Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC
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683 FXUS62 KRAH 270725 AFDRAH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Raleigh NC 325 AM EDT Fri Sep 27 2024 .SYNOPSIS... What is now Hurricane Helene, centered near the Florida Georgia border, will weaken gradually as it races northward through Georgia tonight through early Friday morning. The storm will then slow down and weaken further to a depression as it moves northwestward over Tennessee into southwest Kentucky through Saturday. && .NEAR TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... As of 908 PM Thursday... Tornado Watch for the southern tier of counties through 700 AM. SPC has coordinated a Tornado Watch and the northern end of the watch touches our southern tier of counties. The activity that may become tornadic is expected to be toward the end of the watch for our counties. Most likely that would be after 300 AM. Hi-res guidance suggests that it would be toward 500 AM in the far south, spreading north. Otherwise, periods of showers with heavy rain will continue to affect the region, especially over the western and southern areas until we see a lull in the activity toward 200 AM to 300 AM. Then, the main event is expected to arrive later tonight in the south, spreading north Friday morning. Additional tornado watches are expected for central NC after 700 AM Friday. Periods of showers/rain overnight, heaviest southwest. Breezy east winds becoming windy late. Temperatures holding in the 70s. Previous discussion as of 305 PM Thursday... Overview: Hurricane Helene`s track has changed little, and is still forecast to make landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida this evening as a major hurricane. Helene should weaken to a tropical storm by Friday morning as it approaches the Atlanta metro area, then become nearly stationary over central Tennessee as it weakens. Rainfall this afternoon is still primarily due to a boundary that has been persistent over the Appalachian Mountains over the last two days. The bulk of this afternoon and this evening`s rainfall will be from the Triangle west, but it appears that by midnight, most of the forecast area should actually be dry, with all of the rain to the west and south of the area. Rainfall will then quickly ramp up late tonight into Friday morning, which is when the heaviest rainfall rates are expected in addition to the greatest severe weather threat due to a band of moderate to heavy rainfall associated with Helene. Despite limited instability considering the time of day, strong wind shear will bring an increased risk for tornadoes late tonight, but more likely Friday morning. The high-resolution model guidance continues the trend of moving the primary band of rain out of the region slightly more quickly, and it appears that the bulk of the rain should move north into Virginia by early Friday afternoon. An isolated shower or thunderstorm could persist through the afternoon hours along the VA/NC border. Overnight lows should be near 70, with daytime highs ranging from the upper 70s across the north to the mid 80s in the southeast. A separate hydrology section is below. Wind impacts: As Helene undergoes its extratropical transition, wind gusts should increase across much of central NC late tonight through Friday. The strongest winds with Helene will be near the center of the circulation itself, but there should also be a core of stronger winds associated with the band of precip that moves through the area Friday morning/afternoon. 12Z HREF 90th percentile shows wind gusts in the 35-40mph range from early Friday morning into the afternoon hours. Bumped up wind speeds and gusts closer to the NBM 90-95th percentile and have issued a Wind Advisory for a good portion of central NC from midnight tonight through 6pm Friday. While it will certainly be breezy, the northern Coastal Plain should be far enough away from the strongest winds to warrant a Wind Advisory based on today`s guidance. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT/... As of 305 PM Thursday... After the weather of the last couple days, Friday night`s weather will be quiet. An isolated shower or thunderstorm could persist through the evening hours north of US-64, but the rest of the night should be dry. Wind speeds will also start to come down, with values below 5 mph in most locations by the end of the night. Lows will be in the 60s. &&. .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 325 AM Friday... A chance of showers and a few storms will persist Sun into Tue, mainly each afternoon/evening and primarly across the N. Dry weather will follow for mid week. The upper low which will have absorbed Helene is expected to drift slowly ENE over the Ohio Valley Sun/Mon, moving from NW KY to N WV. This will keep our area within SW flow aloft and in the warm sector at the surface, between the surface low well to our WNW and high pressure centered off the Southeast coast. A diffuse frontal zone extending E of the KY low across VA combined with upslope-directed low level flow suggest the better chances for sufficient focus and lift will be across the N including the Triad/Triangle regions Sun and Mon. A surface low will develop in W NC early Mon and move into central NC Mon night, bringing a surface cold front with it. As this low is expected to deepen a bit