Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC

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579 FXUS62 KRAH 100650 AFDRAH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Raleigh NC 250 AM EDT Fri May 10 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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A cold front moving across the state today will bring a chance for severe weather across the south, followed by mostly dry weather and below normal temperatures for the weekend.
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&& .NEAR TERM /TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT/...
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As of 250 AM Friday... Low pressure is currently over southeastern Virginia with a cold front extending back to the west-southwest. There is not a huge temperature gradient along the front, but there is about a 10 degree spread in the dewpoint. The parent low will continue to head offshore, with a wave along the cold front expected to be enhanced during the daytime by an upper level shortwave. While the forecast still calls for a dry morning, have bumped up pops to likely across southeastern counties, continuing with the inherited chance pops elsewhere across the forecast area. SPC has added a slight (level 2 of 5) risk across portions of southeastern NC and northeastern SC, including portions of Scotland, Hoke, Cumberland, and Sampson counties. MUCAPE in this area should range between 500-1500 J/kg, with greatest amounts to the south. Effective bulk shear between 30- 40 kt will also help to organize any thunderstorms that do develop. Although an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out, the primary severe weather threats will be damaging wind gusts and large hail. The most likely timing for severe weather appears to be between 2 and 8pm. As the front moves east by sunset, the chance for showers/thunderstorms will quickly diminish, with all rain to the east of the region by midnight. Wind gusts will pick up by late morning and continue through the overnight hours, reaching as high as 25 mph outside of any thunderstorms that develop. Highs will range from the mid 70s in the north to the mid 80s in the south. Lows will be noticeably cooler behind the front, with values ranging from the mid 40s to the mid 50s.
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&& .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/...
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As of 250 AM Friday... Today`s cold front will be well offshore by Saturday morning, although a second low pressure system will be over the Great Lakes with another cold front extending to the south. The low will track east to New York by Sunday morning, and moisture with the associated cold front is not expected to track too far to the south. In fact, southern counties should remain mostly sunny through the day. Have gone with a slight chance of showers to the north of US-64 during the late afternoon and early evening, and this may be overdone. The effects of today`s cold front will continue to be felt on Saturday, with some locations along the VA/NC border remaining in the upper 60s for highs and the rest of the area in the 70s. Saturday night`s lows will be similar to tonight`s reading, in the mid 40s to the mid 50s.
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&& .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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As of 211 PM Thursday... Sunday will see mostly sunny skies and continued cool/dry conditions as weak cyclonic flow aloft gradually flattens out as a ridge builds to our west. Look for another day of below normal highs (mid 70s) with low temps once again falling into the upper 40s to low 50s. No concerns about precip as all forcing will be displaced well to the northeast of the area. The overall pattern next week looks to be active once again. An upper low over the Central Plains will slowly migrate eastward on Monday, inducing downstream ridging across the Southeast states and ultimately resulting in a fairly quiet day across NC with near normal temps and dry weather. This will ultimately change though as the low migrates into the Ohio Valley on Tuesday. Broad/weak forcing for ascent will overspread much of the Southeast on Tuesday coincident with an increase in moisture transport (PW`s will be back above 1.5 inches by Tuesday morning). Showers are expected across the area on Tuesday although just how quickly they arrive is still a little unclear (daybreak Tuesday vs afternoon). Regardless, Tuesday is likely to see widespread cloud cover and rainfall with cooler temps as a result. While thunder seems unlikely at this stage (instability displaced well to the south), precip chances will likely be maximized during the daytime hours with lesser chances Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Wednesday will see continued precip chances as the upper low opens up and moves through the central Mid Atlantic. As PW`s will remain elevated and the area will be well within the warm sector, instability will be much more readily available on Wednesday ahead of the trough and shower/thunderstorm chances should be a bit higher (60-70 percent range) especially during the afternoon hours. It`s also likely that we`ll have at least some clearing to start the day and temps should make it up into the low/mid 80s prior to the arrival of the trough. Thursday should start off dry in the wake of the departing low, but this looks to be short lived. While shortwave ridging aloft will build in early in the day, this will quickly turn southwesterly as yet another longwave trough sets up across the Central Plains and kicks out a series of embedded shortwaves across the Southeast states through the end of the week. This would favor diurnally driven showers and thunderstorms Thursday afternoon/evening, followed by drying overnight.
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&& .AVIATION /06Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... As of 130 AM Friday... TAF period: High confidence in VFR conditions through the next 24 hours. The primary potential for any flight restrictions would come with precipitation moving through FAY during the late morning and afternoon hours. Am not forecasting any widespread ceilings under 10,000 ft. Will maintain the PROB30 for TSRA at FAY as well as adding VCSH for an extended period during the afternoon. Think there could also be some scattered showers at RWI, but confidence is too low to include a mention of precipitation at other sites, although it will remain a possibility. Winds will gust as a cold front moves through, with values up to 20-25 kt as the wind direction shifts from southwest to northwest. Gusts should continue after sunset. Outlook: An isolated shower cannot be ruled out at INT/GSO Saturday afternoon. The next chance of precipitation will come Monday night and Tuesday as low pressure moves into the mid-Atlantic states. && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Green NEAR TERM...Green SHORT TERM...Green LONG TERM...DL AVIATION...Green