128
FXUS62 KRAH 020556
AFDRAH

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Raleigh NC
156 AM EDT Sun Jun 2 2024

.SYNOPSIS...
Canadian high pressure centered across the area will move offshore
tonight. The high pressure will move out into the western Atlantic
by Monday, bringing warmer and more humid air, along with mainly
diurnally driven showers and thunderstorms across the area through
mid week.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
As of 950 PM Saturday...

High pressure remains in place at the surface and aloft across the
Mid Atlantic this evening. Mid level water vapor imagery shows a
ridge axis from southern NY to SC, with a trough over KY/TN. Cloud
cover associated with this trough continues to stream eastward, with
cirrus now thickening up across NC. Temperatures at mid-evening
ranged in the mid 60s north to mid 70s south. Dew points had come
up into the 50s to near 60. Showers (mostly light) were observed
over portions of eastern TN/KY and north GA.

Tonight, the upper low/trough axis will shift slowly east. As it
does so, there will continue to be moisture advection. However,
the forecast lift into western NC remains weak. Therefore, the
latest hi-res models that depict some light showers into
western NC overnight appears reasonable. For our region, we will
continue to mention a slight chance of showers mainly along the
Yadkin River of the western Piedmont toward sunrise. Otherwise, mid
clouds will be on the increase and this will hold temperatures up
from last night. Expect mostly upper 50s to mid 60s.

&&

.SHORT TERM /SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT/...
As of 241 PM Saturday...

Sunday will continue to see mid level moisture advection into the
area with PW`s gradually climbing into the 1.5 - 1.75 inch range by
late in the day. Meanwhile, lee troughing east of the mountains and
associated surface convergence will likely result in the development
of afternoon showers and isolated thunderstorms, mainly across the
western Piedmont. Instability is meager with only 100-250 J/KG on
offer, so anything that develops should remain well below severe
limits. While most of the showers should dissipate quickly with the
loss of daytime heating, most models suggest a weak mid level
shortwave will move into the area overnight with another round of
widely scattered showers possible into the early morning hours on
Monday.  PoPs will be highest in the west during the daytime hours
(generally between 30-40 percent), then falling to around 20 percent
area-wide during the evening/overnight hours.

Temperatures should be on par with today, perhaps a few degrees
warmer. Highs in the low/mid 80s. Lows in the low to mid 60s.

&&

.LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
As of 150 PM Saturday...

Temps and humidity will return to more typical summertime values
this week. Low confidence in Mon/Tue given weak flow within an ill-
defined pattern beneath diffuse mid level ridging over E NOAM. A
pattern shift to troughing centered over the Great Lakes region by
late week should lead to a trend to more organized precip potential
mid week. Confidence then dips again into next weekend with
increasing model spread in the longwave pattern.

Mon-Tue: Between a deep closed low over the NW Atlantic and a potent
trough moving into the PacNW and into the Dakotas and Upper Midwest
through Tue, very baggy and narrow mid level ridging will build
through E NOAM, resulting in a weak steering flow over our area. Our
moisture will increase through the column, including near the
surface where temps will also be on the upswing with good diurnal
heating and a S or SW flow on the back side of the exiting surface
high. Our precip chances will largely be scattered slow-moving or
meandering convection focused on weak and subtly boundaries,
although some models suggest that a backdoor synoptic front will
drop SSW into NC, driven by a cooler/denser air mass being propelled
southward down the Mid Atlantic coast due to the NW Atlantic low.
Will keep pops near or just over climatology, focused on
afternoon/evening, with the potential for isolated heavy totals due
to the expected rising PW, slow cell motion, and perhaps a backdoor
front to focus lift. Expect near normal temps Mon, with highs in the
80s, then a degree or two higher Tue, mid 80s to near 90. Lows in
the 60s.

Wed-Thu: Pops should be highest these two days. Northern stream
troughing in the Upper Midwest early Wed will continue to deepen and
dig strongly to the SE through the Great Lakes region into the Ohio
Valley, leading to strengthening WNW steering flow at our latitude
and, especially, to our W and NW. Forecast PW is quite high, at or
above 2" on deterministic models, nearing records. We could see a
setup favoring nocturnal backbuilding MCSs upstream over the Mid
Miss Valley into the Ohio Valley/Mid South, including diffluent
thicknesses and nighttime low level SW jetting to our W/NW, which
may mean increased clouds overall along with passing convective
debris clouds and/or MCVs spreading in. But we can`t pin down such
details at this time range with any reasonable confidence, so for
now will have pops above climatology (high chances) with convection
potential more spread throughout the day and night (i.e., less
likely to be focused purely on the afternoon/evening hours). Temps
should be near to a category above normal with considerable
cloudiness.

Fri-Sat: The overall longwave pattern is expected to shift to
anomalously low mid level heights across a large swath of the
northeast CONUS as a deep northern stream low settles over or just N
of the Great Lakes. Deterministic models and ensemble modeling
systems are all in pretty good agreement on this, although they
differ in terms of the associated trough -- primarily whether this
low digs SE/negatively toward NC or becomes more W-E oriented to our
N. In either scenario, we`re likely to see this culminate in a
surface cold front passage yielding a chance of storms Fri with dry
and less humid weather by Sat. But if the upper trough digs less
strongly toward NC and instead in a more W-E fashion, we could see a
surface front stalling overhead or even holding to our NW, keeping
us in the warmer air or causing a quick rebound back into warmer air
by late Sat. Will have chance pops mainly E Fri, then generally dry
weather Sat with most ensemble members suggesting us getting into
and staying in the drier air Sat. Temps near normal. -GIH

&&

.AVIATION /06Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
As of 156 AM Sunday...

Through 06Z Monday:  Despite the mid and high cloudiness and a s/w
trough thats expected to cross the region during the next 24-36
hours, antecedent dry air in the low levels should limit rain
chances and keep cigs mainly vfr. If it does rain during the TAF
period, the location with the best chance will be across our Triad
region. SW aob 10kt expected through the period, with a few higher
gusts mainly at GSO/INT.

After 06Z Monday: Moisture will continue to return to the area in
the coming week, with increasing chances for showers each day,
especially at INT/GSO. Showers are likely to be diurnal in nature
through Thursday with brief periods of sub-VFR weather possible
within heavier downpours.

&&

.RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$
SYNOPSIS...Leins/CBL
NEAR TERM...Badgett
SHORT TERM...Leins
LONG TERM...Hartfield
AVIATION...np