645
FXUS62 KRAH 080651
AFDRAH

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Raleigh NC
250 AM EDT Mon Jun 8 2026

.WHAT HAS CHANGED...

* No significant changes from earlier forecasts.

&&

.KEY MESSAGES...
As of 250 AM Monday...

1) Continued hot today. After a brief break in the heat Tue, another
round of dangerous heat will return starting Wed, peaking Thu/Fri
and lasting into next weekend.

2) High confidence in scattered showers/storms today across the west
and south. Scattered showers and storms are possible mainly in the
Piedmont late Tue/Wed, then chances increase for daily convective
precip areawide for late week through the weekend. Amounts and
coverage remain uncertain, however.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
As of 250 AM Monday...

KEY MESSAGE 1... Continued hot today. After a brief break in the
heat Tue, another round of dangerous heat will return starting Wed,
peaking Thu/Fri and lasting into next weekend.

Above normal temps will persist today, with 850 mb temps still in
the 90th percentile, 500 mb heights in the 75th, and low level
thicknesses 10-15 m above normal, all ahead of the approaching
backdoor front. This front is being propelled by shortwave troughing
digging off the New England coast, which is drawing a cooler surface
high now centered over the Upper St. Lawrence Valley SSW down the
Mid Atlantic coast and into N and E NC. It will take much of the day
for this air mass to work into our NE as the front slowly settles
toward the SW, so still expect another hot day, although the thicker
and more opaque high clouds with sct-bkn high-base cu will reduce
insolation, yielding highs a bit lower than yesterday, 90-96. With
these consecutive days of high heat, people are urged to remain
extra cautious by staying in shade or AC as much as possible,
staying hydrated, and limiting time in direct sun.

As the front settles further into the CWA across our W and S, the
expected dip in thicknesses and greater cloud cover overall, highs
Tue should be less hot, with highs closer to normal, in the mid 80s
to around 90. But as this front dissipates and the surface high
shifts off the Carolina coast toward Bermuda on Wed, deep ridging
will build anew over the interior Southeast, and confidence is high
that temperatures will rebound back to well above normal.
Thicknesses are projected to rebound to 10-20 m above normal by
Thu/Fri, supporting highs both days in the mid to upper 90s over
much of the area, perhaps reaching 100F in spots. These highs (and
warm overnight lows mostly in the 70s) Thu/Fri may approach or
exceed records. The NWS experimental probabilistic Heat Risk shows a
60-90% chance of reaching the Major category (level 3 of 4) over
much of central NC Thu/Fri, suggesting significant impacts for all
populations without adequate cooling or hydration. It should be
noted, however, that if scattered afternoon and evening convection
becomes more widespread than expected with greater cloud cover, a
few degrees could be shaved off of these late-week temps,
particularly from Sat onward when the NBM temps are still quite warm
but about a category lower than Thu/Fri.



KEY MESSAGE 2... High confidence in scattered showers/storms today
across the west and south. Scattered showers and storms are possible
mainly in the Piedmont late Tue/Wed, then chances increase for daily
convective precip areawide for late week through the weekend.
Amounts and coverage remain uncertain, however.

A cluster of showers will pass over our extreme NE over the next few
hours within a zone of low level confluence just ahead of the front.
Then, with increasing PW, low level confluent flow, and higher
surface dewpoints along and SW of the incoming front later today,
odds are good that we`ll see at least scattered showers and storms
starting early-mid afternoon and lasting into the evening, primarily
from the W Piedmont SE across the Sandhills to the S Coastal Plain,
with lower to no convective coverage further NE. This is
corroborated by recent CAM runs which have consistently shown this
pattern and timing. Coverage and intensity will be limited by
relatively dry and warm mid levels, however. While amounts will be
highly variable place-to-place, pockets of higher totals resulting
from downpours are possible, and the latest REFS PMM supports this
scenario over the Sandhills in particular.

The chance for typical diurnally-driven showers and storms will be
on the upswing from mid week onward. As is typical with summertime
convection, the details remain murky, as activity will be driven by
small-scale features with limited predictability at this range.
Baggy but amplified troughing early this morning from MN through the
lower Miss Valley will shift slowly E through the Great Lakes/OH
Valley through Tue before broadening and deamplifying as it moves
into the Northeast and Mid Atlantic region through Wed and out over
the NW Atlantic by Thu. Mid level ridging behind this wave will
allow the intense heat to return, but then a large mid level low
wobbling E near the US/Canada border through mid week and into S
Ont/Que late week will bring increasing westerly steering flow into
the OH Valley and Mid South, helping to support more organized
convection as the low level flow opens up from the Atlantic and Gulf
later in the week. Above-normal PW largely holds over W NC across
the W CWA Tue/Wed, then expands over the entire CWA for Thu and
beyond, although values will be just slightly above normal, and the
925-700 mb flow will have enough of a westerly component to perhaps
limited coverage. But overall we should see improving coverage of
showers and storms by the weekend, when a surface front associated
with the aforementioned low aloft approaches from the NW with
increasing deep layer bulk shear.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
As of 1210 AM Monday...

VFR conditions are expected to hold across central NC over much of
the next 24 hrs, although the chance for MVFR cigs increases late
(after 04z) at western and southern terminals (INT/GSO/FAY). A
backdoor cold front will push gradually into central NC from NE to
SW today, with the front finally settling from the Triad SE to the
southern coast of NC by mid afternoon, and pushing just to our W and
SW after nightfall. Scattered showers and storms are possible after
17z through mid evening along and SW of the front, including at
INT/GSO/FAY, with RDU/RWI seeing a much lower chance of a shower
later today. Brief downpours, lightning, and gusty winds are
possible in and near any storms. Any showers/storms will dwindle by
02z, then there is a good chance of MVFR stratocu formation after
04z. Surface winds will be under 8 kts from the WSW or W shifting to
be from the N or NE gradually from north to south through 12z, then
will continue to veer to be from the NE then from the E or ESE at 9-
15 kts through the day (with sporadic afternoon gusts to 15-20 kts)
until speeds weaken to 10 kts or less by mid evening.

Looking beyond 06z Tue, there is a good chance for sub-VFR cigs Mon
night through Tue morning across the W and SW including INT/GSO/FAY.
INT/GSO have a good chance of seeing a couple of showers/storms
mainly 16z-01z Tue, followed by a good chance of sub-VFR cigs across
the whole area Tue night through early Wed. Otherwise, VFR
conditions are favored, although typical daytime isolated to
scattered showers/storms will remain possible through Fri.

&&

.CLIMATE...

Record High Temperatures:

June 8: KFAY: 101/2008

June 10: KFAY: 99/2008

June 11: KGSO: 98/1914   KRDU: 100/1914   KFAY: 102/1926

June 12: KRDU: 98/2002   KFAY: 99/1926

June 13: KRDU: 100/2002   KFAY: 99/2022

June 14: KGSO: 98/1926   KRDU: 97/1944   KFAY: 100/2022


Record High Minimum Temperatures:

June 8: KGSO: 73/2008   KRDU: 75/1899   KFAY: 74/2008

June 9: KGSO: 72/2020

June 10: KRDU: 76/2020   KFAY: 77/2020

June 11: KGSO: 74/2008   KRDU: 74/2008   KFAY: 77/1981

June 12: KGSO: 72/1998   KRDU: 75/1986   KFAY: 76/2016

June 13: KGSO: 73/2015   KRDU: 75/2025   KFAY: 77/1998

June 14: KGSO: 71/2025   KRDU: 79/2022   KFAY: 77/2022


&&

.RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...Hartfield
AVIATION...Hartfield
CLIMATE..RAH