL BE LOW DURING THIS TIME.
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&& .MARINE...
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EASTERLY FLOW STARTS TO BECOME SOUTHEAST LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MODELS FORECAST WINDS TO INCREASE...AND SOUTHEAST WINDS TEND TO BE ENHANCED OVER THE LOWER TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER AND UP THE BAY. SCA IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING FOR THESE AREAS. ITS POSSIBLE THAT THE SCA COULD NEED TO BE EXTENDED INTO THE OVERNIGHT FOR SOME OF THESE AREAS. LGT SLY FLOW ERY IN THE WEEK WILL STRENGTHEN LATER IN THE WEEK. SCA CONDITIONS POSSIBLE BY THU...WHEN A COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NW.
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&& .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...
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DEPARTURES WERE ABOUT 1/2 FT ON THE BAY AND CLOSE TO 1 FT ON THE UPPER TIDAL POTOMAC EARLY THIS MORNING. THESE ANOMALIES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO RESULT IN TIDAL FLOODING DURING THE NEXT HIGH TIDE. AND IF THESE ANOMALIES REMAIN THE SAME...NO FLOODING SHOULD OCCUR WITH THE SUBSEQUENT HIGH TIDE CYCLE EITHER. THIS IS IN LINE WITH THE LATEST CBOFS FORECAST. HOWEVER...AS WINDS TURN MORE TO THE SOUTHEAST AND THEN SOUTH...DEPARTURES MAY INCREASE MONDAY INCREASING THE RISK FOR MINOR TIDAL FLOODING AT SENSITIVE LOCATIONS. WATER LEVELS SHOULD TICK UPWARD ERY NEXT WEEK WITH SLY FLOW PERSISTING AND A WAXING GIBBOUS MOON. THIS FAR OUT...STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY IF POSITIVE ANOMALIES INCREASE ENOUGH TO REACH MINOR THRESHOLD.
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&& .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT FOR ANZ531-532-539-540. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT FOR ANZ533-534-537-541-543.
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&& $$ PELOQUIN/KLEIN

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