Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Charleston, WV
Issued by NWS Charleston, WV
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258 FXUS61 KRLX 142325 AFDRLX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Charleston WV 725 PM EDT Fri Aug 14 2026 .WHAT HAS CHANGED... Elected to cancel the Flood Watch as the threat for any significant flooding has diminished. If anything were to occur it would be very isolated in nature. Will continue to monitor for the potential of another watch down the road as models come together on where convection will likely occur mid to late Saturday afternoon and for Sunday. Updated POPs to reflect observations and trends going forward. Uncertainty remains for Saturday, but heavy rainfall and rounds of showers/storms are expected today and Sunday. Very hot and humid on Sunday featuring dangerous heat index values for some. ~18z aviation discussion update. && .KEY MESSAGES... 1) Rounds of rain will continue through early next week, leading to continued chances of flash flooding each day. A break in the rainfall will arrive by Tuesday. 2) Hot temperatures and oppressive humidity will lead to dangerous heat index values on Sunday. && .DISCUSSION... KEY MESSAGE 1... Our active pattern remains firmly in place through the weekend with a stationary front sitting overhead. Daily rounds of showers and thunderstorms are expected through the weekend. A few storms could be strong to severe this weekend, especially Saturday afternoon. Main hazards with strong to severe storms will be damaging winds, but a tornado threat does exist Saturday afternoon across southeast Ohio with a meso low creating backed winds and 20-40 knots of 0-6km wind shear. Heavy rainfall and flash flooding will ultimately be our main concern this weekend with precipitable water remaining high between 1.75" and 2.50". Efficient rainfall rates upwards of 2-4"/hr or more will be common with any showers and thunderstorms. Soils are already waterlogged so flash flooding is likely where repeated rounds of heavy rainfall occur. Latest HRRR and NAM3k show stripes of 2 inches or more of rainfall being picked up somewhere across the southern coalfields and northeastern Kentucky through this evening. CAMs, namely the FV3, do show a few hefty rounds of showers and thunderstorms along and south of the I-64 corridor this afternoon and tonight. A flash flood watch painted across the entire forecast area goes until tonight at 11 PM. Not inclined to extend this watch into Saturday as all models shove the activity out of here by 10PM-11PM. Plus, models do not agree on solutions for tomorrow. The NAM3k and HRRR keep the area less active with less problematic QPF values across the area; the GFS however shows the opposite. Nonetheless, WPC has our area outlooked with slight risks (level 2/4) across our forecast area through Sunday. Additional flood watches may be on the horizon going into Sunday, especially with CAMs showing a hefty complex forming across Ohio that will then move across our northern forecast area late Saturday into early Sunday. The pattern looks to break some Tuesday and part of Wednesday as surface high pressure builds into the area. Zonal flow aloft may allow for some sneaky shortwave disturbances to move through allowing for chances for some diurnal showers/storms across the mountains. The pattern then looks to turn active once again Wednesday night/Thursday into the weekend. KEY MESSAGE 2... Temperatures hot on Sunday with the lowlands seeing upper 80s and low 90s. The mountains will remain in the upper 70s to mid 80s. Dew points will be oppressive with the saturated air mass with 70s being forecasted each afternoon across the area. This will in turn lead to dangerous heat index values in the lower 100s Sunday afternoon across portions of the lowlands. Currently, these values remain below advisory criteria though so no headlines are expected at this time. If dew points and temperatures rise with future updates, then some locations may be in advisory territory. && .AVIATION /00Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Expect mainly mid to high clouds clearing out a bit which will allow for dense valley fog to form especially given the antecedent wet soil conditions from earlier convection. Have coded up some IFR fog at a few sites and dense LIFR or worse in fog and stratus at the northern sites. At the other sites low stratus may dominate and promote LIFR or worse conditions. There is a frontal boundary across the area so this may deter some fog/stratus at the southern sites, but there is not enough confidence to take mention out of the TAFs at this time. Surface flow should decouple overnight and pick back up tomorrow afternoon out of the southwest. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY... FORECAST CONFIDENCE: Medium. ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Low stratus and fog tonight may vary. 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. DATE SAT UTC 1HRLY 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 EDT 1HRLY 19 20 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 CRW CONSISTENCY H H H H H M M M M M M M HTS CONSISTENCY H H H H H H H M M M M M BKW CONSISTENCY H H H H H M L M M M M M EKN CONSISTENCY H H M H H H L M M M M M PKB CONSISTENCY H H H H H M M M M M M M CKB CONSISTENCY H H M H H H M M M M M M AFTER 00Z SUNDAY... Periodic chances for showers and thunderstorms continue through early next week. Brief IFR or lower conditions will be possible with shower/thunderstorms containing heavy downpours. Where overnight clearing occurs over wet ground, patchy valley fog and stratus may bring early morning MVFR or IFR restrictions. && .RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WV...None. OH...None. KY...None. VA...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...JZ/LTC AVIATION...JZ