


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Columbia, SC
Issued by NWS Columbia, SC
777 FXUS62 KCAE 022336 AFDCAE Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Columbia SC 736 PM EDT Tue Sep 2 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Temperatures warming to near normal through Thursday ahead of a cold front. Front moves through Thursday, expected to be mostly dry. Above average temperatures Friday and Saturday before another front moves into the area late this weekend leading to chances for rain into early next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Key Message(s): - Cool and dry high pressure will continue the calm weather. Surface ridging will weaken some through the overnight hours, allowing for lighter winds. Airmass remains dry enough to keep skies mostly clear through the night. Can not rule out some patchy ground fog though, especially near bodies of water, but nothing widespread anticipated. Overnight lows generally in the upper 50s to the lower 60s. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... Key message(s): - Near normal temperatures return with mostly dry conditions expected. Strong upper troughing moves into Great Lakes region through the day Wednesday with surface high pressure slowly pushing off shore of the upper East Coast. Upper ridging over the Atlantic strengthens in response to this trough digging in, leading to 500 mb heights that remain neutral to even slightly rising across the region Wednesday and Thursday despite the general troughing pattern over the eastern US. Low level flow slowly turns westerly through Wednesday and eventually southwesterly into Thursday, aiding increasing moisture, though PWAT`s likely remain under 1.25" on Wednesday before pushing toward 1.50" into Thursday. Southwesterly flow should also aid in increasing warm advection as temperatures raise closer to normal, in the upper 80s to near 90, each day. In general, dry conditions are expected to prevail with most upper support and any shortwaves progged to remain just north of the FA in medium range guidance. A surface cold front will be in the Tennessee Valley, eventually moving toward the FA throughout Thursday, but most members in both the GEFS and EC Ensemble are on the dry side with any shower/storm activity north of the CWA. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Key message(s): - Above normal temperatures into the weekend before cooling again early next week. - Slight chance to chance for showers and possibly a couple storms Sunday and into the early week. Ensemble and deterministic guidance is in fairly good agreement with the evolution of the cut off upper low in southern Canada and the troughing over the eastern CONUS. A surface low meandering north of Lake Superior will occlude, slowing the progression of the initial cold front, but a secondary front is expected to push into the region this weekend. For sensible weather, mostly dry conditions are expected Friday and Saturday as heights remain neutral or slightly rise and PWAT`s remain near 1.50". The front should work across the FA late Saturday and into Sunday, possibly bringing isolated to widely scattered showers and storms Sunday with a bit more instability to work with and deeper moisture. In terms of temperatures Friday and through the weekend, a warming trend continues where there is high confidence in blended guidance that temperatures should reach above normal Friday and Saturday before becoming closer to normal Sunday. For the early week, surface high pressure is expected to move into the Mid Atlantic and upper East Coast, ridging down into the FA as heights rise with the upper trough now lifting toward the NE. This should yield near surface winds that are are more northeasterly, which could keep temperatures near normal Monday and possibly slightly below normal into Tuesday. The deterministic GFS and ECMWF (as well as their ensemble counterparts) show a mid level shortwave trough developing over the Mississippi Valley into the early week, though the GFS has a much more compact/sharp trough developing, leading to 700-500mb winds that are more southerly to southwesterly, and thus a wetter solution Monday and Tuesday while the ECMWF is on the drier side with a less pronounced trough. PoP`s in the early week will be more dependent on the evolution of this feature but current thinking is slight chances for showers could exist each day. && .AVIATION /00Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... VFR conditions expected through the period. High pressure continues to bring mainly clear skies and variable winds less than 7 kts. These winds are expected to diminish shortly after the start of the TAF period. With the high pressure persisting during the daytime hours on Wednesday, winds are likely to remain variable. There remains a low chance for MIFG or river fog near daybreak, but confidence continues to be too low to include any mention in the TAFs. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...Restrictions possible on Thursday as moisture increases ahead of a front. A few showers are also possible Thursday. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...None. GA...None. && $$