Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS State College, PA
Issued by NWS State College, PA
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279 FXUS61 KCTP 140130 AFDCTP Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service State College PA 930 PM EDT Thu Aug 13 2026 .WHAT HAS CHANGED... Bumped fog probabilities slightly later into tomorrow morning, other than that, few major changes at this time. A dry night in store for central PA. && .KEY MESSAGES... 1) Generally quiet pattern statewide looks to persist through Saturday with any precipitation chances confined to the southern tier of the state. 2) Sunday brings a return to wet conditions with showers and thunderstorm chances returning. && .DISCUSSION... KEY MESSAGE 1: Generally quiet pattern statewide looks to persist through Saturday with most precipitation chances confined to the southern tier of the state. Finally getting an evening with nothing on the radar as of mid evening. Expect the overnight to remain dry. Any showers are expected to be after sunrise on Friday. More information below. The upper level jet streak is anticipated to traverse through Ontario and into New England, passing over New York/Northern Pennsylvania. As the right entrance region passes over Pennsylvania, it will interact with a remnant MCV from convection that is currently ongoing in the Midwest. This ascent should allow for another round of clouds some shower development in the southern tier of the state later tomorrow. Main timing looks to be from the late morning to mid-afternoon. The ascent may allow for some spotty afternoon showers elsewhere, but dry air filtering in from the north should keep things fairly isolated. As these features pass through and drier air filters in from the north, skies should start clearing Friday evening into Saturday. This will make for some relatively less humid conditions to begin the weekend with any isolated rain chances looking to remain in the southwest. KEY MESSAGE 2: Sunday brings a return to wet conditions with showers and thunderstorm chances returning. A low pressure system moving through Canada will allow a stalled frontal boundary to move through Pennsylvania as a warm front on Sunday. This will bring a moist airmass, with PWATs possibly exceeding 2" into Pennsylvania. With a secondary low likely forming closer to Pennsylvania at the intersection of the warm front and a trailing cold front, this will invigorate development of showers and thunderstorms. With a cold front draping across Pennsylvania Sunday night, multiple rounds of showers/thunderstorms may be possible into the night. As it stands right now, ensemble guidance has the northern tier of Pennsylvania targeted for highest rain probabilities and totals. Exact timing of this activity and how fast/slow the cold front moves through will likely become clearer as we approach Sunday. With such high PWATs and potential for multiple rounds/training activity, flooding potential will need to be watched. Should the cold front stall/move slower, activity may linger into Monday morning. After that passage, the start of next week is showing signs of high pressure moving over the region. && .AVIATION /01Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Scattered shower activity along the surface convergence boundary over central PA has largely dissipated as mid/high level clouds from Ohio Valley convection stream overhead & surface temperatures cool as sunset approaches. These clouds look to persist overnight, introducing uncertainty regarding the extent of overnight radiational fog. For this reason, I leaned more optimistic compared to the GLAMP, which appears to be trending towards less fog as well, and closer to HREF guidance. However, BKN/OVC mid-high level clouds are less efficient at mitigating against radiational fog vs. BKN-OVC low clouds, so patchy fog with visibility restrictions (primarily around KBFD/KJST/KAOO/KUNV) still seem possible. Patchy morning fog will mix out soon after sunrise Friday, with VFR favored & light winds of ~5 kts through the rest of the TAF period. With that said, intermittent MVFR ceilings are possible in the morning & early afternoon, primarily at KJST/KAOO, as diurnal/upslope cumulus develop. Towards the end of the 00Z TAF period, high pressure nosing in from Canada may push a weak backdoor cold front into northern PA. A northeasterly wind shift is expected behind the front, which could reach KBFD/KIPT around or after 00Z Saturday. Winds may gust to around 15 kts with the frontal passage, primarily if it moves through during the evening before the boundary layer stabilizes, with lower wind gusts (5-10 kts) if it moves through later into the night. Outlook... Sat...AM fog possible, then VFR. Warm front moves in and SHRA/TSRA likely W Sat night. Sun...Restrictions possible in showers/thunderstorms. Mon...CFROPA by Monday morning. SHRA/TSRA ending Mon AM. Mainly VFR for most of the day. Tue...Mainly dry. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ WHAT HAS CHANGED...Martin/Lambrech KEY MESSAGES...Martin/Lambrech DISCUSSION...Lambert/Martin/Lambrech AVIATION...Teare