Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Mt. Holly, NJ

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881 FXUS61 KPHI 241950 AFDPHI Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ 350 PM EDT Tue Sep 24 2024 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure over Atlantic Canada will gradually retreat eastward through Wednesday as a warm front starts to approach. Low pressure associated with this warm front will move eastward Wednesday and Thursday as it passes by to our north moving from Ontario and Quebec into New England. By the weekend, the area will be situated between high pressure to the north while low pressure will be to our south and this pattern looks to potentially continue into early next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... An upper ridge across the area has kept rains from developing/moving across the region. The light onshore flow in the low levels has kept clouds aplenty however. Temperatures have been running a little below normal with upper 60s/low 70s common. A low pressure system and its accompanying fronts to the west will approach tonight, passing through Wednesday. This will bring increasing chances for showers late tonight (North/west) and other areas Wednesday morning. The showers will linger across much of the area Wed favoring the western areas however. High temperatures Wed. will continue cool with mostly mid/upper 60s N/W and low 70s for south NJ and Delmarva. Total rainfall will be three-quarters of an inch for the NW areas and tapering to a tenth of an inch S/E for Delmarva and south NJ. Winds will be E/SE around 10 mph much of Wed. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... It will be a bit unsettled for parts of the short term period as a system brings parts of the area some much needed rainfall. Latest trends are for showers to continue through much of the evening Wednesday into early Thursday before beginning to diminish after daybreak. However, some isolated to scattered showers may continue to linger for much of the day Thursday particularly for areas near and especially north of the urban corridor. This will occur as low pressure moves eastward from Quebec into eastern New England while high pressure starts to build back in over Central into western PA. Rain amounts for Wednesday night through Thursday will be very minimal near the coast with a tenth to a quarter inch possible near the urban corridor and a quarter to half inch possible over parts of NE PA into NW NJ. Expect skies to overall be partly to mostly cloudy Thursday with it being warmer and more humid as we will be in the warm sector. Highs will be mainly in the upper 70s to low 80s with dew points mainly in the mid to upper 60s. Weak surface ridging should try to build east into the area Thursday night keeping it mainly dry but with lingering cloud cover. Lows are expected to range from the mid 50s north to the mid 60s south. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... There is more uncertainty than normal for the long range period as the pattern will be quite complex over eastern North America. To start the period early Friday, there will be an upper level low over the Canadian Maritimes with another upper low near the Gulf coast in the Lower Mississippi River Valley. Meanwhile upper level ridging will be over the Great Lakes with a surface high over PA. Finally, by this time the upper low near the Gulf coast will have likely pulled in the tropical cyclone which should be situated by this time somewhere over the SE CONUS. The main uncertainty hinges around whether some of the moisture to our south will be able to move northward bringing the area some rain this weekend or whether the ridging to our north will suppress it south. The latest guidance keeps the trend toward bringing some decaying remnants of the system to our south a bit farther north suggesting an increased chance for rain this weekend along with more in the way of cloud cover. Given the continuing uncertainty in the forecast, we stayed close to the NBM which generally brings the area POPs of around 25 to 35 percent for Friday-Friday night decreasing to 15-25 percent for Saturday and Sunday. If the upper level low to our south is able to move far enough north to bring us rain for this weekend, this unsettled weather could linger into early next week as the upper level pattern will be quite blocky. As far as temperatures, they should be close to seasonal for the long range period with highs mostly in the 70s. && .AVIATION /20Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... The following discussion is for KPHL, KPNE, KTTN, KABE, KRDG, KILG, KMIV, KACY and surrounding areas... .Tonight... Low-end VFR CIGS across the area but not much in the way of precip. Showers will arrive later tonight from west to east affecting KRDG/KABE before heading towards the Delaware Valley. CIGS lower thru the MVFR category and will be close to IFR by dawn. East winds 5 to 10 knots. Medium confid overall. .Wednesday... Low end MVFR or IFR during the morning with frequent showers across the terminals. East winds around 10 knots. The showers will diminish by the afternoon, but there is no much confidence that CIGS will improve much during the afternoon as the SE flow continues. Medium confid. overall. Outlook... Wednesday night through Thursday...Some showers along with low stratus could bring sub VFR conditions at times, especially for RDG and ABE. Thursday night through Sunday...Mainly VFR conditions expected with a slight chance for showers. && .MARINE...
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The onshore flow continues tonight and Wednesday with speeds below SCA levels (mostly 10 to 15 kts). The enhanced seas (5 to 7 ft) will slowly diminish through Wednesday so we`ll keep the SCA flag as it is presently. Fair weather this evening then scattered showers are expected for Wednesday. Outlook... Wednesday night...Seas expected to linger around 3-6 feet. Small Craft Advisory in effect. Thursday...Seas may continue to linger around 3-5 feet. SCA possible. Thursday night-Sunday...Mainly sub-SCA conditions expected but conditions may approach SCA criteria (20-25 kt gusts and 4-5 foot seas) on Saturday. Rip currents... For Wednesday...East-southeast winds around 10-15 mph. Breaking wave heights around 3-4 feet with a 9-10 second period. As a result, have maintained a HIGH risk for the development of dangerous rip currents for both the Jersey Shore and Delaware Beaches. For Thursday...South winds around 10 mph. Breaking waves heights around 2-3 feet with a 11-12 second period. With winds becoming more parallel to shore and breaking wave heights a bit lower, have opted to go with a MODERATE risk for rip currents for both the Jersey Shore and Delaware Beaches. Rip currents occur often in the vicinities of jetties and piers and the speed of the currents are generally maximized at low tides. For specific beach forecasts, visit weather.gov/beach/phi
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&& .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...
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A prolonged period of onshore flow has resulted in a piling up of water along the New Jersey and Delaware coasts with this water unable to drain within tidal waterways. Coastal Flood Advisories are now in effect for Ocean County, NJ and Sussex County, DE mainly for minor flooding in the back bays of Barnegat Bay, Little Assowoman Bay and the Indian River Inlet through at least Wednesday afternoon. For the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a Coastal Flood Advisory remains in effect through tonight for minor tidal flooding associated with tonight`s high tide. This may need to extended for Wednesday night`s high tide cycle as well but will wait to see how high this evening`s high tide gets first. For Kent County, DE and Cumberland County, NJ a Coastal Flood Advisory remains in effect for minor tidal flooding this afternoon. Following this afternoon`s high tide, no further advisories will be warranted. Some spotty minor flooding remains possible for Atlantic and Cape May Counties through tonight, with no tidal issues expected for Monmouth and Middlesex Counties and along the tidal Delaware River.
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&& .PHI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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PA...None. NJ...Coastal Flood Advisory until 6 PM EDT this evening for NJZ021. Coastal Flood Advisory until 7 PM EDT Wednesday for NJZ020-026. High Risk for Rip Currents through Wednesday evening for NJZ014- 024>026. DE...Coastal Flood Advisory until 6 PM EDT this evening for DEZ002. Coastal Flood Advisory until 7 PM EDT Wednesday for DEZ003-004. High Risk for Rip Currents through Wednesday evening for DEZ004. MD...Coastal Flood Advisory until 5 AM EDT Wednesday for MDZ012. Coastal Flood Advisory until 2 AM EDT Wednesday for MDZ015-019- 020. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM EDT Thursday for ANZ450>455.
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&& $$ SYNOPSIS...AKL/Fitzsimmons NEAR TERM...OHara SHORT TERM...AKL/Fitzsimmons LONG TERM...AKL/Fitzsimmons AVIATION...AKL/OHara MARINE...AKL/DeSilva/OHara TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...DeSilva