as it pushes east off the SE VA/NE NC coast by late Tue, we should see a shift of better rain chances into NE sections Tue. The upper low over N WV will finally start to shear out and weaken into an open wave before shifting E and offshore Tue night, propelled by a strong northern stream wave pushing through S Canada and the N CONUS, reaching Quebec and the Northeast states Wed and pushing off the Northeast coast Thu. This will put our area into a drier NW flow Wed, prompting a trend to a dry forecast, then a secondary cold front associated with the strong northern stream wave will move through Wed night, drawing a cooler air mass into NC by Thu. Models are in fairly good agreement on this scenario, although the Canadian has a deeper low over N Ontario mid week and as such is cooler in our area by Thu. Will have temps 3-8 degrees above normal Sun/Mon, 1-6 degres above normal Tue/Wed, then within a degree or two of normal Thu, although if the Canadian is correct, it could be even cooler Wed and esp Thu. -GIH && .AVIATION /06Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... As of 110 AM Friday... Adverse aviation conditions are expected over much of central NC, primarily all but the far NE, from early this mornig through this afternoon. The worst conditions, which will be in the S and W Piedmont, will include low cigs, periodic strong wind gusts, and a few hours of low level wind shear. The center of what is now Hurricane Helene is located over extreme S GA and will track quickly north through GA through daybreak. While the current rainfall over central NC is mostly light, cigs are largely IFR (with some MVFR far NE), and these conditions should hold through this morning, with gradual improvement to MVFR then VFR S to N through the day. This lull in rain will last until around 10z, when a strong tropical rainband will begin to lift NE through central NC, lasting through about 20z. As this rainband passes through central NC terminals SW to NE, at any given location, a few hours of torrential rains producing MVFR-IFR vsbys are likely, along with enhanced wind gusts and a potential for isolated tornadoes. In addition, a period of low level wind shear is expected, primarily during 10z-16z this morning, however strong surface gusts and very strong and shifting winds with height will dominate through this entire TAF valid period at all sites, dangerous aviation conditions for smaller aircraft in particular. Once the intense tropical rainband lifts N and NE of the area, after about 21z, VFR conditions are expected through the end of the TAF valid period. Surface winds will be mainly from E and ESE, shifting to be from the SE and SSE this morning, and finally from the S this afternoon, gradually diminishing starting mid to late afternoon. Looking beyond 06z Sat, sub-VFR cigs may return esp across the NE (RDU/RWI) after 08z early Sat morning, lasting until improving to VFR by mid morning. Otherwise, VFR conditions will dominate through Tue, with possible exceptions late Sun (rain chances mainly INT/GSO), Mon afternoon (rain chances areawide), and early Tue morning (chance of sub-VFR fog). -GIH && .HYDROLOGY... As of 305 PM Thursday... Will issue a Flood Watch for the Piedmont and Sandhills region of central NC for tonight through 6pm Friday. Multiple rounds and bands of rain and thunderstorms will spread north across central NC through Friday. Given recent wet conditions, streamflows across Central North Carolina are significantly above normal per 714 day USGS stream flows. NASA SPoRT soil moisture percentiles are above the 90th percentile in the 010 cm and 040 cm layer across the southern coastal plain. In addition, 1-3 hr hour Flash Flood Guidance is essentially below 2 inches across most of the Piedmont. While the heaviest rain associated with Helene will be focused across the foothills and mountains, a general 1-3 inches with embedded heavier rain rate will cause a risk of flash flooding through late Friday afternoon. This will be especially true where creeks and streams are already swollen, and there are even some areas with ongoing road closures owing to rainfall over the past 2 to 3 days. Lower rainfall totals and a reduced threat of locally heavy rain across the northern and central Coastal Plain results in a reduced flood threat and have omitted those locations from the watch. Main stem river flooding is not expected to be as significant of an issue based on the 1-3 inch rain forecast, although heavy rates in the vicinity of the Rocky River near Norwood, which drain from west to east and may see heavier rain upstream, and also the routing of significantly heavier rainfall in the upper reaches of the Yadkin River may cause some flooding in the Yadkin basin. The Neuse and Tar are also abnormally high with the Neuse at Smithfield currently in minor flood. && .CLIMATE... Record High Minimum Temperatures: September 26: KGSO: 69/2005 KRDU: 73/1993 KFAY: 73/1930 September 27: KGSO: 69/2011 KRDU: 73/2011 KFAY: 73/2017 && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flood Watch through this afternoon for NCZ007-021>025-038>042- 073>077-083>086-088-089. Wind Advisory until 6 PM EDT Friday for NCZ007-021>025-038>042- 073>077-083>086-088-089. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Hartfield NEAR TERM...Badgett SHORT TERM...Green LONG TERM...Hartfield AVIATION...Hartfield HYDROLOGY...Blaes CLIMATE...RAH