Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wakefield, VA

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034
FXUS61 KAKQ 170710
AFDAKQ

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service Wakefield VA
310 AM EDT Tue Jun 17 2025

.SYNOPSIS...
A frontal boundary will remain nearly stationary along the
Virginia North Carolina border tonight, before washing out
across the area on Tuesday. An upper level ridge expands
northward Wednesday, leading to hot weather with lower rain
chances Wednesday, followed by hot conditions Thursday, with
scattered showers and storms as the next cold front approaches.
Mainly dry for the upcoming weekend.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TODAY/...
As of 310 AM EDT Tuesday...

Key Messages:

- A few showers early this morning, along with areas of fog
  through mid-morning.

- Warmer today with highs into the mid to upper 80s for most of
  the area. A few strong storms possible over the piedmont late
  this afternoon into early evening.

Latest surface analysis reveals low pressure well offshore of
the Delmarva early this morning, with a quasi-stationary frontal
boundary extending back SW just south of the forecast area
just south of the Albemarle sound, with an effective warm front
then extending W/NW of the local area back toward low pressure
currently over the U.P. of Michigan as of this writing. Aloft,
an upper trough continues to settle east across the mid south
and the west-central gulf coast. A weak upper shortwave is
pushing across the region early this morning, setting off a few
isolated to widely scattered showers. We`ve maintained a 20-30%
PoP for these showers, which will make their way E-NE toward
the coast through mid-morning. This could amount to a quick few
hundredths to a tenth of an inch through mid morning. Otherwise,
patchy fog and low clouds persist this morning. The fog will
linger into the AM commute. Do not expect any issues with
widespread dense fog, but will keep an eye out for potential
SPS or mention through our social media channels. Temperatures
this morning were largely in the upper 60s to around 70, with
some low to mid 60s in onshore flow along the Eastern Shore.

The upper midwest low swings up into central Ontario through the
day, shunting the effective warm front, or wedge front, north
through the region today as it washes out. Meanwhile, the upper
trough advances east and squeezes the sub-tropical ridge north
along the eastern seaboard. Rising upper-level heights and
gradually clearing afternoon sky portend increasing amounts of
sunshine by late morning/early aftn, along with highs warming
into the mid to upper 80s by later aftn (upper 70s to lower 80s
eastern shore). Could have some early afternoon convection along
the coast along afternoon seabreeze circulations. Otherwise
expect a brief lull behind the morning shortwave.

By late aftn though, another TN Valley shortwave, this one a
bit stronger, swings east across the mountains. Most CAMs kick
off some showers and storms that could reach into the region
late today into this evening. Given decent instability parameters
in place, some showers/storms will be possible across the
piedmont by or just after 3-4 PM. Shear values are still not
overly impressive (20-30 kt at best), but mid-level lapse rates
are a bit better than the past several days and may compensate a
bit for the lack of shear. The primary threat from any severe
storm is damaging winds, with the threat mostly limited to the
nrn piedmont mainly W/NW of RIC. SPC has maintained a Marginal
Risk for severe weather west of the Bay.

Showers and storms taper with loss of heating this evening,
leaving a mild/muggy night with lows in the upper 60s to low
70s.

&&

.SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/...
As of 310 AM EDT Tuesday...

Key Messages:

- Hot and humid Wed and Thursday, with heat headlines possible
  in the SE both days.

- Severe Tstms possible late Thursday into Thursday night.

The upper trough will dampen Wednesday, as it runs into the
upper ridge. However, before it does so, it could trigger a few
showers and storms Wed afternoon and evening across the NW
(mainly N-NW of US-360). Have increased PoPs to 30-40% over the
NW third of the area from FVX-RIC-SBY, with little to no PoP
mention for the peninsulas and VA eastern shore southward.
Notable that SPC has added the northern neck and Eastern Shore
into a Day 2 Marginal Risk, again with damaging winds as the
primary hazard.

Main sensible weather item of note Wednesday will be the
building heat. As the previously referenced upper-level ridge
lifts north across the east coast, summer-like heat will come
with it. Highs Wednesday rise into the low- mid 90s for most of
the area. Lows Wed night in the low to mid 70s. There is a
better chance of showers and thunderstorms Thursday afternoon
and Thursday evening as a cold front approaches the region.
Timing still looks to be late in the afternoon in to Thursday
evening. With the later timing, expect Thursday to be 2-3 deg
warmer on average with compressional warming ahead of the
frontal passage. Given the pattern, and with the recent wet
spell, have kept high temperatures both Wed and Thu on the
cooler edge of guidance, but with dew pts at or slightly higher
than MOS numbers (but a bit lower than NBM). Expect heat indices
to peak around 105F in the SE, where heat headlines may well be
needed, to the upper 90s to ~103F elsewhere. With this high
heat and humidity, ample instability is expected along and ahead
of a cold front. In addition, model mid-level lapse rates are
currently showing values >6-6.5 C/Km, along with bulk shear
values of 30-40kt. SPC has most of the region in a Day 4 15%
Risk (Slight), and this would be mainly for wind, though large
hail will be possible as well. While we would expect this to
hold for the new outlook, this will be updated with the new Day
3 issuance shortly.

&&

.LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
As of 310 AM EDT Tuesday...

