707
FXUS61 KRLX 181742
AFDRLX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Charleston WV
142 PM EDT Fri Sep 18 2026

.WHAT HAS CHANGED...
Rain chances have trended a bit lower this afternoon, but are still
intact for the southern half of the forecast area through this
evening. The forecast for this weekend and beyond remains on track,
with shower and storm chances returning late Saturday night onward.

&&

.KEY MESSAGES...
1) Post-frontal showers and storms are forecast to develop this
afternoon and evening, followed by valley fog tonight.

2) Drier weather is forecast during the day Saturday, with more
shower and storm chances arriving late Saturday night and beyond.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

KEY MESSAGE 1...

The convectively-reinforced cold front has since moved south of the
CWA, with low-level stratus advecting over the region. GOES-East
visible imagery has detected the typical waveform structure to the
post-frontal stratus deck, which will act to perturb the overturned
airmass enough such that elevated showers and perhaps a few storms
may develop this afternoon given the presence of the now-depleted
EML. Severe weather nor flash flooding are expected with afternoon
convection, and updrafts may be too shallow to reach heights high
enough to generate lightning. PoPs have been delineated along a line
from HTS-CRW-CKB, with the best chances for afternoon showers and
storms along and south-to-southeast of that line. The potential for
showers and storms will wane quickly by sunset this evening as the
boundary-layer decouples, with valley fog expected to develop late
tonight into Saturday morning across most of the CWA. Visibilities
less than one-quarter of a mile will occur across some locales,
along with the cloud deck descending to 100-200 ft AGL, with light,
northerly winds becoming calm and easterly overnight.

KEY MESSAGE 2...

Fog and low stratus will begin to lift by the mid-morning hours
Saturday as boundary-layer mixing commences. Entrainment of drier
air in the mid-levels will allow stronger insolation to occur,
boosting highs into the middle-upper 80s across the lowlands while
cooler in the mountains. Dry weather is expected during the day
Saturday given the strong warm nose/subsidence near 800 mb, but as
the subtropical ridge continues to retrograde westward into the
southern Great Plains, it will begin to flatten owing to the
ejection of a neutrally-tilted shortwave trough over the central
Rocky Mountains. The resultant interaction of these synoptic-scale
features will allow a PV anomaly to shear off of an intense
shortwave trough digging into Ontario, resulting in a belt of moist,
isentropic ascent to advect across the Rust Belt and towards the
northwestern portions of the CWA late Saturday night. The arrival of
the leading shortwave perturbation will spawn a surface low in the
Great Lakes region, with the cold front that moved through today
undergoing warm-frontogenesis and lifting northeastward across the
CWA. The subtropical ridge will lose its influence over the region
by the latter half of the weekend as the aforementioned shortwave
trough over the central Rocky Mountains progresses into the OH River
Valley while broadening in amplitude. The presence of the increasing
cyclonic flow aloft, which is forecast to be accompanied by strong
jetlets in the mid/upper-levels, will provide large-scale forcing
for ascent and daily chances for heavy showers and storms next week.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
MVFR overcast will continue to gradually lift through the rest of
the afternoon at all terminals. The cold front has moved south of
the terminals, but scattered -SHRA is forecast to develop this
afternoon, potentially affecting KBKW, KCRW, and KEKN. Isolated
TSTMs will be possible as well, with the -SHRA/-TSRA potential
waning at sunset. Valley fog will the return overnight at all
terminals, with IFR/LIFR CIGs and VSBYs forecast. Fog will lift
after sunrise Saturday, followed by a return to VFR as CIGs scatter
out. Otherwise, light, northerly winds are expected across the
region through this evening before winds become calm overnight while
veering eastward.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE: Medium-high through the TAF period.

ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: The coverage of -SHRA/-TSRA may be limited this
afternoon and not affect the terminals. The coverage and extent of
fog late tonight into Saturday morning may vary from forecast.

EXPERIMENTAL TABLE OF FLIGHT CATEGORY OBJECTIVELY SHOWS CONSISTENCY
OF WFO FORECAST TO AVAILABLE MODEL INFORMATION:
H = HIGH:   TAF CONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL.
M = MEDIUM: TAF HAS VARYING LEVEL OF CONSISTENCY WITH MODELS.
L = LOW:    TAF INCONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL.

UTC 1HRLY       18   19   20   21   22   23   00   01   02   03   04   05
EDT 1HRLY       14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   00   01
CRW CONSISTENCY  H    M    M    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    L
HTS CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H
BKW CONSISTENCY  H    H    M    H    H    M    M    M    H    H    M    M
EKN CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    M    H    H    H    M    L
PKB CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H
CKB CONSISTENCY  M    M    M    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    M

AFTER 18Z SATURDAY...
VFR and calm winds are forecast Saturday afternoon, with chances for
TSTMs returning late Saturday night into Sunday.

&&

.RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WV...None.
OH...None.
KY...None.
VA...None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...Sincavage
AVIATION...Sincavage