Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wakefield, VA
Issued by NWS Wakefield, VA
Versions:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
170 FXUS61 KAKQ 230240 AFDAKQ AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Wakefield VA 940 PM EST Sat Nov 22 2025 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure builds back into the area late tonight into early next week, leading to dry conditions. Another system impacts the area Tuesday into the middle of next week, with cooler and drier conditions to then follow from Thanksgiving Day into next weekend. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM SUNDAY MORNING/... As of 840 PM EST Saturday... Key Messages: - Cooler tonight with lows 35 to 40 across the northern counties and around 45 elsewhere - Locally dense fog possible overnight. A cold front has pushed just south of the FA and rain has come to an end, but the true CAA still about 24 hours out from our region. Clearing tonight, with a relatively cooler airmass slowly filtering in across the area tonight post-frontal. Have been watching visibility observations the last couple of hours and have seen some patchy fog, primarily along and N of I-64. Thinking that with the lack of dry air and gusty winds right behind the front, fog could spread across the area and persist through the night with the potential to be locally dense. Chilly overnight temperatures in the upper 30s to the low 40s are forecast for tonight north of Richmond over to the VA northern neck and Lower MD Eastern Shore. Farther south, slightly milder early morning lows in the 40s to near 50 over central/SE VA into northeastern NC. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... As of 225 PM EST Saturday... Key Message: - Dry, seasonable conditions Sunday, with cooler temperatures Monday. High pressure builds across the region on Sunday, with seasonal temperatures and dry conditions returning. A clipper system traversing southern Ontario into the interior northeast will drag a reinforcing, dry cold front across our area on Sunday. Behind this front, cooler, drier air mass builds into the area tomorrow night into Monday morning. With high pressure overhead this cooler airmass Sunday night. While the BL remains mixed enough to preclude max radiating, mostly clear conditions, light winds nevertheless yield a good environment for radiational cooling, and a chilly night is forecast area wide into Monday morning. Look for lows Monday morning dropping into the 30s (lower 40s along the coast). Dampening upper ridging aloft slides across the region from the mid-South region on Monday. Meanwhile, mild surface high pressure of Pacific origin settles across the region late Monday into midweek. This will bring a sunny start of the day. Weak WAA starts to move into the area from NW to SE late Mon and Mon night, ahead of the next mid- level trough approaching the area from the west. Ongoing cool air advection will mitigate slightly above normal thickness values, yielding highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. Increasing clouds Monday night with lows 35-40 inland, upper 30s to low 40s along the coast. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... As of 225 PM EST Saturday... Key Messages: - Another storm system approaches Tuesday into the middle of next week. Additional rounds of showers will be likely Tuesday night and Wednesday. - Drier and cooler weather returns from Thanksgiving Day into next weekend. Guidance is starting to become into better agreement with the latest 12z run. There continues to be good agreement that dampening mid-level trough and its attendant frontal system moves through the OH/TN Valley Tuesday, as sfc low pressure occludes over the upper Midwest and Great Lakes. Weak overrunning will bring gradually thickening and lowering cloud cover Tuesday morning, w/light precip to overspread the area later Tuesday into Tuesday night as a warm front lifts across the region. While there has been divergence in solutions come Wednesday, mainly pertaining to the speed/strength of the mid-level trough, ensemble guidance is steadily trending towards the cold front pushing through on Wednesday night. Similar to this past system, this could result in another round of showers with the actual frontal passage Wednesday night. This would then lead to a clearing, cooler, and drier Thanksgiving Day. This also likely portends to milder temperatures hanging around Tuesday through Wednesday, to be followed by much cooler temperatures returning by late week as an expansive upper trough digs down across the Eastern United States. Look for highs well into the 60s to lower 70s Tue, low to mid 70s on Wed, with cooler highs in the 50s on Thanksgiving Day. By Friday and Saturday, temperatures could struggle to reach 50F. && .AVIATION /02Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 630 PM EST Saturday... Flight conditions vary across the terminals this evening as a cold front pushes south of the forecast area. The terminals have generally been IFR or MVFR this evening with a few breaks into VFR here and there as skies try to clear out behind the front. Remaining IFR CIGs in the southeast should lift to MVFR early in the period, then remaining MVFR lifts to VFR CIGs late tonight. Visibility, however, has a higher level of uncertainty. While there hasn`t been much in the way of fog at the terminals so far, obs in the area have dropped as low as half mile VSBYs. With dry air not really expected to advect into the area and calm/light winds overnight, fog could certainly spread to the terminals. Unfortunately, guidance is not much help as there is not much in the way of fog in the models tonight. VFR returns to the area tomorrow under mostly clear skies. Outlook: VFR to persist into early next week. Another chance for rain and some flight restrictions returns for later Tuesday and Wednesday. && .MARINE... As of 940 PM EST Saturday... Key Messages: - Sub-advisory conditions are expected tonight and Sunday, with a decent chance of low-end SCAs from Sunday night-Monday morning behind another cold front. The latest wx analysis shows weak high pressure building into the Mid-Atlantic region, with a cold front in vicinity of the southern NC coast. The wind has diminished to N-NE 5-10kt and is locally NE 10-15kt for the coastal waters S of Cape Charles. All SCAs that were in effect for the Ches. Bay have been expired and/or cancelled. The CAA behind the cold front is rather weak, so the winds will remains sub-SCA overnight. Then, high pressure will briefly build back into the region during the day Sunday, allowing winds to be N-NW 5-10 kt with gusts to 15 kt through the majority of the day Sunday. Another cold front will cross the area Sunday night into Monday bringing another round of likely low-end SCA conditions. With the front, winds will remain N-NW at 15-20 kt with gusts 25 kt across the waters. This second front will have stronger CAA, which could lead to stronger winds than the current front. Behind that front, sub-SCA conditions will return for early next week, but SCA conditions are possible late Wednesday into Thursday night with the next system. Seas and waves are currently 2-3 ft across most local waters, and locally 3-4ft off the Currituck Banks, with 1-2ft waves in the Ches. Bay. Seas/waves will remain sub-SCA until the stronger system mid- week, where seas in the northern waters will likely increase to 4-5 ft. && .AKQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MD...None. NC...None. VA...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...MAM/NB NEAR TERM...AC/MAM SHORT TERM...MAM/NB LONG TERM...MAM/NB AVIATION...AC MARINE...KMC/AJZ