Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Blacksburg, VA

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000 FXUS61 KRNK 171146 AFDRNK AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 746 AM EDT MON JUN 17 2013 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL DRIFT SOUTH TOWARD THE REGION TODAY BRINGING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA. THE FRONT WILL STALL SOUTH OF THE REGION LATER TONIGHT AWAITING YET ANOTHER COLD FRONT TUESDAY. THIS COMBINED WITH ANOTHER WEAK UPPER DISTURBANCE SHOULD BRING ADDITIONAL SHOWERS...AND POSSIBLE STORMS BACK TO THE REGION TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY NIGHT BEFORE WEAK HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ACROSS THE AREA THURSDAY. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... AS OF 315 AM EDT MONDAY... WEAK FRONT TO THE NORTH WILL CONTINUE TO DRIFT SLOWLY SOUTH TOWARD THE AREA TODAY AS SHORTWAVE ENERGY CURRENTLY DRIVING SHRA/TSRA ATTM HEADS OFF TO THE SE LATER TODAY. THIS SHOULD GRADUALLY SHIFT THE FOCUS FOR ADDED CONVECTION TO THE SOUTH AND SE THIS AFTERNOON AFTER EARLY MORNING COVERAGE ACROSS THE CENTRAL/SOUTHERN SECTIONS. MAY ALSO SEE A FEW SHOWERS OR STORMS DEVELOP ALONG THE SOUTHERN BLUE RIDGE THIS AFTERNOON PENDING HEATING AND DEGREE OF LIGHT WEST/SW FLOW AS SUPPORTED BY THE LATEST SPC WRF. OTRW TREND WILL BE FOR LOWERING THETA-E FROM NW TO SE DURING THE DAY WITH PROGGED CAPES PERHAPS AROUND 1500 J/KG PIEDMONT AND LESS TO THE NORTH/WEST. THUS HAVE CUT BACK POPS TO LOW/SLIGHT CHANCE NW LATER...AND LIMITED ANY LIKELYS TO THE EXTREME SOUTH/SW WHICH MAY BE GENEROUS GIVEN DEGREE OF DRYING ALOFT. SOME ISOLATED PULSE SEVERE POSSIBLE GIVEN DECENT LAPSES WITH HEATING WHILE OVERALL WEAK WINDS ALOFT AND WARMING SHOULD KEEP ORGANIZED SEVERE TO A MINIMUM. OTRW QUITE WARM AND MUGGY AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON ALTHOUGH LEANED CLOSER TO THE SLIGHTLY COOLER MET MOS PER EARLY CLOUDS AND SCTD SHRA. TRAJECTORIES TURN MORE WEST OR NW OVERNIGHT NEAR THE FRONT WITH FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOWING QUITE A BIT OF ADDED DRYING ALOFT AND OVERALL WEAK SINKING MOTION AHEAD OF THE NEXT MID LEVEL WAVE OFF TO THE WEST. MOST GUIDANCE NOW BASICALLY DRY OVERNIGHT WITH MAINLY CLOUDS AROUND BUT LITTLE LIFT AS MOISTURE SHALLOWS OUT UNDER WEAK LOW LEVEL RIDGING. HOWEVER GIVEN POTENTIAL FOR MODELS TO DRY THINGS OUT TOO FAST...WHILE BEING SLOW WITH RETURN MOISTURE ADVECTION...WILL LEAVE IN SOME SHRA...BUT CUT LIKELY POPS BACK TO CHANCE WEST...AND GO WITH MAINLY 20ISH COVERAGE EAST. IF MORE BREAKS DEVELOP THEN MORE IN THE WAY OF FOG LIKELY WITH TEMPS CLOSER TO THE COOLER MAV ESPCLY VALLEYS. && .SHORT TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 400 AM EDT MONDAY... MODELS GENERALLY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH WED AS SERIES OF SHORT WAVES EMBEDDED WITHIN LARGER SCALE BROAD EASTERN U.S. TROUGH CONTINUE TO KEEP AN UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN ACROSS THE REGION. A QUASI- STATIONARY FRONT SHOULD BE LOCATED FROM NORTH GA ACROSS SOUTHERN NC OR NORTHERN SC IN THIS TIME FRAME AWAITING AWAITING A STRONGER...TRAILING SHORT WAVE...LOCATED EARLY TUESDAY ACROSS THE UPPER MID-WEST...TO FINALLY GIVE THE FRONT A PUSH TO THE SE AND SWEEP THE DEEPER MOISTURE EASTWARD OUT OF THE AREA. