Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC

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000 FXUS62 KRAH 170725 AFDRAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 315 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2013 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH FROM THE NORTHWEST TODAY AND ACROSS OUR REGION LATE TUESDAY. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/...
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AS OF 315 AM MONDAY... HIGH CLOUDINESS HAS BEEN INCREASING AND PATCHY LIGHT RAIN HAS BEEN THREATENING TO ENCIRCLE THE RAH CWFA OVERNIGHT. EXPECT TO SEE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW STORMS SPREAD IN FROM THE WEST AS WEAK FORCING FROM OVERNIGHT CONVECTION ADVECTS INTO THE AREA IN CONCERT WITH A MINOR SHORT WAVE PRESSING IN FROM THE NORTHWEST. THIS WILL FINALLY GIVE OUR WARM AND INCREASINGLY MOIST AIRMASS A REASON TO PRECIPITATE. WILL TREND INCREASING POPS...ALTHOUGH STILL KEEPING THEM IN THE CHANCE CATEGORY...THROUGH THE MORNING FROM THE WEST. WILL NOT MAKE A LOT OF DISTINCTION ACROSS THE AREA AS IT IS DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT AN AREA THAT MIGHT BE PARTICULARLY PRONE TO INCREASED COVERAGE GIVEN THE RELATIVE UNIFORMITY OF THE AIRMASS AND WEAKNESS OF THE FORCING. GUIDANCE HIGH TEMPS SEEM RATHER HIGH GIVEN THE CLOUD TRENDS...THINK THAT AT LEAST THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT SHOULDN`T MAKE THE UPPER 80S AND WILL GO GENERALLY MID 80S ACROSS THE BOARD. BOTH THE GFS AND ECM SHOW A LULL ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER TONIGHT ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER IN SUBSIDENCE BEHIND THE INITIAL UPPER SHORT WAVE. THUNDER WILL BE TOUGH TO PRODUCE GIVEN SUBSIDENCE AND UNFAVORABLE NOCTURNAL TREND. WILL TREND POPS FOR SHOWERS TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST. MINS WILL BE PERSISTENCE AND ON THE MILD SIDE...UPPER 60S.
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&& .SHORT TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 240 AM MONDAY... A SERIES OF DISTURBANCES ALOFT...WHICH HAVE TRENDED WEAKER IN NWP GUIDANCE DURING THE PAST FEW DAYS AND WHOSE TIMING IS UNCERTAIN GIVEN THE PROBABILITY OF BEING MODULATED BY UPSTREAM CONVECTION...WILL MIGRATE THROUGH THE BASE OF A BROAD TROUGH ALOFT EAST OF THE ROCKIES...AND ACROSS THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS/NC THROUGH WED. MEANWHILE AT THE SURFACE...A PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH OVER THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC REGION THIS MORNING WILL STRENGTHEN THROUGH TUE...THEN BE OVERTAKEN BY A COLD FRONT THAT WILL SETTLE SLOWLY SOUTHWARD FROM THE MASON DIXON LINE TUE EVENING TO THE NC/SC LINE BY WED EVENING. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES WILL CONSEQUENTLY REMAIN ABOVE AVERAGE...BETWEEN 1.5 AND 1.8 INCHES... UNTIL FRONTAL PASSAGE. THE DEEP MOISTURE AND ASSOCIATED UNINHIBITED CONDITIONAL INSTABILITY... WHICH IS FORECAST TO MAXIMIZE IN THE 1000-1500 J/KG EACH AFTERNOON...WILL SUPPORT NUMEROUS TO WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS...WITH COVERAGE DIMINISHING WITH NOCTURNAL COOLING TUE NIGHT...AND THEN FROM NORTH TO SOUTH WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE ON WED. GIVEN THE EXPECTATION OF WEAKER DISTURBANCES THAN PREVIOUSLY INDICATED...NOTED ABOVE...MID LEVEL FLOW AND ASSOCIATED BULK SHEAR VALUES ARE NOW FORECAST TO PEAK ONLY IN THE 20-25 KT RANGE...HIGHEST WED. AS SUCH...ALREADY MINIMAL SEVERE POTENTIAL WILL BE FURTHER MUTED UNLESS POCKETS OF STRONGER INSOLATION AND MODERATE INSTABILITY ARE REALIZED...IN WHICH CASE A FEW STRONG-MARGINALLY SEVERE WET MICROBURSTS WOULD BE PROBABLE. A MORE LIKELY SCENARIO REMAINS A THREAT OF DOWNPOURS AND LOCALIZED FLOODING IN TRAINING CONVECTION...OWING TO WSW MEAN FLOW ALIGNED PARALLEL TO THE MYRIAD OF UNDERLYING SURFACE BOUNDARIES (TROUGH/EFFECTIVE FRONT-OUTFLOW /ACTUAL FRONT...AND TO BACKBUILDING INDICATED BY SMALL FORECAST CORFIDI VECTORS. ANY SUCH FLOODING