Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC
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105 FXUS62 KRAH 100609 AFDRAH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Raleigh NC 110 AM EST Mon Nov 10 2025 .SYNOPSIS... A polar front will sweep across the region early tonight. A vigorous mid and upper-level trough and Arctic cold front will then move across the region late Monday into Monday night. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 152 PM Sunday... * Unseasonably mild today, with scattered afternoon-evening convection * Much cooler, and blustery, tonight-Mon morning Sfc obs this afternoon show this morning`s front has lifted well into VA as swly flow and temperatures have soared into the mid 70s. Further west, the polar cold front is just reaching the western slopes of the southern Appalachians. Expect sswly gusts of 15 to 20 mph to continue ahead of the front through sunset. Guidance continues to simulate the front reaching the Triad near 22- 23Z, the Triangle/Sandhills ~03Z, and the Coastal Plain ~04-06Z. Ahead of the front, SPC mesoanalysis depicts ~250 J/kg of SBCAPE in the western Piedmont this afternoon. As mid-level height falls spread east across central NC, there will likely be enough forcing for scattered convection to coincide with the frontal passage across the western Piedmont. While we quickly stabilize with sun down, there could be enough lingering instability in western/northern Piedmont to produce isolated thunderstorms. If so, given how quickly freezing levels will be dropping, this convection could produce isolated pockets of small hail. This convection will largely dissipate with loss of heating and transition up into VA through early evening. Beyond this initial convection, expect showers and perhaps a few storms to blossom along and east of US-1 into the overnight hours before transitioning to stratiform rain early Monday morning. While bulk-layer shear will be ripping, think the late timing, and consequently lack of instability, should limit the severe threat for much of this area. Best chances for large hail and perhaps an isolated stronger damaging wind gust would be for any storms that develop along and east of I-95. However, think even these areas might even be spared as HREF simulated helicity swaths continue to largely be located east of us over the coastal areas and offshore. Any lingering rain should move east of the Coastal Plain by 12Z Monday morning. Expect post-frontal nwly gusts of 25 to 35 mph at times tonight lingering through midday Monday. The cold air will take a bit to funnel in, and thus lows tonight will likely dip only into the upper 30s (nw) to mid 40s (SE). && .SHORT TERM /MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT/... As of 330 PM Sunday... A Freeze Warning is now in effect from 8 PM Monday to 9 AM Tuesday for all of central NC. A quick period of light rain changing to snow is also possible Monday evening/night, but any accumulations would be very limited. In the wake of Sunday night`s strong cold front, anomalously deep mid/upper troughing will extend across the Eastern US, and a surface high will move from the Southern Plains to the Gulf Coast. Despite mostly sunny skies, CAA will bring in sharply colder air to central NC on Monday with high temperatures ranging from mid-40s to mid-50s. This is 10-20 degrees below normal for this time of year. Dew points will also drop into the teens and 20s through the day. It will be blustery with BUFKIT soundings from the GFS and NAM depicting W/NW wind gusts of 20-30 mph will be possible at times. An Arctic front will move through the region on Monday evening, ushering in the true Arctic air mass. Given 1000-850 mb thicknesses bottoming out in the 1270-1280 m range, a freeze is likely across all of central NC. Temperatures are expected to drop into the mid- 20s to around 30, perhaps isolated lower-20s in the outlying areas of the Piedmont. The warmest lows will be in urban parts of the Triangle, eastern Sandhills, and central/southern Coastal Plain. Clouds and light precipitation may keep us from getting quite as cold as we normally would, but with statistical guidance showing widespread lows in the 20s and NBM probabilities of dropping below freezing being 80-100%, confidence is high enough that a Freeze Warning has been issued for all of central NC. W/NW winds will continue gusting to 20-30 mph on Monday night as 925 mb winds increase and there will still be some mixing. So wind chills are likely to drop into the mid-to-upper-teens in many areas. Meanwhile, an intense vort max will swing across the region on Monday evening/night. A minority of ensemble members from the GFS, ECMWF, and CMC along with the deterministic runs depict potential for a brief period of light snow or light rain changing to snow during the late evening and early overnight hours. This threat is mainly confined to areas along and north of US-64, which is where the forecast has slight chance POPs (above NBM which was dry). High- res guidance shows this signal as well, with the HREF having fairly high probabilities (50-70%) of measurable precipitation across the far north. Model soundings indicate deep saturation in the dendritic growth zone, and surface temperatures will be dropping to the upper- 20s to lower-30s. Precipitation will be fighting dry air and strong downsloping westerly flow, but the system is very dynamic. Given light QPF and warm ground temperatures, any snow accumulations would be limited to a dusting and mainly on elevated surfaces. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... As of 400 PM Sunday... Dry weather will prevail through at least Saturday under the influence of high pressure and NW flow aloft as the mid/upper trough moves into the Atlantic and ridging builds to our west. By Sunday, both the GFS and ECMWF show a closed mid/upper low over the Central US with a cold front approaching us from the west, potentially bringing us our next chance of precipitation. As for temperatures, cold blustery conditions will continue on Tuesday with highs in the mid-to-upper-40s, along with westerly winds that could again gust to 20-30 mph. The air mass will begin to modify on Tuesday night and will rapidly do so on Wednesday as the low-level flow turns SW with the surface high to our south extending farther east the western Atlantic. Forecast lows Tuesday night are in the lower-to-mid-30s, while forecast temperatures Wednesday are only slightly below normal with highs in the upper-50s to lower-60s. We will turn even milder late week with highs in the 60s everywhere by Friday. Another Canadian high may drop a backdoor cold front into central NC on Saturday, perhaps resulting in a slight cooldown, before we warm back up on Sunday ahead of the next cold front. Will have to watch fire weather concerns particularly Tuesday and Wednesday as we stay breezy and RH values bottom out in the 25-35% range. This will also depend on how much rain falls tonight. && .AVIATION /06Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... As of 110 AM Monday... A strong cold front currently over the NC Coastal Plain will continue pushing E early this morning, moving offshore by mid morning. An area of light rain with VFR conditions now over the E (RWI/FAY) will exit by 07z. VFR clouds persist at all central NC terminals, but these will gradually clear out early this morning, by around 08z at INT/GSO, around 10z at RDU, and 12z-14z at RWI/FAY. Then, redevelopment of sct-bkn clouds based around 7kft AGL is expected after 18z, mostly lasting through the end of the TAF valid period, as a powerful mid-upper level moves in from the W. Patchy light snow showers are possible late in the forecast period, after 02z, at INT/GSO, and perhaps reaching RDU prior to 06z Tue, lasting for an hour or two. Cigs may drop to ~3500 ft AGL with this activity, and brief sub-VFR conditions are not out of the question, so will monitor closely for this potential. Surface winds will be from the WNW or NW through the period, sustained at 8-15 kts with frequent gusts up to 18-24 kts, particularly early this morning and again starting late afternoon through the end of the forecast period. Looking beyond 06z Tue, the chance for patchy light snow showers and brief sub-VFR conditions will continue into the overnight hours at RDU and RWI, however clear skies are expected after 10z, and VFR conditions should prevail thereafter at all sites through Fri. Winds will again be gusty from late morning through afternoon Tue from the WNW, and on Wed from the WSW. -GIH && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Freeze Warning from 8 PM Monday to 9 AM EST Tuesday for NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089. && $$ SYNOPSIS...MWS NEAR TERM...Luchetti SHORT TERM...Danco LONG TERM...Danco AVIATION...Hartfield