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THE TUE-EARLY WED PERIOD WILL BE WET WITH LIKELY TO CATEGORICAL POPS ACROSS THE REGION...ESPECIALLY THE SOUTHERN HALF...BUT BIGGER QUESTIONS WITH RESPECT TO QPF AND SEVERE POTENTIAL REMAIN. WITH RESPECT TO THE LATER...SEVERE THREAT SHOULD BE LITTLE TO NONE DURING THIS TIME FRAME AS MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE CWA REMAINS ON THE NORTH...COOLER...MORE STABLE SIDE OF THE FRONT. MOST PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE IN THE FORM OF OVERRUNNING WITH MINIMAL DYNAMICS. CERTAINLY CANNOT RULE OUT ISOLD TSRA DURING THE WARMER HOURS OF THE DAY...ESPECIALLY NC AND THE PIEDMONT REGION...BUT THERE IS NO DYNAMIC SUPPORT AND LIMITED THERMODYNAMIC SUPPORT FOR ANYTHING SEVERE. ON THE OTHER HAND...QPF IS A BIGGER ISSUE AND A MORE DIFFICULT QUESTION TO ANSWER AS WELL. OVERALL...MODEL AND WPC QPF IN THE 0.5 TO 1.0 INCH RANGE ACROSS THE NORTH AND 1.0 TO 1.5 INCH RANGE SOUTH...WHICH IS CONSISTENT WITH THINKING NOTED ABOVE. NORMALLY...THESE AMOUNTS WOULD NOT BE ANY CONCERN...BUT GIVEN THE TOTALLY SATURATED GROUND ACROSS THE AREA...THERE COULD BE SOME LOCAL ISSUES IF ANY EMBEDDED CONVECTION PRODUCES HEAVY RAINFALL OVER A SHORT TIME PERIOD. WILL CONTINUE WITH HEAVY RAIN WORDING IN HWO...BUT NOT ENOUGH WIDESPREAD CONCERN AT THIS POINT FOR ANY FFA. THE MAIN SHORT WAVE WILL EXIT THE REGION EARLY WED. DRIER AIR WILL WORK ITS WAY INTO THE REGION...FIRST FROM THE NORTH...AND THEN FROM THE NORTHEAST WED...LIMITING POPS TO THE FAR SE PART OF THE CWA FOR THE MOST PART. CLOUDS WILL LINGER...HOWEVER...GIVEN NE SFC FLOW ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE UPPER SYSTEM. FOR THU...THE UPPER RIDGE ATTEMPTS TO BUILD INTO THE EASTERN U.S. IN A WEAK FASHION. 850MB TEMPS BEGIN TO WARM SLIGHTLY AS WELL...BUT OVERALL THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION REMAINS ON THE SW PERIPHERY OF THE BROAD NE U.S. UPPER LOW. SFC WIND CONVERGENCE IS EVIDENT ALONG THE ALLEGHANYS AND THIS COMBINED WITH INCREASED INSOLATION AND DIFFERENTIAL HEATING SHOULD YIELD INCREASED AFTERNOON PULSE THUNDERSTORMS...A FEW OF WHICH COULD BECOME STRONG. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN MOSTLY BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS THROUGH WED. CLOUDS AND PCPN WILL HOLD TEMPS IN THE 70S MANY AREAS TUE...AND HIGHER ELEVATIONS MAY EVEN STAY IN THE 60S. WED WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL WITH NE SFC WINDS. BY THU...INCREASED 850MB TEMPS AND BETTER INSOLATION SHOULD ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO WARM BACK INTO THE 80S PIEDMONT AND 70S MOUNTAINS. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... AS OF 1245 PM EDT SUNDAY... MODELS THIS PERIOD KEEPING A BROAD TROUGH INTO THE EAST BUT EDGING EAST BY FRIDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE EXPANDS FROM TEXAS TO JUST WEST OF US. SFC HIGH PRESSURE STAYS JUST NORTHEAST OF US AND KEEPS OUR REGION IN THE LIGHT EAST TO SOUTH FLOW AS A FRONTAL BOUNDARY STALLS AND WEAKENS SOUTH OF US MIDWEEK. THIS WILL SET UP A PATTERN OF INVERTED TROUGHINESS ACROSS THE MTNS THRU FRIDAY WHERE BEST THREAT OF SHOWERS EXISTS