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973
FXUS62 KGSP 211048
AFDGSP

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
648 AM EDT Sat Apr 21 2018

.SYNOPSIS...
High pressure over the eastern United States will keep conditions
dry across the southeast for much of the weekend. However, moisture
will return late Sunday through Monday as strong low pressure
approaches from the lower Mississippi River Valley. Rainfall,
possibly heavy at times, will likely develop by Monday and linger
into Tuesday. Unsettled weather could continue through late week.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
As of 645 AM Saturday: Main update for 12Z TAF issuance along with
minor adjustments made to temperatures to coincide with latest
trends, as the rest of the near term forecast remains on track.

A Frost Advisory remains in effect through 9 AM for portions of the
central and southern mountains and Rabun County in northeast GA.
Areas across the Upstate and NW Piedmont could see areas of patchy
frost this morning as well, but anticipated coverage is not
widespread enough to warrant a Frost Advisory attm.

It`s a quiet, second to last Saturday of April morning across the FA
with nearly clear skies and light winds. Morning lows are below
normal, with obs depicting temperatures ranging between the 30s to
lower 40s attm. Today will be the only overall rain-free day the
area will see for the next seven days. As dry sfc high pressure
continues to influence the weather pattern, areas across the
Carolinas and northeast GA can expect plenty of sunshine with
afternoon high temperatures slightly below normal, in the upper
60s/lower 70s, cooler across the mountains. As sfc high pressure
shifts east of the area, do anticipate the gradual infiltration of
thin cirrus across the FA from west to east, ahead of the next
approaching system. With the continuation of increasing clouds
tonight, am expecting overnight low temperatures to be warmer than
this morning, but still slightly below normal, with mid to upper 40s
across the Upstate and NW Piedmont, into the lower 40s across the
mountains.

&&

.SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/...
As of 330 AM Saturday: The early part of next week is looking quite
wet across the southeast. The numerical models now feature good
agreement through the short-term period, with a deep closed low
pressure system moving east across the lower/middle MS River Valley
Sunday through Sunday night. Meanwhile, the strengthening downstream
ridge will likely develop an Omega or Rex-type blocking pattern
which may contribute to very slow evolution eastward Monday into
Tuesday. Ahead of the system, the leading edge of the better
moisture and thicker clouds will start to push in on Sunday
afternoon but any precipitation in the most southeasterly upslope-
preferred areas will likely hold off until later in the day.
Increasing clouds will keep Sunday afternoon temperatures at least a
category or two cooler than Saturday.

Strengthening southeasterly winds at lower levels will then begin to
produce mountain upslope precipitation through Sunday night as
surface low pressure starts to approach from the MS River Valley.
Meanwhile, a strong Atlantic moisture fetch will develop Sunday
night through Monday and persist into Monday night. The deepest
layer Q-vector convergence will likely cross our forecast area
slowly, mainly Monday through Monday night. The expectation is that
surface high pressure persisting to the northeast will keep some
measure of hybrid cold air damming going through the short term
period, and this will keep the diurnal temperature range quite small
and cause most of the forecast area to remain too stable for deep
convection. Still, the robust southeasterly jet, precipitable water
values running 1 to 2 standard deviations above climo, and slow
movement of the system appear destined to produce at least some
hydrology concerns throughout the early part of the week. The main
uncertainty for our flooding concerns will be whether or not
developing upstream convection along the GA/SC coasts will rob some
of the moisture flux into our region. Surface low pressure will
likely transition through the region to the coast on Tuesday. The
heavy rainfall threat could linger as late at Tuesday night, but
with greater uncertainty. An HWO mention of heavy rain and possible
flooding will be needed mainly for Monday with this forecast
package.

&&

.LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
As of 340 AM Saturday: The passing Appalachian low pressure system
will finally phase and lift northeast by midweek, but with another
low pressure system/trough digging through the midwest Wednesday
night into Thursday. Steeper lapse rates will be possible ahead of
this system, but will keep any precipitation mention as showers
instead of thunderstorms for now. The GFS is at least 10 dm lower in
the 500 mb height field as this trough reaches the Appalachians on
Thursday, so confidence on PoPs is fairly low at this point.
However, there should be some brief resurgence in lift and moisture
in the consensus solution. Another deep system will sharpen up to
the west on Friday. Instability could be a bit better ahead of the
associated cold front. All told, unsettled weather should continue
Wednesday through Friday with minimum temperatures slightly above
climo and maximum temperatures slightly below climo.

&&

.AVIATION /12Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
At KCLT and elsewhere: Expect VFR to prevail through the valid TAF
period, with increasing clouds expected overnight into Sunday, but
any cigs remaining VFR. Dry sfc high pressure continues to influence
the weather pattern for today as light and mainly NE (though at
times calm) winds will prevail through the morning hours, gradually
veering to ESE/SE and increasing to 5 to 8 kts late morning/early
afternoon at all TAF sites as the sfc high shifts east of the area.
Do anticipate winds to become light and variable around ~00Z-02Z,
continuing through the period. Skies will remain nearly clear
through this afternoon, with the gradually increase of thin cirrus
from the west ahead of the next approaching system this evening, and
increasing mid to high-level clouds beginning overnight. Expect any
precip to hold off until just past the valid TAF period (not
reaching KCLT until after 06Z per latest trends).

Outlook: Approaching low pressure system will bring increasing
clouds and precip late Sunday through at least Tuesday, with flight
restrictions anticipated. Otherwise, expect VFR.

Confidence Table...

            10-16Z        16-22Z        22-04Z        04-06Z
KCLT       High 100%     High 100%     High 100%     High 100%
KGSP       High 100%     High 100%     High 100%     High 100%
KAVL       High 100%     High 100%     High 100%     High 100%
KHKY       High 100%     High 100%     High 100%     High 100%
KGMU       High 100%     High 100%     High 100%     High 100%
KAND       High 100%     High 100%     High 100%     High 100%

The percentage reflects the number of guidance members agreeing
with the scheduled TAF issuance flight rule category. Complete hourly
experimental aviation forecast consistency tables and ensemble forecasts
are available at the following link:

www.weather.gov/gsp/aviation

&&

.GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GA...Frost Advisory until 9 AM EDT this morning for GAZ010.
NC...Frost Advisory until 9 AM EDT this morning for NCZ048-051>053-
     058-059-062>065-507-509.
SC...None.

&&

$$
SYNOPSIS...HG
NEAR TERM...SGL
SHORT TERM...HG
LONG TERM...HG
AVIATION...SGL