Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Pittsburgh, PA

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450 FXUS61 KPBZ 111124 AFDPBZ Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA 724 AM EDT Fri Jul 11 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms expected daily through the weekend with the highest chance on Sunday as a weak cold front crosses the area. The first half of next week may be drier ahead of another late week disturbance. Temperatures will remain above normal. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... KEY MESSAGES: - Isolated to scattered afternoon/evening showers and storms - Heavy rain and damaging downburst winds still possible with any stronger storms - Warming trend with temperatures potentially exceeding 90F in river valleys and urban metros. --------------------------------------------------------------- Little change to the pattern is expected through the near term as we remain under weak flow aloft but a warm and humid airmass at the surface. Weak mid-level height rises could provide a slight boost in subsidence, but enough instability is still forecast to support isolated thunderstorm chances during afternoon hours. Once again, attempting to peg down exact timing and location of development would be a losing battle, given weak forcing/flow and the influence of remnant outflow boundaries from previous days. While overall ensemble trends suggest higher coverage in the ridges and to the east (HREF probabilities for SBCAPE >1000 J/kg are maximized over western PA and northeast WV), would have to believe that remnant outflow and the lake breeze could still play a role elsewhere. Regardless, mean HREF soundings suggest PWATs near 1.5" which coupled with the weak steering flow will maintain the potential for locally heavy rainfall in any thunderstorms that do develop. Additionally, upwards of 1000 J/kg of DCAPE is forecast, supporting a downburst threat in any stronger storms. Outside of convection, temperatures will generally climb into the upper 80s, though urban metros and river valleys could see temps reach 90F as NBM probabilities for exceeding that are 40-60% in those areas. Any showers or storms that form during the day will dissipate after sunset with the loss of daytime heating, giving way to another mild and potentially foggy night. NBM probabilities for low temperatures staying at or above 70F are highest (70-90%) in river valleys and urban metros, with moderate chances (40-60%) elsewhere except for the ridges and north of I-80 where they are below 30%. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... KEY MESSAGES: - Scattered afternoon and evening showers and storms Saturday - Heavy rain and damaging wind threat with stronger storms on Saturday - Wetter on Sunday with a passing cold front ---------------------------------------------------------------- Diurnally driven convection will continue on Saturday with weak flow aloft. Ensemble mean PWAT values remain similar to earlier this week, around 1.5", and a 60-80% chance of SBCAPE values >1500 J/kg. DCAPE values sit around 800-1100 across the 00z CAMs again supportive of a very localized heavy rain and downburst threat. With a weak flow aloft, flash flooding is another threat as the storms will be slow moving. Pegging down exact timing and location of development again is very difficult, especially with the influence of remnant outflow boundaries from previous days. There are suggestions that it may be more terrain driven with higher coverage in the ridges to the east, however, remnant outflow and the lake breeze could again play a role. Outside of convection, there is an increased probability that temperature have up to a 90% in the urban areas and valleys (55%-75% elsewhere) to reach 90F Saturday. Sunday looks to be the wettest day of the weekend as low pressure tracking across the Great Lakes drags a surface cold front through the area. The best shortwave support will track north of Lake Erie, but there will be a plenty warm and moist airmass in place for the boundary to work upon. Due to the faster speed of the frontal boundary, the threat for flooding will come from training. There is high confidence that the cold front passes on Sunday, but the deterministic guidance suggests a later timing which would impact any severe or flooding threat. Machine learning suggests there could be a severe threat, contingent on an afternoon to evening timing, but organized severe weather seems less likely given weak vertical wind shear as the strongest flow remains to our north. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... KEY MESSAGES: - Wetter on Sunday with a crossing boundary - Potentially drier first half of next week ahead of another low pressure system passage by mid to late week - Temperatures remain above average ------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the low on Sunday, the associated mid-level trough swings through on Monday and could provide more afternoon and evening showers and storms. Ensembles do deviate with the post-frontal environment as some suggest a surface high quickly building in while others don`t bring the high in quite that quickly allowing for another unsettled day. NBM still supports 30-60% PoPs, highest to the southeast, however, it will trend drier if the more progressive solutions are correct. Not much of an airmass change is likely behind the front, so still expecting above average highs on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday show indications of being drier across the board as aforementioned high pressure does settle in and upper ridging builds from the southwest. This will allow temperatures to climb with warm advection in southwesterly flow bumping 90F probability back up to 50%-70% on Tuesday and 70%-90% on Wednesday, again highest in the urban areas. Ensembles track yet another low pressure system out of the Great Lakes Thursday into Friday which will likely bring another cold front through and return rain chances. Being 7+ days out, there is still plenty of disagreement on timing and amplification of the mid-level trough, however, it`s less likely that we keep the dry weather around through the end of the week. && .AVIATION /11Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
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Fog is expected to readily dissipate this morning as opposed to yesterday, with a more shallow layer of moisture that is mostly confined to valleys. Into the day, this moisture with mixing will turn into a VFR scattered deck, mostly in the 2kft to 4kft range with light southwest flow. Current tempos for showers tracked trends in current precipitation as it traverses the area. On the contrary, thunder mentions were not noted this round, with PoPs generally less than 30%, and probabilities of thunder at any given port generally less than 20%, nonetheless, there is a chane of a very isolated shower or storm this afternoon impacting a terminal, most likely from 20Z to 00Z, with the highest chances for eastern terminals (AGC, MGW, LBE, DUJ). Cu will dissipate after sunset, giving way to patchy high clouds with winds decoupling and becoming light and out of the south. Some fog is possible once again with bountiful moisture and calm winds, though only noted at DUJ for now given highest confidence. Should other vis restrictions creep in, it would be most likely for eastern ports; probability of fog would increase should any port be impacted by a shower to storm today. Outlook... A weakly forced but warm/humid environment is favored through Saturday that will allow for intermittent periods of showers/thunderstorms. Confidence is likely to be lower on timing various rounds of precipitation as well as the resultant cig/vsby impacts they could have during the morning hours. More significant upper-level and surface boundary movement appears to arrive Sunday, which will create a better focused period for convection and restriction development.
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&& .PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PA...None. OH...None. WV...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...MLB NEAR TERM...Cermak/MLB/Shallenberger SHORT TERM...MLB/Lupo LONG TERM...MLB/Lupo AVIATION...Milcarek