Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Sterling, VA
Issued by NWS Sterling, VA
244 FXUS61 KLWX 270759 AFDLWX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC 359 AM EDT Fri Sep 27 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Hurricane Helene has made landfall along the northeastern Gulf Coast overnight, and is expected to quickly move into the southern Appalachians and Tennessee River Valley today into the weekend. Widespread rain is possible today, especially across parts of Central Virginia. Chances for rain will linger into early next week as an upper low remains overhead. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend of Florida this evening. This storm has a forward propagation speed of nearly 25 kts.. which is near the upper percentile for tropical cyclones. The upstream trough across the Lower Mississippi Valley is pulling the cyclone quickly northward. The center is already well into Georgia as of 03 AM with the outer rainbands making it into Virginia thanks to jet support/WAA. Through the day today, the remnants of Helene will continue to move northward, but get pulled west slightly towards the trough. Other than another day of cloudcover and highs in the 70s, Helene will bring several hazards to the area: - Heavy rain threat... Given the tropical airmass with PW values well above climo norms for late September (~1.5-2.2"), repeated rounds of moderate to heavy rain are expected today. The greatest coverage will be across a line from roughly Highland County, VA to Albemarle County, VA this morning. By this afternoon and into this evening, a broken line of showers/thunderstorms or several lines may develop, but coverage should be more scattered in nature. Given the SE`ly fetch off the Atlantic, abundant moisture is upsloping into the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies. The higher terrain of these locations have the greatest potential for Flash Flooding (especially where recent rains have exceeded 2-4"). Another 2-4" look possible across the higher terrain of the watch area through this evening. Have maintained the Flood Watch for these locales. Further north and east, less forcing exists and lesser amounts of rain are expected. - Strong Winds...The remnant wind field with Helene is extensive. As of 3 AM mesonets across the higher terrain of the Alleghenies and Blue Ridge are already gusting to 20-30 mph. As the remnants move north through the morning and afternoon, the winds will increase across the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies. A core of 40-60 kts of wind at H85 is forecast across central VA that pivots into the Ohio Valley. There is a good amount of disagreement between models on how far northeast these winds make it into the local forecast area, especially at lower elevations. Have expanded the Wind Advisory in coordination with PBZ to our common border. Bufkit profiles suggest 40-45 kts should mix down around 2500 ft, with 45-50 kts closer to 3500/4000 ft. There is a better signal for downsloping west of the Alleghenies, but northwestern Garrett County could downslope as well directly west of Keysers Ridge towards Friendsville. The saturated ground will likely allow for trees to fall as well. Across the lower elevations and metros, gusts to 20-30 kts are possible. - Severe Potential (including tornadoes)... By this afternoon, a broken line or broken lines of showers/thunderstorms are possible. The best overlap in instability/shear/SRH is across central VA. SPC has a Marginal Risk (Level 1 out of 5) that is tornado driven (2%). The further north into the forecast area, there is less instability. However, in tropical environments it does not take much instability. The one limiting factor is the forcing is definitely better closer to the center which is forecast to track well to the west. The region will reside in a tropical airmass tonight with lows only falling into the upper 60s in the metros with upper 50s west of the Blue Ridge. Dew points will be near the air temp, so fog formation appears rather likely. Rain chances look to be low overnight with PWs actually decreasing heading into Saturday. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... Saturday should in large be dry for most of the area, aside for areas along the Mason-Dixon from Hagerstown to Cecil County where remnant showers are possible. Otherwise, cloudy with highs in the 70s. Come Sunday, the remnants of Helene and the ULL start to move back into the region. Rain chances increase, especially heading into the afternoon. Another day of highs in the 70s with abundant cloudcover. