Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC

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004 FXUS62 KRAH 210114 AFDRAH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Raleigh NC 910 PM EDT Thu Jun 20 2024 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure aloft will settle from the Middle Atlantic and OH Valley southward and across the Southeast through this weekend. A pre-frontal trough and weak cold front will move into NC Monday afternoon and night, then lift northeastward across the Middle Atlantic as a warm front Tuesday and Wednesday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
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As of 910 PM Thursday... The forecast remains quiet for tonight. There are just a few passing high clouds across the northern Piedmont, but otherwise skies should be mostly clear tonight. Overnight lows should be one or two degrees warmer than last night`s values, generally falling into the mid to upper 60s.
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&& .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT/... As of 340 PM Thursday... The slightly weaker but still strong 596 dam mid-level anticyclone will continue to slowly weaken and drift further SE on Friday, reaching the Deep South on Friday night. At the surface, high pressure east of NC will continue to nose westward and move south closer to Bermuda. With the low-level flow switching to a S/SE direction, 1000-850 mb thicknesses will slightly rise by 5-10 m compared to today, supporting high temperatures mainly in the lower- 90s across central NC. Dew points will also be slightly higher but with good mixing should still bottom out in the lower-to-mid-60s. However, guidance shows some upper-60s dew points and 500-1000 J/kg of CAPE creeping into the far SE in the afternoon. This is also where a few CAMS (including the NSSL, ARW and NAMNest) depict a few showers and storms potentially making it from the coast. So added a slight chance of showers and storms just over southern Sampson County from 18z-00z. Any convection would quickly die off after sunset, with milder lows in the upper-60s to 70 as higher dew points begin to overspread the whole area. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 400 PM Thursday... A long stretch of hot temperatures, ~6-12 F above average, will result this weekend through the middle of next week. While seasonable to seasonably low humidity values may regulate/temper Heat Index values, an increased HeatRisk (experimental forecast risk of heat-related impacts that supplement Heat Index-based NWS products - more information here: wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/heatrisk/) will result. A mid/upr-level high that reached within one decameter of 600 dam at 500 mb last evening at IAD, PIT, and OKX last evening, the latter of which broke an all-time record for the site, will gradually weaken while retreating swd across the TN Valley through Sat and then wwd to the srn Rockies and Southwest through early next week. A series of 2-3 prominent nrn stream shortwave troughs/compact closed cyclones will migrate ewd and across the Canada/US international border and Great Lakes, with associated glancing height falls maximized across the srn Middle Atlantic/Carolinas Sun-Mon and again Wed-Thu. At the surface, on the wrn periphery of high pressure that will become anchored near and east of Bermuda, an Appalachian-lee trough will develop Sat and remain in place for most of the forecast period. It may be briefly overtaken by a cold front that will weaken while drifting sewd and into NC Mon afternoon and night, before the front will then retreat newd and across the Middle Atlantic as a warm front Tue-Wed. Another cold front may reach NC by Thu. While the aforementioned subsident ridge aloft will have weakened and retreated wwd, the hot low-level airmass it produced will remain in place across much of the srn and sern US throughout the forecast period, equatorward of the frontal zones noted above. Mainly diurnal convection will become possible over cntl NC by Sun afternoon, then maximize with the approach/passage of the two fronts noted above on Mon and again late Wed-Thu, with intervening continued dryness. && .AVIATION /00Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... As of 700 PM Thursday... VFR expected to continue through Friday with lightly easterLY flow between high pressure east of NC and a tropical wave drifting west toward the SE coast. That tropical wave, regardless of further development, is not expected to have impacts on NC. Tonight, some reduced vsbys are again possible from FAY to RWI, followed by scattered cumulus clouds on Friday Outlook: VFR and dry conditions are expected to persist through Saturday. There is a small chance of some patchy low clouds in easterly flow Friday night, mainly across eastern areas. An approaching cold front will support a slight chance of showers and storms and related sub-VFR restrictions on Sunday, with better coverage on Monday. Isolated showers and storms may linger in the south and east on Tuesday. && .CLIMATE... Record High Temperatures: June 22: KRDU: 100/2022 KFAY: 101/2022 June 23: KRDU: 100/1986 KFAY: 102/1981 June 24: KRDU: 99/2010 KFAY: 102/1914 June 25: KRDU: 100/1952 KFAY: 102/1914 June 26: KRDU: 102/1952 KFAY: 101/1951 Record High Minimum Temperatures: June 21: KRDU: 75/1933 June 22: KGSO: 75/1981 KRDU: 78/1933 June 23: KGSO: 74/2015 KRDU: 77/1890 KFAY: 77/2017 June 24: KGSO: 76/2015 KRDU: 76/1888 KFAY: 79/2010 June 25: KGSO: 75/2015 KRDU: 77/2010 KFAY: 75/1952 June 26: KGSO: 74/2010 KRDU: 76/1902 KFAY: 76/1997 && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...MWS NEAR TERM...Green SHORT TERM...Danco LONG TERM...MWS AVIATION...BLS CLIMATE...RAH