AND PERHAPS SOME THUNDERSTORMS AS WELL. NO CLEAR DEFINITIVE SHORTWAVE BUT WILL SEE SOME WEAK ONES HELP TRIGGER CONVECTION. AT THIS TIME KEPT POPS LOW CHANCE IN THE WEST TO SLIGHT CHANCE ACROSS THE MIDDLE OF THE CWA/BLUE RIDGE AND LITTLE TO NONE IN THE EAST. TEMPS WARM BACK ABOVE NORMAL BY THE WEEKEND AS THE UPPER RIDGE BUILDS NORTHEAST...AND STILL SEEING POTENTIAL FOR CONVECTION PUSHING SOUTHEAST INTO THE AREA DURING THIS TIME BUT OVERALL FLOW KEEPS MOST NORTH OF US ALONG A FRONT DRAPED FROM THE MIDWEST INTO THE GREAT LAKES. SO ASIDE FROM MAINLY DIURNAL CONVECTION IT SHOULD BE DRY. && .AVIATION /12Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
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AS OF 730 AM EDT MONDAY... INITIAL SHORT WAVE AND ASSOCIATED WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY PUSHING THROUGH THE CWA AT THIS HOUR...ROUGHLY NOW NEAR AN LYH-MTV-TNB LINE. SIGNIFICANT SHRA ACTIVITY LOCATED ALONG/EAST OF THIS BOUNDARY. THIS FEATURE WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH SLOWLY SE TODAY...BUT STALL JUST SOUTH OR NEAR THE SOUTHERN CWA BORDER BY EVENING. MORNING MVFR BR NOTED AT THE USUAL LOCATIONS...WHICH IS EXPECTED TO DISSIPATE QUICKLY AFTER DAYBREAK. HEAVIER SHRA ACTIVITY TODAY SHOULD REMAIN EAST OF TAF SITES FROM THIS POINT ONWARD...BUT WILL NEED TO WATCH DAN AS IT WILL BE CLOSE THERE FOR A FEW HOURS YET...THUS HAVE INCLUDE VCTS AT DAN THROUGH 22Z. OTHERWISE...MOSTLY A VFR DAY WITH BKN-OVC MID CLOUDS AND LIMITED CU/SC. OVERNIGHT...THE STALLED FRONT WILL SERVE AS A FOCUSING MECHANISM FOR SIGNIFICANT ISENTROPIC LIFT THAT WILL BEGIN IN EARNEST EARLY TUE. A STRONGER UPPER SHORT WAVE WILL APPROACH FROM THE NW RENEWING SHRA/TSRA ACTIVITY TO OUR SOUTH...WHICH WILL SPREAD UP/OVER THE FRONT TUE...WITH WIDESPREAD RAIN AS A RESULT. THIS IS NOT EXPECTED TO REACH OUR SOUTHERN CWA BORDER UNTIL AFT DAYBREAK TUE. OVERNIGHT...THE USUAL SPOTS...LWB/BCB/LYH...WILL BE SUBJECT TO RADIATIONAL FOG DEVELOPMENT AS CLOUDS SHOULD REMAIN MID-HIGH MOST OF THE NIGHT. LWB HAS THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR IFR- LIFR FG AT THIS POINT. WINDS BECOMING WSW-WNW BEHIND THE WEAK FRONT THIS MORNING WITH LOW END GUSTS POSSIBLE ROA VICINITY. WINDS WILL BECOME CALM QUICKLY AROUND SUNSET AND REMAIN SO OVERNIGHT. MEDIUM TO HIGH CONFIDENCE IN CIGS THROUGH TAF VALID PERIOD. MEDIUM TO HIGH CONFIDENCE IN VSBYS THROUGH TAF VALID PERIOD. HIGH CONFIDENCE IN WIND SPD/DIR THROUGH TAF VALID PERIOD. EXTENDED AVIATION DISCUSSION...ANY BREAK FROM THE POOR FLYING CONDITIONS WILL BE BRIEF...WITH MORE MVFR SHRA/TSRA LIKELY THROUGH TUESDAY AS WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE RIDE ALONG A STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY SOUTH OF THE CWA. CLOUDS ALONG WITH A FEW SHOWERS MAY LINGER INTO WEDNESDAY BEFORE DRIER AIR BRINGS A RETURN TO OVERALL VFR THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...WITH ONLY ISOLATED DIURNAL MOUNTAIN CONVECTION.
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&& .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...NONE. NC...NONE. WV...NONE. && $$ SYNOPSIS...JH/KK/RAB NEAR TERM...JH/SK SHORT TERM...RAB LONG TERM...WP AVIATION...JH/RAB

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