Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wilmington, NC

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217 FXUS62 KILM 221338 AFDILM Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington NC 938 AM EDT Sat Jun 22 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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A tropical disturbance will track further inland near the northern Florida and southern Georgia coasts today. Otherwise, Atlantic high pressure will generally prevail bringing more typical summertime conditions back to the region.
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&& .UPDATE...
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No major changes were made with the latest update. Fog has pretty much all burned off but low clouds linger. Radar shows a few showers near the coast which will generally transition inland during the day with the sea breeze.
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&& .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
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Early morning fog to dissipate and low stratus to cu fields should occur by 8 or 9 am given the time of year and sun angle. Overall, the ILM CWA will be between ridges aloft this period, Bermuda high and the upper high that was situated over the Carolinas for much of the week will slide SW to the Gulf Coast States. This leaves general troughiness aloft with light flow across the region to start the day. Still some influence from the tropical disturbance that went onshore, as its inverted sfc trof to slowly dissipate today. This will be a source of forcing as well as mainland pushing resultant wind boundary, aka sea breeze later today and this evening. The convective activity will continue diurnal in nature, progressing inland, away from the coast this aftn/evening. POPs generally in the low chance category generally ceasing after sunset. Tonight, sfc Bermuda high pressure will extend its ridging across the area with S-SSW winds staying active thru much of the night, especially east of I-95 corridor. This should keep fog development at a minimum. Some indications of a low level SSW-SW jet to occur within the boundary layer also aiding to keep fog development to a minimum. Todays highs mid 80s at the coast, to 90-95 away from the immediate coast.
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&& .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... Above normal temperatures continue on Sunday ahead of a surface trough that should bring light southerly winds. The onshore flow had been leading to a scattering of showers and will continue to do so with a bit more inland progression as a weak shortwave provides some additional lift. Surface trough remains to our west on Monday allowing for even more heat to advect into the region. There may be some more widespread heat-relieving showers as mid level flow tips from SW to WNW and becomes more vort- laden. A few places could reach minimal Heat Advisory HI values of 105 Monday afternoon. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... Cold front drops in and stalls by Tuesday. The CAA associated with the boundary will stay confined to our north but dewpoints do drop esp inland. The drier air should limit convection to being only isolated in coverage, possibly favoring coastal locales but din`t want to show such specificity that far out in time. The lower dewpoints will cap HI values below advisory thresholds for the most part but moisture recovery appears slated for Wednesday., likely the hottest of this stretch. Another weak boundary drops in on Thursday, likely pushing POPs back up to the scattered realm with approx 50 percent coverage. The front stalls nearby on Friday minimizing any cooldown to just a few degrees and also calling for a continuation of low POPs. && .AVIATION /14Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... The low stratus initially, has been followed up with the fog (dense at times). Between 12z and 13z, the fog should dissipate as SE-S winds commence and the sun already 3hrs into the day. The stratus, low level moisture, should transition into low cu as the morning progresses. Have included VCSH for the coastal terminals this morning that will translate inland by this aftn. Have included a Prob30 tstorm threat mainly for the inland terminal. With activity mainly diurnally induced, tstorms should dissipate around dusk. Look for convective debris clouds in the evening inland. Calm winds to give way to light SE-S flow during daylight hrs, except 10+ sustained later this morning thru the evening across the coastal terminals. Low level weak S-SSW jet should keep fog to a minimum tonight. Extended Outlook... VFR to prevail outside of the periodic MVFR/IFR from diurnally-induced showers/storms and morning low clouds/fog. && .MARINE... Through Tonight...General mid level troffiness off the SE U.S. Coast will persist thru tonight. Relaxed sfc pg to start this period with light SSE-S winds, thats tightens a bit tonight, with speeds increasing to 10-15 kt. Seas generally 2 to 4 ft with the E-SE 7+ second period wave dominating but slowly decaying. The SSE-S wind wave chop will become more observable this aftn and tonight. Winds nearly thru the atm column this morning will run less than 10 kt. Once the days heating commences this morning, conditions will be moderately favorable for waterspout development across the area waters. Sunday through Wednesday...An inland trough will keep wind out of the S to SW Sunday and Monday. Swell energy will be rather removed out to sea making the wind wave the dominant wave, generally in the 5-6 second realm. A cold front dropping in late Monday night into Tuesday will lighten winds and lead to directional that may be hard to time, but the southerly winds return by Wednesday. No appreciable swells expected later in the period. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... Other - Rip Currents: A high risk of rip currents is in effect today for Pender and New Hanover County Beaches. Moderate rip current risk across Horry and Georgetown County Beaches. Brunswick County Beaches should see weak rip current activity today. The elevated rip current activity will be aided by the 8+ second period onshore waves and the enhanced tidal range due to the current full moon. Wind speeds will not be as strong like the past several days, and as a result could see weak to possibly moderate longshore currents from the southerly winds this afternoon and evening. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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NC...High Risk for Rip Currents until 8 PM EDT this evening for NCZ106- 108. SC...None. MARINE...None.
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&& $$ SYNOPSIS...ILM UPDATE...RJB NEAR TERM...DCH SHORT TERM...MBB LONG TERM...MBB AVIATION...DCH MARINE...DCH/MBB TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...