Key Message:

- After a brief modest cool down on Friday, temperatures ramp
  back up over the weekend into early next week. Summer heat and
  moderate humidity levels expected Sunday through the middle of
  next week. Heat headlines are likely to be needed for (at
  least) portions of the area.

A brief respite from the hot temperatures Friday (ironically the
summer solstice is Friday night). Dry and modestly cooler
Friday, though a few afternoon seabreeze showers/storms are
possible across the N OBX. Temperatures trend warmer through the
weekend and into early next week. We could see a few storms Sat
night/early Sunday across mainly NE sections of the FA as both
the GFS/ECMWF and ensembles are showing a shortwave diving SSE
from the Great Lakes (will continue to monitor this over the
next few days). Beyond that, there is good model consensus that
an upper level trough locks in place over the NW CONUS, with a
strong upper ridge across the central and eastern CONUS. Some of
the models depict 500 mb heights rising to nearly 600 dm. The
period next week looks quite hot for a prolonged period given
this setup. Humidity level might be slightly lower given this
ridge being more of continental origin, though with the recent
wet spell, this is uncertain.

&&

.AVIATION /07Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
As of 215 AM EDT Tuesday...

CIGs have fallen back into IFR/LIFR range over area terminals,
with widespread IFR/LIFR CIGs at all sites persisting into mid-
morning (12-14z) Tuesday morning. In addition to the low CIGs,
patchy fog/drizzle will also be possible, reducing VSBYs to MVFR
or IFR at times. Conditions begin to improve later Tuesday
morning, with CIGs becoming MVFR ~13-15z. CIGs do look to
improve to high-end MVFR to VFR by late in the period (after
18z). However, some widely scattered afternoon/evening showers
and thunderstorms are possible this afternoon, initially with
afternoon seabreeze along the coast, and then with convection
arriving from the west late Tuesday afternoon/early Tue evening
that may lead to localized restrictions. Chances of showers/storms
at terminals remain low enough to hold out mention for now, but
will re-evaluate later this morning.

Outlook: Primarily VFR conditions are expected (outside of
patchy AM fog in the typical spots) again tonight into early
Wednesday. Additional late day and evening convection is
possible on Wednesday afternoon, with more widespread coverage
expected Thursday afternoon/evening, as a cold front crosses the
region. Very warm, dry, with VFR conditions for Friday into
the weekend.

&&

.MARINE...
As of 310 AM EDT Tuesday...

- Benign marine conditions continue throughout today.

- SW winds increase by the middle of the week potentially brining
SCA conditions across the bay.

Early morning weather analysis shows a predominately zonal flow aloft
across the area. While at the surface a 1020mb+ high pressure
continues to sit over Bermuda. A weak pressure gradient over the
area has lead to light onshore flow across the bay and southern
waters. While across the north winds light winds are coming out of
the NNE.  Winds this morning are between 5 to 10 kt and seas are
~1ft across the bay and 2 to 3 ft across the ocean. Across the
northern waters there is the potential of fog as the front to the
south pushes warmer air over the cooler water. Satellite and
surface observations are showing visibility between 3 to six miles
across the water. Trends will continue to be monitored if visibility
drops.

Benign marine conditions are expected through much of the day. A
warm front will lift north through the day allowing SSE winds to
continue through the day. Winds today will be sustained between 5 to
10 kt with gusts upwards of 15 kt. Seas will increase only increase
in the bay today as winds increase and seas will be 1 to 2 ft. While
across the ocean seas will remain between 2 to 3 ft. In addition to
the benign marine conditions, there is the potential of showers and
thunderstorms across the waters. Later this evening and into tonight
winds will begin to increase and shift out of the SSW. The winds
will increase to 10 to 15 kt with gusts nearing 20 kt. This is due
to the pressure gradient tightening from the high to the east and a
developing low to the west. The better chances for SCA conditions
reside late Wednesday night into late Thursday night. Latest model
guidance shows adequate mixing in the lower levels of the atmosphere
and decently strong 925mb jet. The local wind probabilities have also
shows a probability of frequent wind gusts near 20 kt between 80 to
90%. There is high enough confidence with in this forecast that SCA
will potentially be needed later this week. The daily chances of
showers and thunderstorms will also continue throughout this week.

Onshore flow will continue to be present across the northern
beaches today as the warm front continues to lift north. There
is also the potential of 2 to 3 ft waves along the shore line.
This will lead to a moderate rip current risk today. Across the
south low rip currents will remain the the forecast for today.
&&

.TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...
Onshore flow over the last couple of days has led to slightly
elevated tidal anomalies, particularly in the upper bay and tidal
portions of the Rappahannock/Potomac rivers. While this
morning`s high tide should be lower than the tides of yesterday
morning, we are likely to see some lingering nuisance to near
minor flooding. A Coastal Flood Statement was issued for the
upper Rappahannock River (Tappahannock gage) where level may
near the minor flood threshold this morning.

&&

.AKQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MD...None.
NC...None.
VA...None.
MARINE...None.

&&

$$

SYNOPSIS...MAM
NEAR TERM...MAM
SHORT TERM...LKB/MAM
LONG TERM...KMC/LKB
AVIATION...AJB/LKB/MAM
MARINE...AC/MAM
TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...