


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Blacksburg, VA
Issued by NWS Blacksburg, VA
844 FXUS61 KRNK 100608 AFDRNK Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 208 AM EDT Fri Oct 10 2025 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure remains in control through Saturday. A low pressure system will track along the Atlantic coastline bringing a chance of showers on Sunday. Drier weather returns by Monday and conditions remain dry through the middle of next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 200 AM EDT Friday... Key Messages: 1) Patchy frost possible in higher elevations this morning. Frost Advisory in effect until 9 AM. 2) Cool today with increasing clouds in the southeast. By this morning, an area of low pressure will cut off over the Southeast from the larger trough over the upper Great Lakes. Ridging was situated over TX into the northern Plains, with a strong upper low rotating into the Pacific NW. The southern Appalachians will be caught between the low pressure over the Deep South and the compact low over the eastern Great Lakes. At the surface however, high pressure over New England remains wedged along the Appalachians. PWATs on last night`s KRNK sounding were less than a quarter inch, indicating very dry conditions. This has allowed for deep radiational cooling this morning, with temperatures dropping into the 30s in the mountains, and the 40s elsewhere. A Frost Advisory remains in place for parts of the north until 9 AM. As low pressure spins up to our south, easterly winds will bring in slightly more moisture, along with broken to overcast skies east of the Blue Ridge a times today, becoming more solid tonight. Cooler temperatures continue with highs in the low to mid 60s for most. Tonight, increasing winds and moisture will preclude any frost/freeze potential, but expect mid 30s to low 40s for the mountains, and the mid 40s to low 50s for the Piedmont under cloud cover. Confidence in the near term is high. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... As of 100 AM EDT Friday... Key Points: 1. Trending milder through the period. 2. Showers will impact mainly northern and eastern parts of the region this weekend. 3. Lingering showers in the east on Monday. A look at the 9 Oct 00Z NCEP Ensemble Mean 500mb Geopotential Heights shows for Saturday/Saturday night a closed low over the eastern Great lakes area. This feature will be moving through the northern sections of a broader upper trough across eastern portions of CONUS. A longwave trough is expected to be over western CONUS. Ridging is expected from TX north into the Upper Mississippi River Valley. For Sunday/Sunday night, the low over the eastern Great Lakes is expected to move into the mid- Atlantic region. The trough over eastern CONUS is expected to pivot cyclonically, with an overall negative tilt pattern between the closed low and the trough. The trough over western CONUS is expected to become a bit more broad, extending eastward into the Northern Plains states. The ridge across central CONUS becomes less amplified. For Monday/Monday night, the low/trough merger continues a shift northeast, becoming centered just off the New England coast during the evening hours. The trough across western CONUS stalls, and perhaps experiences closed low redevelopment. A ridge starts to re-strengthen across the south- central portion of CONUS. At the surface, for Saturday/Saturday night a ridge of high pressure is expected to extend from New England southwest along the spine of the Appalachians. A weak low is expected to be heading southeast towards the axis of this ridge from the Lower Ohio Valley. Another area of low pressure is expected to be in the western Atlantic, off the GA/FL coast. For Sunday/Sunday night, the low off the GA/FL coast is expected to head north, and be off the VA/NC coast during the evening hours. The ridge over the Appalachians remains in place although with less definition as the upstream shortwave trough crosses the mid-Atlantic region. Across the Northern and Central Plains states, low pressure is expected over the Dakotas with a cold front trailing south to KS/OK. For Monday/Monday night, the low off the VA/NC coast continues heading north to northeast, potentially with deepening after a merger with shortwave trough. The axis of the ridge over the Appalachians may shift westward a bit. A look at the 9 Oct 12Z NAEFS Ensemble Situational Awareness data shows 850mb temperatures for Sunday and Monday are expected to be around +10C. On Tuesday, values may inch up slightly to around +11C. The above weather patterns offers the following forecast. Over the weekend confidence is fairly high in a merger of the coastal low and the southeast progressing shortwave trough. The big question remains exactly when and where this merger will take place and what sensible weather impacts will that have on our region. Additionally, while this is taking place, a ridge of some magnitude is expected to remain situated generally over the Appalachians, and potentially mitigating the potential for showers for at least portions of our region. Out latest forecast will have little change as compared to the prior. The best potential for showers for our area from this system will be in the east Saturday into Saturday night. For Sunday, the coverage spreads north as the shortwave trough crosses the mid-Atlantic region. By the time the merger of the two systems is complete, the center of the low is expected to be northeast of the region, taking its associated precipitation with it. Northeast sections of the area may still have some lingering showers on Monday, and possibly early Monday night. Temperatures during this portion of the forecast are expected to trend from near normal to five to ten degrees above normal by Monday. Confidence in the expected temperature trend is high. Confidence in the shower timing/placement is low to moderate. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 100 AM EDT Friday... Key Points: 1. Dry with above normal temperatures through the period. A look a the 9 Oct 00Z NCEP Ensemble Mean 500mb Geopotential Heights shows for Tuesday/Tuesday night a broad ridge across south-central CONUS expands northward and eastward. A stalled longwave trough is expected to remain over western CONUS. A low/trough just off the New England coast drifts southeast. For Wednesday/Wednesday night, a well defined tough-ridge-trough pattern is expect to exist from western CONUS to the western Atlantic. The ridge portions of this configuration is expected to be centered near the Mississippi River Valley. For Thursday, while he overall pattern described for Wednesday does not change too much, the northern extent of the ridge becomes a bit curtailed as a shortwave trough heads southeast into north- central CONUS. The low which was near the Dakotas is expected to head northeast to near James Bay with its associated cold front extending south into the Mississippi River Valley. At the surface, a cold front is expected to cross the region Tuesday/Tuesday night with high pressure building behind it. For Wednesday/Wednesday night, the axis of this area of high pressure draws closer from the northwest. For Thursday, the ridge axis is expected to over our area. A look at the 9 Oct 12Z NAEFS Ensemble Situational Awareness data shows 850mb temperatures are expected to be around +12C on Tuesday. Values decrease for Wednesday, to around +8C to +10C, oriented north to south over the region. For Thursday, values continue to slide to roughly +7C to +9C, ne-sw over the region. The above weather patterns offers the following forecast. We are expecting a dry cold frontal passage on Tuesday. Any cool down behind the front will be minimal, and probably just impact the low temperatures slightly Tuesday night. A building high pressure with minimal daytime cloud cover is expected to help yield above normal temperatures through the period. Confidence in the above weather scenario is moderate to high. && .AVIATION /06Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... As of 200 AM EDT Friday... VFR conditions look to prevail through much of the TAF period. Some CAM guidance brings some scattered Cumulus from the east into the Piedmont and Blue Ridge terminals today. Given it`s scattered nature, it is not expected to lead to any restrictions at this time. Some reduced VSBYs was maintained in the LWB TAF as some river valley fog is again expected to develop this morning. Upper level cirrus is expected to push north into the region from the southeast later this afternoon and evening from storms along a frontal boundary along the South Carolina and Georgia coastline. Northeast winds overnight will slowly transition to easterly and southeasterly through today. While gusts are only expected to be in the 10-17 knot range. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK... An extended period of dry weather is likely. This will result in widespread VFR. With a drier air mass, fog development should become less of a concern. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...Frost Advisory until 9 AM EDT this morning for VAZ020. NC...None. WV...Frost Advisory until 9 AM EDT this morning for WVZ507-508. && $$ SYNOPSIS...BMG/SH NEAR TERM...SH SHORT TERM...DS LONG TERM...DS AVIATION...SH