Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Sterling, VA

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000 FXUS61 KLWX 121427 AFDLWX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC 1027 AM EDT Fri Apr 12 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Low pressure will track into Southern Canada today, while an associated cold front progresses off to our east. A reinforcing cold front will move through tonight. High pressure builds to our south tomorrow. A weak area of low pressure will pass to our north Sunday night into Monday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
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1030 AM Update: The initial batch of moderate to heavy showers is slowly moving through northeast MD and the northern Chesapeake Bay. Mostly dry conditions will build in for the remaining morning hours and early afternoon hours before additional showers and isolated thunderstorms develop later today. Winds are continuing to gust out of the west, with additional Wind Advisories issued for the northern and central Blue Ridge zones. Some peaks of sunshine will be possible early today before mostly cloudy skies build back in for the remainder of the day. Previous Discussion Follows: A deep area of low pressure continues to track into the Great Lakes early this morning. A few showers, and potentially even a thunderstorm or two may redevelop across the area this afternoon as the system`s upper trough axis tracks overhead. The greatest chance for a brief shower or storm should be across northern Maryland. The main weather story today will be wind. Wind Advisories have been issued for the mountains through the day Saturday. Conditions will also be windy further east, but closer to the Wind Advisory threshold of 40 knots, as opposed to comfortably above it in the mountains. At the moment, frequent gusts of 30-40 knots out of the west-southwest appear likely during the day today across most of the forecast area. If condfidence in 40 knot gusts increases, the Wind Advisory may potentially need to be expanded further eastward. High temperatures today should reach well into the 60s for most. A reinforcing cold front will move through the area tonight. The strongest wind field will move in behind this front. It`s likely that many locations will remain windy through the night, especially in the mountains. Lows overnight should be in the 40s to lower 50s for most, with 30s in the mountains. A few upslope snow showers may be possible late tonight across the highest terrain (over 3000 ft). In those locations, a brief coating of snow may be possible overnight.
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&& .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... Low pressure will continue to lift off to our northeast on Saturday, while high pressure simultaneously builds to our south. This will maintain a strong pressure gradient across the area, which will in turn keep conditions quite windy. Wind Advisories remain in effect through the day Saturday in the mountains, and a potential further east extension of that advisory may eventually be needed. For the time being the current forecast calls for frequent gusts of 30-40 knots out of the west-northwest, with 40+ knot gusts in the mountains. Temperatures will remain mild, with high temperatures in the 60s for most (50s mountains). Clouds will tend to clear out over the course of the day as upper level troughing progresses off to our east and large scale subsidence increases overhead. Heights will continue to rise aloft on Sunday as flow turns more zonal in nature. A weak shortwave disturbance and associated area of low pressure will pass off to our north Sunday night. This disturbance may potentially spark the development of a few showers or thunderstorms Sunday afternoon into Sunday night. Southwest winds will transport a notably warmer airmass into the region, with high temperatures reaching well into the 70s to near 80 for most. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Upper level ridge will gradually build over the East during the first half of next week cresting over the area Wednesday. This will lead to a gradual warm up with temperatures rising into the mid 70s potentially reaching as high as 80. A weak backdoor front will make into the area Monday, but won`t have much effect in sensible weather. The front retreats north of the area by Wednesday. An upper trough pushing across the Great Lks Thu will push a weak cdfnt across the area next Fri. Looks like Wed and Thu are the only two days when there is enough instability to support thunderstorms. Overall, next week looks a lot quieter than this week. && .AVIATION /15Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
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A cold front will move across the area late tonight, causing winds to shift from the south to the west-southwest for the day today. Conditions will also improve to VFR for all behind the front. Winds will become quite gusty out of the west southwest today, and remain gusty out of the west-northwest tomorrow. Gusts of 30 to 40 knots should be common through Saturday afternoon. After overnight showers move out, much of the day should remain dry. However, a few showers and potentially even a stray thunderstorm may develop this afternoon. The chance for a thunderstorm is far to low to mention directly in the TAFs (around 10-20 percent). Drier conditions are expected this weekend. It will remain breezy on Sunday, with winds out of the southwest gusting to around 15-25 knots. No sig weather is expected Mon and Tue.
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&& .MARINE... Winds are southerly over the waters early this morning. A cold front will move through around daybreak causing winds to turn west- southwesterly. A reinforcing cold front will move through tonight, causing winds to turn west-northwesterly tomorrow. Gale Warnings remain in effect for all waters through the day tomorrow. Gusts to near, or potentially even in excess of 40 knots will be possible over the waters during that time. Additional SCAs will likely be needed within southwesterly flow Saturday night into Sunday. Winds will be on the light side through Wed morning with no SCAs anticipated at this time. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... The highest tides are expected later this morning, and this is when widespread minor to localized moderate tidal flooding would be most likely. Westerly flow should cause a decrease in tide levels this afternoon into Saturday, though the flow is west instead of northwest which may result in some residual elevated water levels sloshing around the Chesapeake Bay and tidal Potomac River a little longer than is typical behind a front. && .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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DC...Coastal Flood Warning until 5 PM EDT this afternoon for DCZ001. MD...Wind Advisory until 6 PM EDT Saturday for MDZ001-501-502. Coastal Flood Advisory until 4 PM EDT this afternoon for MDZ008. Coastal Flood Warning until 3 PM EDT this afternoon for MDZ011. Coastal Flood Warning until 2 PM EDT this afternoon for MDZ014. Coastal Flood Warning until 6 PM EDT this evening for MDZ508. VA...Coastal Flood Warning until 5 PM EDT this afternoon for VAZ054. Wind Advisory until 6 PM EDT Saturday for VAZ503-504-507-508. WV...Wind Advisory until 6 PM EDT Saturday for WVZ501>506. MARINE...Gale Warning until 6 PM EDT Saturday for ANZ530>543.
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&& $$ SYNOPSIS...KJP NEAR TERM...KJP/ADM SHORT TERM...KJP LONG TERM...LFR AVIATION...LFR/KJP/ADM MARINE...LFR/KJP TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...LWX

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