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... A very slow moving upper low will continue its gradual trek toward the Mid-Atlantic region on Monday. Some increase in forward speed is likely thereafter once the system feels the influence of a longwave trough crossing the Central/Northern Plains. Consequently, the upper low evolves into more of an open wave while exiting into the Delmarva Peninsula by Tuesday. In its wake, the upstream trough across the Great Plains begins to track across the Great Lakes into the northeastern U.S. by mid-week. This helps usher a fairly strong cold front through the region on Wednesday with high pressure settling in for the latter end of the work week. Most of the action will focus on Monday given the presence of the upper low and residual tropical moisture over the area. Some locally heavy rainfall is not out of the question with the anomalous moisture in place. Depending on how much rain will have fallen in previous days, some residual flood risk may exist. Some of the slower model solutions favor additional shower chances into Tuesday as well. Given the tendency for upper lows to be slower than models show, would expect Tuesday to offer a decent shot for rain. The true drying trend does not unfold until mid-week as the mentioned cold front sweeps through the local area. This helps lower humidity levels and cools temperatures off from Wednesday onward. && .AVIATION /07Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Widespread MVFR decreasing to IFR conditions expected today. CIGs will be the main driver, but given the tropical environment any periods of rain can see VSBYs reduced given the higher quantity of small raindrops. By this evening into tonight, continued IFR to potentially LIFR CIGs are expected. Conditions likely remain sub-VFR into Saturday due to a stalled frontal boundary over the region. Shower and possible thunderstorm chances continue Sunday as the remnants of Helene make their way east. Additionally, persistent E/NE flow is expected with surface high pressure to the north, so sub-VFR conditions remain possible at times, especially during any shower activity near the terminals. With an upper low approaching from the west, there will be ample opportunities for further shower activity on Monday into Tuesday. As a result, expect restrictions, particularly in light of the continued easterly onshore flow. Winds do shift toward north- northeast by Tuesday, but with continued low ceilings at times. && .MARINE... With the remnants of Helene moving west of the waters, the outer windfield will result in elevated winds across the Tidal Potomac and Chesapeake Bay. SCAs are in effect for all waters through this evening with easterly winds up to 25 kts expected. Winds decrease Saturday to only about 5-10 kts, but turn southerly. Come Sunday, the remnants of Helene and associated ULL will swing through the area into Monday. This will result in elevated winds over the waters out of the east, with SCAs possible. Northeasterly winds could near Small Craft Advisory levels on Monday across the northern half of the Chesapeake Bay. Otherwise, gradients weaken with gusts dropping to around 10 to 15 knots through Tuesday. Winds shift from easterly to mainly north-northeasterly by Tuesday. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... Given the decrease in astronomical high tides, water levels have lowered some relative to previous days. However, the usual more sensitive locations are expected to reach minor tidal flooding this morning. For the rest of the day, Helene will orbit around an upper low to the southwest as high pressure holds firmly to the north. This pattern results in enhanced onshore east to southeast flow at times through early next week, and has the potential to result in multiple rounds of widespread minor to moderate tidal flooding through at least Sunday. Currently the D.C. Southwest Waterfront and Annapolis are in Coastal Flood Watches due to the potential for moderate tidal flooding early Saturday. && .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DC...Coastal Flood Advisory until 8 AM EDT this morning for DCZ001. Coastal Flood Watch from late tonight through Saturday morning for DCZ001. MD...Small Craft Advisory from 4 PM this afternoon to 3 AM EDT Saturday for MDZ008. Wind Advisory from noon today to 11 PM EDT this evening for MDZ001-501. Coastal Flood Advisory until 6 AM EDT early this morning for MDZ011. Coastal Flood Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for MDZ014. Coastal Flood Watch from this evening through Saturday morning for MDZ014. Coastal Flood Advisory until 9 AM EDT this morning for MDZ508. VA...Wind Advisory from noon today to 11 PM EDT this evening for VAZ025-503-504-507-508. Flood Watch through this evening for VAZ025-036>040-503-504- 507-508. WV...Wind Advisory from noon today to 11 PM EDT this evening for WVZ501-503-505-506. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory from 4 PM this afternoon to 3 AM EDT Saturday for ANZ530>532-538>540. Small Craft Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 3 AM EDT Saturday for ANZ533>537-541>543. && $$ SYNOPSIS...CPB NEAR TERM...CPB SHORT TERM...CPB LONG TERM...BRO AVIATION...BRO/CPB MARINE...BRO/CPB TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...BRO