445  
FXUS61 KPBZ 210321 AAA  
AFDPBZ  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA  
1121 PM EDT SUN APR 20 2025  
   
SYNOPSIS
 
 
DRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED EARLY TONIGHT UNDER HIGH PRESSURE.  
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN EARLY MONDAY  
WITH A PASSING WARM FRONT. SHOWERS AND GUSTY THUNDERSTORMS ARE  
EXPECTED WITH A COLD FRONT MONDAY AFTERNOON.  
 

 
   
NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY MORNING/
 
 
KEY MESSAGES:  
 
- DRY EARLY  
- A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATER TONIGHT.  
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------  
 
A WARM FRONT WILL LIFT NORTH ACROSS THE REGION OVERNIGHT, AS A  
VORT MAX ALOFT CROSSES THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY REGION. AFTER  
INITIIALY DRY WEATHER, ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND  
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE  
FRONT. ELEVATED INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED, WITH SHOWALTER INDICIES  
OF -1, THOUGH WITH THIS LIMITED INTSTABILITY NO STRONG STORMS  
ARE EXPECTED. TEMPERATURES SHOULD REACH THIER OVERNIGHT LOWS  
EARLY TONIGHT, WITH TEMPERATURES RISING IN WARM ADVECTION LATER  
TONIGHT.  
 

 
   
SHORT TERM /6 AM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/
 
 
KEY MESSAGES:  
 
- WARM FRONT RETURNS EARLY MONDAY MORNING, BEFORE DAWN  
- SHOWERS AND GUSTY THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING WITH  
A COLD FRONT  
- DRY TUESDAY UNDER HIGH PRESSURE  
-------------------------------------------------------------------  
 
THE PROBABILITY OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS INCREASES  
TO 35-50% WITH A PASSING WARM FRONT BETWEEN 2AM TO 4AM MONDAY  
MORNING. WITH ELEVATED INSTABILITY RANGING BETWEEN 300J/KG TO  
700J/KG AND EFFECTIVE SHEAR NEAR 35KTS, SMALL HAIL COULD BE  
OBSERVED IN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. HOWEVER, CONFIDENCE AT THE  
MOMENT IS CONSIDERED LOW GIVEN HIGH RESOLUTION MODELS SHOWING A  
LARGE RANGE IN THE AVAILABLE INSTABILITY ALOFT, SOME MODELS GO  
AS HIGH AS 1000J/KG WHILE OTHERS SUGGEST ONLY 300J/KG. IF ONE  
WERE TO SEE EXPERIENCE LIGHTNING AND HAIL, IT WOULD LIKELY BE  
NEAR I-80.  
 
IN THE WAKE OF THE WARM FRONT, THERE WILL LIKELY BE A PERIOD  
WHERE PRECIPITATION CHANCES REMAIN LOW. MOSTLY BETWEEN 6AM TO  
12PM, AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT.  
 
THE TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT ARE PROGGED TO  
ADVANCE EASTWARD EARLY MONDAY AFTERNOON. A BAND OF SHOWERS AND  
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE  
FRONT, WITH INCREASING MOISTURE AND VORTICITY ADVECTION. A  
PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH COULD ALSO RESULT IN ADDITIONAL  
SHOWERS/STORMS AHEAD OF THE MAIN FRONT. A JET ALOFT WILL ALSO  
ENHANCE ASCENT, AS WELL AS SHEAR. CAPE WILL ALSO INCREASE AHEAD  
OF THE FRONT, WITH CURRENT HREF PROGS BETWEEN 500 AND 1000 J/KG.  
THE AMOUNT OF DESTABILIZATION THAT OCCURS WILL DEPEND ON THE  
TIMING OF THE FRONT, AND THE EFFECTS A PREFRONTAL TROUGH WILL  
HAVE ON THE ATMOSPHERE, THOUGH AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS THERE IS  
AT LEAST SOME POTENTIAL FOR GUSTY WIND (40-45MPH) IN STORMS  
BETWEEN 2PM TO 6PM.  
 
SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST  
MONDAY EVENING (BETWEEN 7PM TO 9PM) IN THE WAKE OF THE COLD  
FRONT.  
 
DRY WEATHER RETURNS TUESDAY AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS  
ACROSS THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY REGION.  
 
TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO AVERAGE ABOVE SEASONABLE LEVELS  
THROUGH THE PERIOD.  
 

