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Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC
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804 FXUS62 KRAH 040037 AFDRAH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Raleigh NC 836 PM EDT Wed Jul 3 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Canadian high pressure centered off the Mid Atlantic coast will push further offshore tonight. A hot and humid air mass will spread into the area starting July 4th, as a dome of mid level high pressure builds aloft over the region, lasting through the holiday weekend. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 836 PM Wednesday... Little change to the going forecast through tonight. Surface high pressure offshore of the Mid-Atlantic will continue to progress eastward, resulting in a return southerly flow taking shape overnight and become SSW toward sunrise. Satellite imagery reveals some mid and high clouds streaming in from the NNW. Model guidance shows these high clouds will continue to be a player through the overnight hours, especially west of the Coastal Plain. Hard to tell how opaque these clouds are, but they are likely to prevent some radiational cooling in an otherwise light southerly flow. We raised highs a tad over the Piedmont as a result, with urban areas in the 71 to 74 degree range. In the outlying areas and over the Coastal Plain, lows will be in the mid to upper 60s. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT/... As of 230 PM Wednesday.. A 595dm upper level ridge will extend from the Gulf Coast states NE toward the Mid-Atlantic on Thursday while surface high pressure continues to slip further offshore and allows moist southerly return flow to engulf the Carolinas. With southwesterly flow and deep mixing, dry adiabatic mixing technique yields mid to upper 90s for highs, which is on the higher side of guidance (equivalent to the 75th to 90th percentile range of the NBM) but not out of the realm of possibility. Thus will lean towards the higher side of guidance for highs. Deep mixing also suggests dewpoints will be able to mix out a little into the mid to upper 60s in a lot of areas, helping to keep heat indices in the low 100s for the most part. Will note that HeatRisk suggests moderate impacts, with much greater impacts Friday into Saturday. Regarding any convection, the stout mid-level cap that has been present this week will still be around early Thursday, weakening somewhat across the north as a trough moving into the Great Lakes tampers down the northern edge of the upper ridge. CAPE looks pretty limited due to the cap and mixing of dewpoints, but hires guidance suggests some isolated development on the mtn ridges and lee trough, perhaps migrating from SW VA toward the northern Piedmont along loosely-consolidated outflow. PW will also still be less than 1.5 inches, so the number of storms should also be limited. Thus the best chance of isolated storms should be from the Triad to Person County later in the afternoon and evening. Where storms do occur, the deep mixing and dry air will favor damaging winds as the greatest threat. Without better moisture available, convection is expected to wane quickly Thursday evening. Dewpoints will continue their background rise with the return flow, creeping into the lower 70s and keeping overnight lows in the low to mid 70s as well. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 321 PM Wednesday... The pattern aloft from Friday into the weekend will feature troughing across the Great Lakes and increasing southwesterly flow aloft across the Southeastern US. Strong 591dm H5 ridging will gradually slide offshore as the longwave trough and attendant surface cold front make their way across the mountains and into the Piedmont. This front will struggle to make it through the area, stalling out somewhere across central NC and serving as a focal point for afternoon showers and storms pretty much each afternoon through early next week. A series of reinforcing shortwave troughs will move through the Great Lakes early next week, but nothing significant enough to push the front through the area. If anything, the front will likely wash out at some point early next week with scattered diurnally driven showers and storms becoming the theme through the middle of next week. PoPs will be at their highest (50- 70 percent) Friday and Saturday, then retreat a bit into the 40-50 percent range Sunday through Wednesday. Favored areas will be the western Piedmont and Sandhills, with slightly lower chances elsewhere in line with climo. Temperatures will be on the rise as well, with highs reaching the mid to upper 90s Friday and Saturday, retreating into the low/mid 90s from Sunday onward. Heat Indices will approach 105 degrees along and primarily east of US-1 Friday and Saturday, with slightly lower values Sunday into next week. Overnight lows will range from the low to mid 70s. && .AVIATION /00Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 730 PM Wednesday... VFR conditions are expected, with high confidence, across central NC for the next 24 hours. Surface high pressure centered well to our northeast will continue to extend into the area tonight, then weaken Thu as an increasingly humid low level flow from the SW and WSW takes over. Mid level high pressure will keep clouds minimal and VFR through much of Independence Day, although an isolated late-day shower or storm may drift near INT/GSO late in the period (after 21Z). Looking beyond 00z Fri, isolated showers/storms may linger over the N Piedmont (INT/GSO/RDU) through Thu evening before dying out. A few showers/storms are possible late Fri near INT/GSO/RDU. There is a chance of MVFR vsbys early Sat morning at INT/GSO. Scattered to numerous late-day-through-evening showers/storms are possible across all of central NC daily from Sat through Mon. -GIH && .CLIMATE... Record High Temperatures: July 4: KGSO: 98/1970 KRDU: 101/2012 KFAY: 98/2019 July 5: KGSO: 98/2012 KRDU: 102/1999 KFAY: 101/2002 July 6: KRDU: 102/2022 KFAY: 99/1990 Record High Minimum Temperatures: July 4: KGSO: 73/2018 July 5: KGSO: 74/1999 KRDU: 78/1902 KFAY: 77/2005 July 6: KGSO: 76/1999 KRDU: 79/1900 KFAY: 76/2017 July 7: KGSO: 73/2019 KRDU: 77/1900 KFAY: 78/2017 && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Hartfield NEAR TERM...Kren SHORT TERM...bls LONG TERM...Leins AVIATION...Hartfield CLIMATE...RAH