Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC

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584 FXUS62 KRAH 110617 AFDRAH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Raleigh NC 217 AM EDT Sat May 11 2024 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front will move off the coast of the Carolinas this evening. High pressure will follow and extend across the Southeast and Middle Atlantic through the weekend. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 845 PM EDT Friday... Surface cold front has pushed through our area and expected to exit the coast over the next few hours. The severe thunderstorm watch has been canceled for the areas. No more storms are expected tonight. Although there is one storm exiting the southern tip of Sampson county, but not expected to become severe. Dew points across the much of the region have dropped into the mid 40s to mid 50s, with temperatures in the mid 60s NW to low 70s SE. Gusty winds behind the front are expected to diminish over the next few hours, but light northerly winds of 5 to 10 mph will continue through the night. Lows overnight will range from low 50s NW to mid 50s SE. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... As of 1225 PM Friday... Shortwave ridging will give way to a shortwave digging southeastward into the Great Lakes, OH valley and northern Mid-Atlantic. While most of the energy with the trough will remain to our north in VA, height falls will promote some weak lift in the mid to late evening hours across our northern counties. At the surface, high pressure will give way to a lee trough. A secondary cold front or surface trough will then move through in the evening and overnight hours. Highs will be some 5-9 degrees below normal in the low to mid 70s, comfortable for early May. WAA in a return SW flow aloft Sat night between 850-700 mb will aid some weak (~100 J/kg) instability in the mid to late evening hours ahead of the trough passage. While most areas will see more dry time than showers, we introduced a slight chance of isolated showers across mainly the northeast Piedmont and northern Coastal Plain, roughly along/north of a line from Raleigh to Rocky Mount. Any showers will exit by late evening, with lows dipping a few degrees below seasonal normals into the upper 40s to mid 50s. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... As of 115 PM Friday... A period of dry weather and clear skies Sun into early Mon as a broad shortwave trough will be pivoting across the Northeast and Mid- Atlantic Sun morning and slide towards the Northeast coast by Sun evening. Strongly convergent flow aloft will favor strong subsidence on the backside of the departing trough and transient high pressure over the area before shifting offshore by Mon morning. Mostly clear skies and calm conditions will support steep surface inversions and pockets of radiational cooling and have trended down minimum temperatures, especially in the typical cool spots (mid 40s to low 50s). The next chance for rain will be right around the corner as the flat shortwave ridging and 850 anti-cyclone over the Southeast shift offshore Mon evening into Tues. A surge in deep southwesterly flow off the Gulf driven by a closed low spinning through the Mid-MS Valley will spread anomalous moisture (PWAT 1.3 to 1.6, 90th percentile) and waves of 700 to 850mb WAA through the southern Mid- Atlantic. Deep layer moisture appears to be maximized over the area on Tues, best chance for periods of showers/storms, while Wed may be a bit more uncertain. A tongue of dry air from 700mb and up will round the southern side of the shortwave and overspread portions of the Southeast and southern Mid-Atlantic. Where this dry pocket sets up will depend on the track of the aforementioned shortwave, which there area still timing differences on its departure Wed into Thurs. Nevertheless, will continue to highlight chance to likely PoPs during this time given the potentially favorable track and associated synoptic forcing and increased instability, but coverage may be more limited during this time. Temperatures will be coolest on Tues (5 to 10 degrees below normal), otherwise highs/lows will be near to slightly above normal through the remainder of the extended. && .AVIATION /06Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
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As of 215 AM Saturday... VFR conditions will prevail across central NC through Saturday afternoon, with the one exception of some lingering stratocumulus over the far east (including RWI) which has resulted in periods of MVFR ceilings. While RWI is back to VFR, some high-res guidance (including the RAP and GLAMP) shows MVFR returning there later tonight, so have a TEMPO group at RWI for that potential from 08z- 12z. A deck of clouds from about 6-10 kft will move across central NC from NW to SE on Saturday evening, and they may be accompanied by a band of showers. Confidence in any brief sub-VFR visibilities with the showers is low, but it cannot be entirely ruled out. Northerly winds tonight will become more westerly/southwesterly by tomorrow afternoon and evening, remaining less than 10 kts sustained and possibly gusting up to 15 kts at times during the day. Outlook: Rain and IFR-MVFR restrictions, lowest over the Piedmont at INT/GSO, will overspread cntl NC Tue morning, with a following chances of showers/storms Tue afternoon through Wed.
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&& .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...MWS NEAR TERM...CA SHORT TERM...Kren LONG TERM...Swiggett AVIATION...Danco/MWS