Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wilmington, NC

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000 FXUS62 KILM 231853 AFDILM Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington NC 253 PM EDT Tue Apr 23 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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A weak backdoor front will bring only minor rain chances late Wednesday into Wednesday night. High pressure will build in from the north thereafter but not really bring a cooldown. A warming trend is then slated for the weekend into early next week.
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&& .NEAR TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
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Surface high pressure will shift increasingly offshore through the period while subtle mid-level ridging is shunted away by a trough swinging through the Ohio Valley into the Northeast. At this latitude, we are expecting to see a glancing influence from this trough with small height falls and weak warm advection ahead of its associated cold front. With the best forcing for ascent staying to our north and surface convergence along the front waning as it becomes oriented increasingly parallel to the flow aloft, only isolated showers are expected at this time from late Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday night as it settles southward. While some hi-res guidance depicts a swath or two of heavier shower activity, the majority of models keep precip sparse, so will opt to keep PoPs on the slight-chance side for now, although this may need to be raised in the future for the northern and western areas of our CWA.
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&& .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/...
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Backdoor cold front will be sagging through the area at the start of the period. Enough guidance is hinting at small rain chances as this occurs and after some inter-office collab decided to introduce some small rain chances. Dry air readily filters in behind this boundary for a sunny Thursday that will wind up seasonable.
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&& .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
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HIgh pressure wedged in from the north seemingly can`t decide whether it wants to retreat or not Friday. Other than the wind forecast this will have little bearing as solar modification by the increasingly strong sunshine will offset the weak NE winds for a seasonably warm afternoon. The surface high finally pulls away to the north and east over the weekend but the high aloft will be overhead. This will lead to quiet weather and a gradual warming trend, temperatures almost 10 degrees above climo by the end of the period.
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&& .AVIATION /18Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... VFR is expected to dominate through the period with the main concern being changeable wind directions away from the coast as high pressure passes overhead early this afternoon and moves offshore. Winds are expected to remain elevated tonight as the pressure gradient tightens on the backside of the high, keeping any fog at bay. An approaching cold front will bring gusty winds tomorrow, but no cig/vis impacts are expected during the TAF period. Extended Outlook...There is a low probability of MVFR ceilings Wednesday evening and night associated with the next cold front. Passing light showers may also impact the terminals as the front slides through. As this front stalls to our south, early morning vis/low cig concerns increase from Thursday morning onward. && .MARINE...
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Through Wednesday... With high pressure moving offshore, southerly winds increase tonight and gradually veer through southwesterly tomorrow ahead of a cold front. Elevated seas due to 2-4 ft easterly 10-sec swells will remain in place while an increasing south to southwesterly wind wave component builds to 2-4 ft by late Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday through Sunday... A backdoor cold front pushes through at the start of the period turning veering our SW considerably by Thursday, by which time they will have changed 180 degrees. This will confuse seas, steepening wave faces and likely making the wind chop be more prevalent then the easterly swell. The post-frontal high will remain to our north until Friday and less so Saturday leading to more gradual veering than the early period FROPA. Winds will be back to southerly by the period`s end.
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&& .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...None. SC...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...ILM NEAR TERM...ABW SHORT TERM...MBB LONG TERM...MBB AVIATION...ABW MARINE...ILM

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