Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Charleston, WV

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680 FXUS61 KRLX 300044 AFDRLX AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Charleston WV 844 PM EDT Wed May 29 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Isolated showers/storms dissipate through the evening. Dry weather Thursday through Saturday courtesy of high pressure. Disturbances bring showers and storms late Saturday night into next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 800 PM Wednesday... Have made minor updates to temperatures, cloud cover, and rain chances into tonight, but overall the forecast remains on track. ISOL showers and perhaps a thunderstorm continue across portions of the area, currently most heavily confined in the vicinity of a weak pressure trough across the Mid-Ohio Valley. Activity should continue to gradually diminish through the evening, transitioning to just the chance for isolated showers early tonight in/near the northeast mountains. This gives way to a dry and cool rest of the night, with weak upslope flow resulting in some stratus development in/near the higher terrain. Patchy fog is possible tonight, mainly in the river valleys, but could also occur in areas that received rainfall today. Given general large scale CAA overnight, was somewhat conservative on fog coverage tonight. As of 115 PM Wednesday... A potent shortwave trough swinging along the base of an upper- level low is tracking through the middle Ohio Valley and central Appalachians. This is producing widely scattered showers across the area, which will continue through early this evening. Freezing levels are only around 7,000 ft AGL this afternoon, so some heavier showers could produce some small hail. Severe weather is not expected today, but there is a marginal risk of excessive rainfall across the north. Flash flood guidance is a little lower across northern WV (3hr FFG 1.25-1.5") where heavy rainfall previously fell over the Memorial Day weekend. Tonight will be chillier than recent nights with lows expected to be in the upper 40s and lower 50s. Low stratus is expected to develop over the mountains, and dense fog may also develop overnight in spots where rain has fallen today. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... As of 200 PM Wednesday... Upper level troughing over the east coast with high pressure at the surface will yield quiet conditions heading into the weekend. Overnight lows will generally be in the mid 40s to lower 50s across the lower elevations with mid 30s to mid 40s across the higher elevations. With dry low levels with dew points in the low 30s in the mountains, better protected mountain valleys could see some frost heading into Friday morning with cold air drainage. Otherwise minimal weather concerns are expected. Ridging translating east into the Middle Ohio Valley during the day Friday will signal a return to warmer and more humid conditions for the weekend. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 200 PM Wednesday... Warm moist advection begins in earnest during the day Saturday as southwesterly flow increases. Precipitable water values increase to around 1.5 inches by Saturday night. A relatively weak wave emerging from the southern Rockies Thursday night arriving in the Middle Ohio Valley Saturday night into Sunday should provide upper level forcing for ascent and associated increasing H850 winds down low will provide some level of mass convergence at the nose of a LLJ. Mid- level lapse rates look marginal at best to support much conditional instability, but may see some build with daytime heating Sunday yielding some efficient rain makers. Forcing departs by Monday leaving the region in a weak flow regime as precipitable water values briefly decrease under weak northwesterly flow. Couldn`t rule out some diurnally favored showers and thunderstorms Monday afternoon, but coverage will likely be fairly sparse Monday. Moisture increases again amid continuing weak flow Tuesday into Wednesday. This yielding better chances of mainly diurnally driven convection, although a weak trough approaching Tuesday evening may help to focus convection. && .AVIATION /01Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
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As of 825 PM Wednesday... VFR conditions persist throughout much of the area this evening, with the one exception being brief MVFR/IFR VSBY restrictions within isolated showers across portions of the area. Showers will dissipate through the evening, with developing LIFR/IFR/MVFR stratus in/near the mountains, along with MVFR/IFR valley fog being the main aviation concerns later tonight. Any fog will dissipate by ~ 1230Z Thursday, with MVFR stratocu restrictions gradually dissipating through ~ 1500Z. VFR conditions then persist area-wide through the remainder of the TAF period. Light northwest surface flow or calm conditions are expected tonight. Light northwest surface flow continues on Thursday, with occasional 15-20 kt breezes possible in/near the higher terrain during the afternoon/evening. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 00Z FRIDAY... FORECAST CONFIDENCE: Medium tonight with fog/stratus, high for Thursday. ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Extent, timing, and intensity of fog and low stratus tonight may vary from the forecast. 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. DATE THU 05/30/24 UTC 1HRLY 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 EDT 1HRLY 20 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 CRW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H L L H H HTS CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H M M M M BKW CONSISTENCY H H H H H H L L H H M M EKN CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H M M M M M PKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H M M L M CKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H H H H H L AFTER 00Z FRIDAY... IFR conditions are possible in river valley fog Friday morning.
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&& .RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WV...None. OH...None. KY...None. VA...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...JP/GW/JMC NEAR TERM...GW/JMC SHORT TERM...JP LONG TERM...JP AVIATION...GW