Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Pittsburgh, PA

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325 FXUS61 KPBZ 081735 AFDPBZ Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA 135 PM EDT Tue Jul 8 2025 .SYNOPSIS...
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A meandering boundary remains in our region into the weekend, with occasional shower and thunderstorms chances. Locally heavy rainfall remains possible at times, with severe thunderstorm chances remaining fairly limited.
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&& .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
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KEY MESSAGES: - Showers and storms along a sagging boundary - Dry north of Pittsburgh and in eastern Ohio - Fog development expected again tonight --------------------------------------------------------------- Showers have developed and are tracking along a northeast to southwest oriented boundary draped across the area. It will sag south and east through the day today focusing convective development along it. Behind it, from Pittsburgh north and east, most of the rest of today will be dry with cloud cover gradually scattering through the afternoon hours as some drier air works in in northwest flow. Along and ahead of the boundary, another day of showers and storms is expected, and some may again produce heavy rainfall. PWAT values still remain in the 1.5-1.8" range which is above the 90th percentile of climatology. MBE vectors again are slow (<10 knots) with cloud-bearing layer flow paralleling the boundary supporting upscale growth. Forecast MUCAPE values are up to around 1500 J/kg and a warm cloud layer up to 12-13kft. That said, the boundary is moving, and development so far has left something to be desired, likely owing to weak surface convergence and little upper level support. HREF probs for 1"/hour amounts are only up to ~30% which is less bullish than those on Monday. So, localized flash flooding concerns still remain, but it will likely take prolonged training to result in concerning amounts unless rates pick up. The highest likelihood for that is along and southeast of a line roughly from IDI to MGW. Precip should exit the area not long after sunset and give way to a drier but muggy night. Dew points are forecast to come down a bit behind the front, and with light to calm wind and plenty of lingering near-surface moisture, fog development is probable again. Probability for dense fog is elevated at 50-60% across northwest PA and northern WV.
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&& .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/...
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KEY MESSAGES: - Stalled boundary keeps most of the isolated convection south of Pittsburgh on Wednesday. - Better coverage of scattered storms Thursday as boundary lifts back north. - Temperatures just above normal. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The boundary likely continues to meander south of our region Wednesday, keeping the deeper moisture/instability to the south and east. Some isolated diurnal convection remains possible, although model soundings show some limited capping potential in the middle levels, keeping a lid on coverage. Any limited severe potential would exist in portions of northern West Virginia, where better instability/stronger updraft potential would lie, along with any potential for localized heavy rainfall, but the overall threat appears quite low. Temperatures should rise a degree or two as compared to today, given incipient weak southwest flow. Convection fades Wednesday night, with Thursday likely dawning dry. A crossing shortwave trough should begin to push the boundary north again as a warm front, with a bit more widespread diurnal convective coverage possible. Skinny CAPE profiles and low shear suggest that the severe threat remains low, but that localized high rainfall rates remain possible, especially as PWAT levels begin to recover.
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&& .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
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KEY MESSAGES: - Stalled boundary lingers into the weekend at least with continued daily rain chances, currently highest Sunday. - Low rain chances next week as pattern uncertainty increases. - Continued near to above-normal temperature. ------------------------------------------------------------------- On Friday, a wave of low pressure along the boundary may push it back south of Pittsburgh, perhaps towards the Mason-Dixon Line. This would keep higher diurnal shower/storm chances across our southern zones. Precipitable water remains elevated near and south of the boundary, with a reasonable range of 1.3 to 1.6 inches, so locally heavy rainfall will remain possible. More organized surface low pressure likely lifts across the western Great Lakes on Saturday, which would push the boundary back north, before a potential cold frontal passage Saturday night or Sunday. There remains ensemble disagreement on how this could play out, particularly with the timing. For now, Sunday appears to have better rain chances than Saturday, and given the FROPA uncertainty, the second half of the weekend also has greater high temperature uncertainty. NBM 10th to 90th percentile spreads exceed 10 degrees for most of the region, with possible max values ranging from around 80 to the lower 90s. Severe potential will depend on timing as well, with ensemble soundings and machine learning advertising at least low-end potential - forecast deep shear remains on the low side, limiting organized convection potential. Localized heavy rain remains possible as well. Uncertainty them propagates into next week. Elevated 500mb heights and zonal flow aloft are most likely, keeping temperatures near to above normal, but differences in disturbances in that flow require low-end PoPs for both Monday and Tuesday.
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&& .AVIATION /18Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...
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Showers and thunderstorms continue along a sagging boundary now located south of PIT. The only terminals left to see impacts this afternoon are LBE and MGW, though the likelihood of restrictions is decreasing as the boundary passes through and any notable rainfall rates are struggling to set up. Still, brief periods of low end MVFR to high end IFR in heavy rain are possible, so included this in a TEMPO group for LBE and MGW. Thunder is possible with any showers, but given recent radar trends and overall lack of lightning, opted to hold mention out; reduction to visibility with heavy rain is more likely to be the greater impact, so will further amend if the thunder threat is more apparent. Wind will be light from the west-southwest the duration of the forecast outside of any showers/thunderstorms. Overnight, wind is likely to go variable to calm, and fog is again likely with highest probability (50-60%) for dense fog impacting FKL/DUJ/LBE/MGW. Elsewhere, do still expect some impacts with crossover temperature achievement, but probabilities are less aggressive for <1/4SM. As such, have included prevailing low end MVFR with TEMPOs to IFR generally after 07z. Fog will dissipate similar to Tuesday morning with mixing on Wednesday and any low ceilings accompanying the fog will scatter out giving way to mid-level cloud coverage tomorrow. There is a low probability (~20%) of showers in the afternoon with widely scattered nature. Outlook... An unsettled pattern will continue for much of the rest of the week as the front stalls to the southern half of our area. Diurnally driven storm chances will govern conditions the rest of the week with periodic afternoon and evening impacts possible each day.
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&& .PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PA...None. OH...None. WV...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...MLB/CL NEAR TERM...MLB SHORT TERM...CL LONG TERM...CL AVIATION...MLB