


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Sterling, VA
Issued by NWS Sterling, VA
079 FXUS61 KLWX 031939 AFDLWX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC 339 PM EDT Wed Sep 3 2025 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front will approach from the west on Thursday, before decaying overhead. A much stronger cold front will move through Saturday. High pressure will build in from the Ohio Valley early next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Broad upper troughing remains in place over the eastern half of North America. A weak shortwave is approaching from southwest Virginia. Ascent ahead of this feature may be enough to spark the development of a few showers, and potentially a thunderstorm or two across the Potomac Highlands this afternoon. Elsewhere, dry conditions are expected, with just a few fair weather cumulus clouds. Southerly flow has allowed slightly warmer air to work into the area, with temperatures climbing into the lower 80s in most locations. Increasing southerly flow may prevent most locations from decoupling overnight, which will keep temperatures a bit warmer than preceding nights. Dry conditions and mostly clear skies are expected, with overnight lows generally in the upper 50s and lower 60s. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... A deep upper low will lift from near Lake Superior toward Hudson Bay tomorrow. Meanwhile, an accompanying shortwave will drop southward toward Lower Michigan tomorrow morning, before lifting northeastward toward the St. Lawrence Valley tomorrow afternoon. This system will drive a cold front southeastward toward the area, but the front will ultimately wash out over the area tomorrow night as it loses upper air support. Thunderstorms are expected to develop tomorrow afternoon as large scale ascent associated with that system overspreads a destabilizing airmass. Temperatures should reach well into the 80s for most tomorrow, with dewpoints potentially climbing into the low-mid 60s. Isolated showers may reach the Allegheny Front as early as late morning, but more scattered to widespread shower/thunderstorm activity is expected to develop tomorrow afternoon. These storms will likely impact locations to the west of the Blue Ridge between roughly 1-5 PM, and locations to the east of the Blue Ridge from 3-9 PM. Model soundings show around 500-1000 J/kg of MLCAPE, with around 35-40 knots of effective bulk shear. Hodographs are relatively straight, with near unidirectional southwesterly flow. Much of the shear is present in the lowest 3 km. DCAPE appears to be on the lower side, with relatively moist mid-levels. However, most models show well mixed subcloud layers with relatively steep low- level lapse rates. CAMs show a mixed multicell/marginal supercell mode. Small bowing segments may be capable of producing damaging winds, and any supercells could produce either damaging winds or hail. Supercell splits may be possible given the straight hodograph shape. HREF UH tracks hint at this potential, showing both positive and negative UH swaths, albeit relatively weak in magnitude. SPC currently has much of the area outlooked in a Marginal risk for severe thunderstorms. Any thunderstorm activity should weaken and/or progress off to our southeast by late evening, resulting in dry conditions overnight. Lows tomorrow night should be in the upper 50s to the west of the Blue Ridge, with low to mid 60s further east. Height rises will ensue aloft between disturbances on Friday. The vast majority of guidance keeps conditions dry, although the 3km NAM does have a few thunderstorms forming during the afternoon along a surface trough. Warmer temperatures are forecast for Friday, with highs reaching into the mid 80s to near 90. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... A cold front is set to move across the area to start the weekend, bringing at least scattered showers and thunderstorms. There should be sufficient instability for convection during the afternoon to early evening as temps climb to the mid to upper 80s, especially east of the Blue Ridge. Dew points are also going to be in the mid to upper 60s, and close to 70F in Central VA to along I-95. Looking at model soundings it is definitely possible that we see severe thunderstorms in the area. Deep-layer shear around 40-50 knots and steep low-level lapse rates could result in organized convection capable of damaging wind gusts. High pressure quickly builds into the region Saturday night and persists into the start of next week. Dry, much cooler, fall-like weather returns Sunday as highs only reach the low to mid 70s. Highs in the mid 70s for Monday and Tuesday. Overnight lows drop to the upper 40s to 50s. && .AVIATION /19Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... VFR conditions and light southerly winds are expected this afternoon through tonight. Winds will pick up out of the south tomorrow, and then turn out of the southwest tomorrow afternoon. Winds may gust to around 20-25 knots tomorrow afternoon. Thunderstorms will also move in from the west tomorrow afternoon. Any storms tomorrow afternoon could produce damaging winds. Coverage of the storms won`t be overly impressive, so just PROB30 groups have been introduced for now. Timing for the DC/Baltimore metros looks to be between 4 and 9 PM (a bit earlier further west). Sub-VFR conditions are possible Saturday afternoon as a cold front brings scattered showers and thunderstorms to the area. High pressure builds in behind the front Saturday night into Sunday, bringing VFR conditions and breezy north winds. && .MARINE... Winds remain light out of the south over the waters this afternoon, but they will begin to pick up this evening. SCAs are in effect for portions of the main channel of the Bay tonight within channeled southerly flow. SCA conditions are expected for all waters within south to southwesterly flow during the day tomorrow. SMWs may also be needed late tomorrow afternoon into tomorrow evening as thunderstorms move over the waters. SCA conditions will likely linger through much of the night Thursday night within southerly flow. Borderline SCA level winds appear possible within southerly flow Friday into Friday night. A cold front will move across the area sometime Saturday, bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms to the waters. Behind the front period of northerly channeling could produce SCA conditions Saturday evening into Saturday night. High pressure builds in from the north on Sunday, though northerly winds could remain elevated through Sunday evening. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... Water levels are starting to increase within southerly flow. Confidence in Annapolis reaching minor flood increases tonight. A Coastal Flood Advisory is in effect for Annapolis tonight. Peak water anomalies appear to occur Thursday night ahead of a front in strong southerly flow. More locations may reach minor flood, and some guidance has Annapolis approaching moderate flood. A Coastal Flood Watch is in effect for Annapolis for the tide cycle Thursday night. Water levels may decrease a bit Friday as the first front fizzles out, but minor flooding may still occur at Annapolis Friday night as southerly flow strengthens again ahead of the next front. This front will bring a wind shift Saturday which will decrease water levels. && .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DC...None. MD...Small Craft Advisory from 11 AM Thursday to 2 AM EDT Friday for MDZ008. Coastal Flood Advisory from midnight tonight to 7 AM EDT Thursday for MDZ014. Coastal Flood Watch from late Thursday night through Friday morning for MDZ014. VA...None. WV...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory from 11 AM Thursday to 2 AM EDT Friday for ANZ530-535-536-538>540. Small Craft Advisory from midnight tonight to 2 AM EDT Friday for ANZ531-532. Small Craft Advisory from midnight tonight to 6 AM EDT Friday for ANZ533. Small Craft Advisory from 11 AM Thursday to 6 AM EDT Friday for ANZ534-537-541>543. && $$ SYNOPSIS...KJP NEAR TERM...KJP SHORT TERM...KJP LONG TERM...KRR AVIATION...KJP/KRR MARINE...KJP/KRR TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...LWX