Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Greer, SC
Issued by NWS Greer, SC
950 FXUS62 KGSP 300005 AFDGSP Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC 805 PM EDT Fri May 29 2026 .WHAT HAS CHANGED... Updated the aviation discussion for the 00Z TAFs. && .KEY MESSAGES... 1. The potential for locally heavy rainfall and isolated flash flooding returns tonight into Saturday. Briefly cooler and drier on Sunday before rain returns Monday. 2. Dry and cooler than normal weather is expected Tuesday through at least Thursday. Slightly warmer with low chance of diurnal convection Friday. && .DISCUSSION... Key message 1: The potential for locally heavy rainfall and isolated flash flooding returns tonight into Saturday. Briefly cooler and drier on Sunday before rain returns Monday. Shortwave over the lower MS Valley will shift toward the Carolinas through tonight, promoting development of SW flow above the boundary layer, resulting in warm upglide over the stalled front. PWATs trend back upward via the associated moisture flux with values at or above 1.75" by early Saturday morning (~150% of normal) over GA/SC if not the southern tier of NC zones, and though lapse rates are accordingly weak aloft, most model runs show at least a couple hundred joules of MUCAPE, with potential for even higher values over the SW CWA. Wind speeds through the column remain pretty weak, suggesting slow storm motion, and MBE vectors are small so backbuilding also would appear likely. As noted on previous forecast cycles, CAM convective response with rainfall rates concerning for a flash flood threat is isolated; the REFS 3-hr PMM shows similar coverage of 2-3" totals from individual storms compared to the past few runs, and values for the same field from the HREF have trended lower overall on the latest run. Thus it will be worth monitoring for a localized flash flood threat overnight into early Saturday morning, but not looking worthy of a Flash Flood Watch. There looks to be a lull in the convection over the stationary front after daybreak Saturday as midlevel winds wane diurnally. A mature area of low pressure off the Northeast coast still is expected to pull a backdoor cold front into NC early in the day, at the leading edge of a cool/dry high building south from Hudson Bay across the Great Lakes. The front then progresses south across the rest of the CWA through evening. PWATs will remain similarly high preceding it. Diurnal destabilization is put somewhat in question by the potential for low stratus and early morning convective debris taking time to scatter, but despite abundant high altitude cloud cover lingering into afternoon on the HREF, its SBCAPE probs still suggests 500+ J/kg are likely to develop near peak heating, with 1000+ J/kg more likely over GA/SC. CAMs mostly produce isolated to scattered cells along the front as it sinks southward in the afternoon. Potential for locally excessive rainfall will persist with this diurnal convection; storm motion would probably be a little faster but with more potential instability, and the storms could occur over areas with soils wet from heavy rain overnight. 0-6km shear is stronger to our east where the gradient aloft is stronger around the offshore low. The severe threat would appear to be limited in our area assuming the shear and instability remain in check as most guidance suggests. So a situation where we destabilize more due to earlier scattering of clouds, or if any storms are still ongoing along the front in the far southern CWA during the evening when shear begins to increase, a threat of damaging wind and possibly marginally severe hail could materialize. Saturday`s front will have settled to a position on our southwest fringe once again by Sunday morning, and moist SE to S flow again develops over the front, probably producing some cloud cover that will keep temps on the order of 10 below normal, in conjunction with the cooler/drier airmass. Lapse rates are poor under the high, and convection should be suppressed over most of the area. Small PoPs linger over the far western mountains and in parts of the Savannah River Valley nearest the front. The Friday-Saturday pattern evolution almost repeats Sunday night into Monday as the front once again reverses, warranting increasing PoPs overnight, and then another reinforcing backdoor cold front coming in from the north during the day. Hence PoPs increase. PWATs will start out generally lower Sunday evening, but by Monday will have rebounded enough for another potentially localized flash flood threat with convection as the cold front moves through. Temperatures return to near normal Monday. Key message 2: Dry and cooler than normal weather is expected Tuesday through at least Thursday. Slightly warmer with low chance of diurnal convection Friday. An upper low off the Mid-Atlantic coast will keep northerly flow and anomalously low heights over the area Tuesday and Wednesday. The low begins to pull east Thursday and Friday with an upper ridge axis moving east toward the area. Cool and dry high pressure builds in from the north Tuesday and Wednesday then slides east Thursday and Friday with weak southerly flow developing. The result will be dry conditions with below normal temps Tuesday and Wednesday. A slow warming trend, but still below normal, Thursday and Friday. Weak moisture return begins Friday, leading to a low end chance of diurnal convection, mainly across the mountains. && .AVIATION /00Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... At KCLT and elsewhere: Mostly dry conditions expected through late this evening before rain chances return late tonight into daybreak Saturday as a front remains stalled south of the area. Could not entirely rule out some TSRA embedded at times tonight into Saturday morning but confidence is low. A brief lull should develop mid to late Saturday morning into early Saturday afternoon before another round of TSRA develops ahead of a another cold front dropping in from the north. Went with PROB30s for SHRA overnight into Saturday morning and PROB30s for TSRA Saturday afternoon/early evening. Should see VFR prevail outside of SHRA/TSRA. Confidence on the timing and coverage of both SHRA and TSRA remain low which is why PROB30s were maintained for the 00Z TAF cycle. Winds will start out S/SW before going light and VRB to calm this evening into most of Saturday. A N`ly wind shift may occur behind the cold front Saturday afternoon but confidence is low with light and VRB winds expected. Outlook: Drier conditions return Sunday before another cold front brings rain chances back Monday. A drier pattern should return for the rest of the workweek. && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...None. NC...None. SC...None. && $$ AR/JCW/RWH