Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC

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986 FXUS62 KRAH 090704 AFDRAH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Raleigh NC 304 AM EDT Wed Jul 9 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Disturbances in unseasonably moist, southwesterly flow aloft will interact with a surface trough over the Middle Atlantic and Carolinas through Thursday. && .NEAR TERM /TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT/...
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As of 300 AM Wednesday... * Scattered flash-flooding is expected this afternoon through late this evening, especially in urban areas of the Piedmont (including the Triad) as well as the hydrological sensitive areas of the eastern Piedmont from Chantal rainfall. * Flood Watch in effect for a majority of the central NC Piedmont and western Sandhills from 2 PM today until 2 AM tonight. Convectively amplified shortwaves are expected to ripple through the base of the broad mid/upper level trough currently stretching from the Great Lakes through the Ohio Valley and into the ArkLaTex region. This will result in weak but gradual H5 heights falls to leak into the Mid-Atlantic this afternoon through the overnight period. Anomalous deep layer moisture will gradually increase to around 2" areawide (exceeding the 90th percentile) and prime the area for efficient heavy rainfall showers/storms during the afternoon. Showers and storms are expected to develop along the eastern slopes of the mountains and over western NC and gradually shift eastward into central NC through mid-afternoon. The likely greatest concern through tonight will be for scattered instances of flash-flooding this afternoon through late this evening. Anomalous deep-layer moisture, weak steering winds, a deep warm-cloud layer >10,000 ft, and moderate to strong instability are all very favorable ingredients for flash-flooding. Additionally, the eastern Piedmont is still hydrological sensitive due to rainfall from Chantal (soil moisture still 50-70% and FFG of around 2.5" in 6 hours). 00z HREF and the 18z REFS continue to indicate 40 to +60% probabilities for >3" in 24 hours, but investigating the LPMM fields, these areas of locally enhanced rainfall will likely be scattered in nature in concentrated areas. The limited coverage of these amounts in available guidance precludes higher probabilities for flash-flooding at this time. Observational trends will be assessed through this afternoon whether a moderate risk for excessive rainfall (Level 3 out of 4) will be needed. Finally, even with continued weak synoptic support for showers/storms to continue overnight, available guidance still shows a noticeable weakening trend to convective intensity from 03-06z. As such, will opt to not extend the Flood Watch through the overnight hours at this time. There is also a risk for wet-downbursts and convective clusters along a common cold pool, which may result in isolated damaging wind gusts. Downed trees and potential property damage may be locally enhanced over the eastern Piedmont where still heavily saturated soils would provide little resistance to even sub-severe wind gusts. Temperatures in the low 90s and dew points in the mid 70s will result in another hot and humid day with heat indices mostly ranging from 100 to 104. Although brief periods of time when 105 will be possible, short temporal duration and patchy areal coverage will preclude the need for a heat advisory with the early-morning forecast update.
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&& .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/...
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As of 249 PM Tuesday... The short term forecast discussion will be updated shortly...
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&& .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... As of 125 PM Tuesday... The chance of showers/storms will continue to be high in the extended forecast, although a wash-out over several days is not expected. Coverage should be the greatest on Thursday as an upper trough is over the Ohio Valley, with 80-90% chances of storms across all locations. After this, the upper flow becomes a bit more zonal in nature, which should help to decrease the chances of showers/storms each afternoon/evening. Once an upper high begins to develop over the eastern Gulf Sunday into Monday, this will pump additional moisture into the area, resuming the higher chances for showers/storms. Thursday remains under a marginal (level 1 of 5) severe thunderstorm risk from the Storm Prediction Center - despite meager wind shear, there should still be warm and moist enough conditions to prompt some isolated severe thunderstorms. As for temperatures, values should be relatively close to seasonal values, with highs in the upper 80s/lower 90s and lows in the low to mid 70s.. && .AVIATION /05Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... As of 105 AM Wednesday... Minor tweaks were made to the 06z TAFs. VFR conditions begin the forecast period with SCT MVFR beginning to develop in between the FAY, RDU, and RWI terminals. This appears co-located where the heaviest rain fell this past afternoon. How this expands is uncertain, but a slow development of MVFR to IFR cigs is expected, especially around sunrise. Slow improvement through the morning hours with scattered to locally numerous showers/storms expected to develop over western NC by early afternoon (16-18z) and slowly shift eastward through midnight. Timing of TEMPOs at GSO, INT, and RDU for storms was tweaked based on latest hi-res guidance timing. Outlook: Scattered storms are expected each afternoon and evening through Fri, as a weak upper trough slowly approaches from the west; greatest coverage through the outlook period may be Thurs. Early morning fog and/or stratus will also be possible. Storm coverage decreasing a bit this weekend as westerly flow aloft takes hold. && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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Flood Watch from 2 PM EDT this afternoon through late tonight for NCZ007>010-021>025-038>040-073>076-083>086.
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&& $$ SYNOPSIS...MWS NEAR TERM...Swiggett SHORT TERM...Danco LONG TERM...Green AVIATION...Swiggett/MWS