 
   
LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/
 
 
KEY MESSAGES:  
 
- ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURE FOR THE END OF THE WEEK BEFORE A  
POTENTIAL WEEKEND COOL OFF.  
- TRENDING TOWARDS A WETTER LATER HALF OF WEEK AND START TO THE  
WEEKEND.  
-------------------------------------------------------------------  
 
CONFIDENCE IS FAIRLY HIGH ON SUBTLE TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY  
RIDGING ALOFT COMBINING WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE TO PROMOTE  
DRY WEATHER WEDNESDAY. TEMPERATURE IS LIKELY TO BE ABOVE NORMAL,  
BUT THE DEGREE OF HEATING WILL DEPEND ON RIDGE STRENGTH  
(STRONGER EQUATES TO WARMER) OR INFLUENCE OF SHORTWAVE MOVEMENT  
TO THE NORTH (LOWERS HEIGHTS AND INCREASES CLOUD COVER TO  
DECREASE TEMPERATURE).  
 
ENSEMBLE MODELS ARE TRENDING TOWARD A WETTER OUTLOOK TO END THE  
WEEK AS POTENTIAL SHORTWAVE MOVEMENT INCREASES WITHIN THE  
QUASI-ZONAL TO WEAKLY SOUTHWEST FLOW OVERHEAD. THERE REMAINS  
VARIATIONS ON SHORTWAVE TIMING AND WHETHER MOVEMENT FROM THE SW  
IS ABLE TO PHASE WITH TROUGH ACTIVITY IN SOUTHERN CANADA, BUT  
CURRENT CLUSTER ANALYSIS SUGGESTS TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS ARE NOT  
LIKELY TO BE IMPACTFUL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS WILL  
STRUGGLE TO SUPPORT HAZARDOUS WEATHER.  
 
FROM THERE, ENSEMBLE MEANS SUGGEST A MORE ORGANIZED NORTHERN  
STREAM TROUGH WILL DROP TOWARD THE NORTHEAST U.S. NEXT WEEKEND AS  
RIDGE DEVELOPMENT OCCURS OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. THIS PATTERN  
FAVORS NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AND DRIER  
WEATHER, BUT LARGE VARIATIONS IN TROUGH DEPTH/PROGRESSION WILL  
PLAY ROLE IN THE DEGREE OF COOLING/DRYING AS WELL AS HOW QUICKLY  
WARM WEATHER RETURNS THE FOLLOWING WEEK.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /04Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/
 
 
VFR WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TOMORROW AFTERNOON. WINDS ARE  
EXPECTED TO SHIFT FROM NORTHEAST TO SOUTHEAST AHEAD OF A WARM  
FRONT.  
 
A PASSING WARM FRONT EARLY TOMORROW MORNING MAY CREATE ISOLATED  
RESTRICTIONS AND THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN 06Z TO 10Z. PROB30 COVERS  
LIGHTNING POTENTIAL IN THE VICINITY OF TERMINALS THAT COULD  
EXPERIENCE IMPACTS. DURING THIS TIME, EXPECT BRIEF PERIODS OF  
LOW-LEVEL WIND SHEAR FOR ABOUT 2 HOURS AT MOST TERMINALS.  
 
THERE WILL BE A BRIEFING BREAK IN SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY  
AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. PROBABILITY OF LIGHTNING AND STRONG WINDS  
EMBEDDED WITHIN THUNDERSTORMS INCREASES AFTER 17Z WITH A PRE-FRONTAL  
TROUGH FOLLOWED BY THE COLD FRONT.  
 
DURING THE COLD FRONT PASSAGE, EXPECT SOME TEMPORARY PERIODS OF MVFR  
CEILINGS. AT FKL AND DUJ, EXPECT MVFR CIGS TO SETTLE INTO THE AREA  
THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING.  
 
OUTLOOK...  
VFR AND MOSTLY DRY WEATHER RETURN TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY,  
FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM BRINGING INCREASING CHANCES  
FOR RAIN AND RESTRICTIONS LATE THIS WEEK.  
 

 
   
PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
PA...NONE.  
OH...NONE.  
WV...NONE.  
 

 
 

 
 
SYNOPSIS...HEFFERAN  
NEAR TERM...WM  
SHORT TERM...HEFFERAN  
LONG TERM...FRAZIER  
AVIATION...HEFFERAN/LUPO  
 
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