Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC

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817 FXUS62 KRAH 260626 AFDRAH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Raleigh NC 226 AM EDT Sun May 26 2024 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure ridging will build into the area Sunday. A cold front will approach Sunday night and move through the region Monday night. Dry high pressure will settle into the region toward the middle of next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 902 PM Saturday... Isolated to scattered showers and storms continue to pop up across portions of the central Piedmont, Sandhills and southern Coastal Plain. At one point this evening, there were numerous outflow boundaries across the Triangle, Sandhills, and Coastal Plain. Little if any storms developed over the northwest Piedmont/Triad and northern Coastal Plain. Satellite imagery reveals a weak mid-level circulation over the southern Piedmont to Charlotte area. This shortwave trough should continue to progress south and east overnight. As this happens, convection should start to collapse south and east into late tonight, dissipating overnight. The latest HRRR suggests this may be the case, though the southern Piedmont has not really been worked over in the sense of there still being some SBCAPE present. As such, lingering/new outflows may spawn new isolated/scattered storm cells across our southern areas for the next 2-4 hours. Activity should largely be sub-severe, though a few stronger cells could produce heavy rain and strong wind gusts. Convection should wane after midnight as the shortwave moves east and subsidence ensues. Lows should hover in the low to mid/upper 60s. Patchy fog could develop almost anywhere in central NC, though may be more prone in areas of Raleigh and the eastern Sandhills, where rainfall amounts were higher. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT/... As of 250 PM Saturday... Sunday will start off dry across the area, some might see patchy fog early morning but will clear shortly after sunrise. By the afternoon an increase of showers and thunderstorms is expected. As the enhanced shortwave trough progresses east from the IL/IN area during the day, by the afternoon it is expected to be on the door step of the Appalachian Mountains by late evening. Isolated to scattered storms are expected to begin to evolve across the region late afternoon. With loss of heating the severe threat is expected to diminish through the overnight hours Sunday. HiRes CAMs are showing a bit more consistency with timing of the first round of storms moving across the region late Sunday night through early Monday morning. While this round of storms are expected to move across the region swiftly, PW values are expected to be above normal (1.5- 2.0inches), thus some heavy rain could cause some minor flooding in poor drainage areas. Drivers should be be extra cautious driving in these storms at night. CAPE values will be lower than what is expected with Mondays storms, but some storms could be strong. Kept PoPs higher across the Northern Piedmont region, but chance PoPs are generally across the region. Sunday will be warm, 5-7 degrees above normal. Highs will be in the mid/upper 80s some areas reaching 90, lows will range from upper 60s to low 70s. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... As of 145 AM Sunday... Dry weather is expected during this period with generally low humidity and seasonable to slightly below normal temps. The longwave trough axis will still be to our W Tue, and while there may be minor waves shifting through SC and SE NC, much of the deeper moisture will have pushed E of our area or even offshore. Will keep a slight chance of an afternoon shower or storm in our far SE, as large scale models show the front slowing or lingering over our SE sections where surface temps and dewpoints are apt to be elevated. A dry NW flow will keep the column dry and stable Tue night through Wed, although the notably cooler air will still be held up W of the mountains until a secondary reinforcing dry cold front drops SE through our area late Wed through Wed night. Behind this front, dewpoints will drop even more, bottoming out in the 40s to low 50s Thu/Fri as surface high pressure sourced from central Canada builds in from the NW and N. By Sat, both temps and dewpoints will start to rebound as the mid-upper longwave trough shifts out over the NW Atlantic and amplified mid level ridging builds in from the west. Low level thicknesses will rebound as the surface high starts to shift off the Mid Atlantic coast, and thus temps will edge closer to normal Sat. And with the onset of southeasterly low level flow and an uptick in PWs, a few late-day showers may pop up across the S and W, and will include just slight chances there. Temps will still be near to slightly above normal Tue and near normal Wed, before dropping to a few degrees below normal Thu/Fri with low humidity and lots of sunshine. Near normal readings should return Sat. -GIH && .AVIATION /06Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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As of 220 AM Sunday... Cirrus clouds are rapidly exiting to the east with SKC overspreading central NC. Patchy fog may still be possible near all TAF sites, but with lowest confidence at GSO, INT, and RDU where crossover temps in the low/mid 50s may be too low to see prevailing fog. FAY has reported variable fog for a few hours and the 06z TAFs continued this slow trend down to low-end IFR towards daybreak despite briefly bouncing back to VFR around 0530z. Lingering shallow fog will quickly dissipate through 12z with afternoon cumulus filling in areawide with airmass showers/storms possible 17z-22z. Hi-Res guidance tracks an MCS through the Mid MS Valley early this morning and into the Carolinas through the evening hours. Latest forecast attempts to capture the best time to see restrictions associated with this system with prevailing VCTS based on latest CAM guidance and with TEMPOs where confidence is highest (40-50% chances at GSO and INT). Looking beyond 06z Mon: A vigorous line of showers and thunderstorms over the Ohio and Tennessee Valley early Mon morning will weaken as it traverses the mountains and likely bring scattered to numerous showers/storms through central NC during the day on Mon. Additional showers/storms will be possible as the first of several cold fronts moves through central NC Mon night. Dry and VFR conditions will prevail through Thurs.
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&& .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Kren NEAR TERM...Kren SHORT TERM...CA LONG TERM...Hartfield AVIATION...Swiggett