Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Charleston, WV

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034 FXUS61 KRLX 300024 AFDRLX AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Charleston WV 824 PM EDT Sat Jun 29 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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Very warm and humid, with strong, heavy storms possible tonight into Sunday. A cold front brings an end to threat Sunday afternoon. Dry to start the week, becoming hot again Tuesday.
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&& .NEAR TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/...
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As of 820 PM Sunday... Convection associated with a series of mid-level short wave troughs along the southern edge of the westerlies, ahead of a cold front back across the Great Lakes and Midwest, was gradually waning in intensity. Severe Thunderstorm Watch 483 could be let go a bit early if this trend continues. However, very warm and humid air in place, evinced by 8 PM temperatures still up around 90 F across southern portions of the lowlands, not affected by thunderstorms yet today, dew points in the lower 70s, and PW values in the 2-2.25 inch range, will support convection on through the night tonight, along with the locally heavy rainfall threat. The heavy rain threat could be realized via repetitive storms north where motion is faster, and slower moving storms south of the southern edge of the westerlies, as evinced by one such cell just west of the forecast area and just south of the Ohio River, around 8 PM this evening. Temperatures were raised tonight to reflect the very warm to hot conditions this evening. As of 440 PM Saturday... Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms in north central WV have warranted inclusion of this area in Severe Thunderstorm Watch 483, which extends eastward through the WV and MD panhandles. The storms were the tail end of a line of storms that extended northeastward through PA, and into a more general area of showers in eastern NY and New England, all along a mid-level short wave trough axis. Northern WV was at the southern edge of this axis/westerlies and better deep layer shear. Strong heating continued downstream of these storms amid sunshine. That portion of the watch in our county warning area being the tail end of it, it may not quite be needed all the way up until its 02Z/10 PM EDT expiration time. As of 140 PM Saturday... Key Point: * Severe storms and heavy downpours possible this afternoon and evening. A few showers and storms are possible early this afternoon, then a more organized line of convection is expected to arrive by late afternoon and trudge east across the area through the evening while a shortwave passes overhead and a cold front approaches from the west. Moisture will feed into the area out ahead of the front, allowing precipitable water values to climb to 2 to 2.25 inches by the end of the day. Such high moisture should support heavy downpours which could create a few localized flooding issues in poor drainage or low- lying areas. Along with moisture, daytime heating will contribute to increasingly unstable conditions. During the late afternoon and evening, moderate to strong instability is expected to support isolated to scattered severe storms. The environment will be most favorable for a damaging wind threat; however, there is also a low (2-4%) risk for tornadoes in the northern third of the CWA. At least a few showers and storms may persist overnight amid warm and muggy conditions. On Sunday, more showers and storms form ahead of and along the cold front -- which is expected to reach southeast Ohio in the morning and then sweep east across the CWA. A stronger storm or two could be possible during the frontal passage, then precipitation should gradually taper off from west to east behind the front during the latter half of the day.
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&& .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... As of 100 PM Saturday... The beginning of the new calendar month opens up with pleasant weather in the wake of the weekend frontal passage. A brief reprieve from the overbearing temperatures and dry weather will arrive in the form of high pressure spreading over the Ohio Valley. Afternoon highs are progged to only reach the upper 70s in the central lowlands and the 60s along the mountains. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... As of 100 PM Saturday... Upper level ridging will continue to support dry weather on Tuesday, with temperatures returning to seasonable for this time of year.Pressure height rises will translate into a rise in temperatures beginning on Tuesday and heading into highs extending into the 90s across the lower elevations. The ridge begins to flatten and sink down into the southern half of the country on the 4th of July, making way for a frontal boundary and its associated line of showers and storms. Models remain on track with this boundary struggling to surpass the forecast area on Thursday, becoming stationary over the area for the end of the week. Maintained central guidance chance to likely POPs for this timeframe, and held onto convection even during the overnight hours due to the persnickety front hanging about during the holiday weekend. && .AVIATION /00Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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As of 820 PM Saturday... Showers and thunderstorms will continue to be in the area until a cold front crosses on Sunday. While the intensity of the strongest storms will diminish, the very warm and humid air in place will support thunderstorm development/maintenance throughout the night. Even sub-severe, any thunderstorm tonight into Sunday can produce strong wind gusts, and IFR to brief VLIFR conditions. The cold front should cross the area from west to east Sunday afternoon, although there will be a prefrontal wind shift west to east Sunday morning, with MVFR stratocumulus settling in even before dawn Sunday. This stratocu will gradually lift and break up from west to east Sunday afternoon. The threat for thunder on Sunday will be low and diminishing, except for a slight uptick in the threat over the southern mountains /BKW/ Sunday afternoon. Light south to southwest surface flow tonight, except strong and gusty from the southwest to northwest in thunderstorms, will become light west behind the prefrontal wind shift Sunday morning, and then light northwest behind the cold front Sunday afternoon. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY... FORECAST CONFIDENCE: Medium. ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Coverage of storms tonight into Sunday may vary from the forecast. Amendments may be needed for lower flight category within storms or heavy rain. IFR ceilings are possible along the mountains Sunday morning. EXPERIMENTAL TABLE OF FLIGHT CATEGORY OBJECTIVELY SHOWS CONSISTENCY OF WFO FORECAST TO AVAILABLE MODEL INFORMATION: H = HIGH: TAF CONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL. M = MEDIUM: TAF HAS VARYING LEVEL OF CONSISTENCY WITH MODELS. L = LOW: TAF INCONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL. UTC 1HRLY 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 EDT 1HRLY 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 CRW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H M HTS CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H H BKW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H H EKN CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H H PKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H M CKB CONSISTENCY H H M H H H H H H H H H AFTER 00Z MONDAY... IFR possible in stratus, at least in and near the mountains, overnight Sunday night into Monday morning. Brief IFR possible in showers and thunderstorms Thursday.
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&& .RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WV...None. OH...None. KY...None. VA...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...MEK/TRM/JLB NEAR TERM...TRM/JLB SHORT TERM...MEK LONG TERM...MEK AVIATION...TRM