WILL NOT BE WIDESPREAD...AND INSTEAD CONFINED MOST LIKELY TO URBAN AREAS SINCE THE ANDREA-SOAKED SOIL HAS DRIED IN THE PAST WEEK TO 10 DAYS...AND RESULTANT FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE VALUES HAVE INCREASED...INTO THE 2.5 TO 3 INCH RANGE FOR ONE HOUR FOR EXAMPLE. PROVIDED THERE ARE AT LEAST A FEW BREAKS IN OTHERWISE MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND CONVECTION...TEMPERATURES SHOULD CLIMB INTO THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 80S...WARMEST SANDHILLS TUE. OTHERWISE...UPPER 70S WOULD BE PROBABLE (IE. IN AREAS THAT EXPERIENCE MORE FREQUENT SHOWERS AND STORMS). LOWS TUE NIGHT MOSTLY IN THE UPPER 60S...TO AROUND 70 DEGREES SOUTH...COOLING A CATEGORY TO TWO IN COOLER POST-FRONTAL NE FLOW WED NIGHT. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... AS OF 305 AM SUNDAY... THU THROUGH FRI: BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES - GENERALLY IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 80S - IN WEAK POST-FRONTAL HIGH PRESSURE AND ASSOCIATED NE TO EAST LOW LEVEL FLOW AND STABILITY...WILL THEN PREVAIL THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. WILL ACCORDINGLY MAINTAIN THE FLAVOR OF PREVIOUS GENERALLY DRY FORECASTS FOR THU-FRI...EXCEPT FOR THE SLIGHTEST OF CHANCES ALONG THE FAR SOUTHERN AND WESTERN TIER...WHERE BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE WOULD SUPPORT A LATE DAY SHOWER OR STORM. EVEN THAT SLIGHT CHANCE MAY BE OVERDONE GIVEN AN APPARENT LACK OF TRIGGER AMIDST DIVERGENT ANTICYCLONIC FLOW WITHIN THE AFOREMENTIONED SURFACE RIDGE AXIS. THIS WEEKEND: A SHALLOW UPPER LOW WILL HAVE DRIFTED INTO THE SOUTHEAST STATES BY THE START OF THE WEEKEND...BUT INSTEAD OF LIFTING TOWARD THE EAST COAST...GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THIS FEATURE WILL MOVE WESTWARD AROUND THE SOUTHERN PERIPHERY OF A DEVELOPING MID-UPPER RIDGE FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS TO THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC REGION. AS SUCH...TEMPERATURES...AND HUMIDITY LEVELS WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE IN INCREASINGLY SE TO SOUTHERLY RETURN FLOW. THE INCREASING WARMTH AND HUMIDITY WILL ALSO SUPPORT A SLIGHT UPTICK IN PROBABILITY OF PRECIPITATION...THOUGH STILL BELOW CLIMATOLOGICAL VALUES IN THE 20TH PERCENTILE GIVEN THE AFOREMENTIONED EXPANSION OF RIDGING ALOFT...AND LACK OF LOW LEVEL FOCI OTHER THAN PERHAPS THE SEA BREEZE. && .AVIATION /06Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... AS OF 140 AM MONDAY... WARM...MOIST...BUT WEAKLY FORCED ENVIRONMENT WILL REMAIN OVER CENTRAL NC THIS TAF PERIOD. CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN VFR THROUGH THE PERIOD OUTSIDE OF CONVECTION. EXPECT A GRADUAL INCREASE THIS MORNING IN MID LEVEL CLOUDINESS ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER OF THE AREA. WEAK FORCING FROM OVERNIGHT CONVECTION IN WESTERN TN AND NORTHERN GA WILL BE MIGRATING INTO THE WESTERN PIEDMONT THIS MORNING...WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AT INT/GSO AFTER SUNRISE...PERHAPS MID MORNING FURTHER EAST...RDU AND RWI. DECENT INSTABILITY WILL SUPPORT MORE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDER THIS AFTERNOON...TSRA COVERAGE AND CONFIDENCE IN TIMING/PLACEMENT PRECLUDE TAF INCLUSION AT THIS TIME. EXPECT A LULL OVERNIGHT ALTHOUGH SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED. WINDS WILL BE SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST AT LESS THAN 10KT. ADDITIONAL DISTURBANCES WILL BE CROSSING THE AREA ALONG WITH A WEAK COLD FRONT TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY...WITH PERIODS OF SHOWERS AND STORMS PRODUCING SUB-VFR CONDITIONS. VFR CONDITIONS ARE GENERALLY EXPECTED FROM THURSDAY ONWARD... OUTSIDE OF POSSIBLY SOME EARLY MORNING STRATUS AND OR FOG DURING THE PRE-DAWN HOURS OF EACH MORNING. && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ SYNOPSIS...MLM NEAR TERM...MLM SHORT TERM...MWS LONG TERM...MWS AVIATION...MLM

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