759  
FXUS62 KRAH 160918  
AFDRAH  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC  
418 AM EST MON DEC 16 2024  
   
SYNOPSIS
 
 
HIGH PRESSURE AND ASSOCIATED COLD AIR DAMMING WILL EXTEND ACROSS THE  
PIEDMONT OF THE CAROLINAS, WHILE GRADUALLY WEAKENING, THROUGH  
TUESDAY. A SERIES OF COLD FRONTS WILL PROGRESS ACROSS THE REGION  
WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY.  
 

 
   
NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/
 
 
AS OF 415 AM MONDAY...  
 
THROUGH TONIGHT: THIS MORNING WILL FEATURE WIDESPREAD VERY LOW  
OVERCAST, AREAS OF FOG IN THE COASTAL PLAIN, AND PATCHY DRIZZLE OR  
LIGHT RAIN OVER THE NRN PIEDMONT. THE THICKNESS OF THE OVERCAST  
LAYER IN THE HEART OF THE NOW HYBRID COLD AIR DAMMING OVER THE  
PIEDMONT WAS 3000 FT THICK ON THE 00Z-OBSERVED GSO SOUNDING AND WILL  
BE VERY SLOW TO LIFT TODAY, AND UNLIKELY TO COMPLETELY DISPERSE OVER  
THE NW PIEDMONT. MEANWHILE, ITS ERN EDGE IN ERN NC WILL BE MUCH  
QUICKER TO LIFT AND ERODE FROM SOUTHEAST TO NORTHWEST --WITH AN  
ACCOMPANYING NWWD RETREAT OF A WEDGE FRONT-- FROM LATE MORNING  
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL CONSEQUENTLY BE SHARPLY  
RANGING ONES ACROSS THE WEDGE FRONT IN CNTL NC AGAIN TODAY: AROUND  
50 F AT INT TO MID/UPR 60S OVER THE ERN SANDHILLS AND SRN COASTAL  
PLAIN.  
 
VERY LIGHT FLOW WILL EXIST OVER THE CAROLINAS AND GA TONIGHT, AS A  
PIECE OF THE COLD AIR DAMMING HIGH SEPARATES THERE FROM ITS PARENT,  
TRANSITORY ONE THAT WILL MOVE WELL OFFSHORE AND ACROSS THE N.  
ATLANTIC. THE ASSOCIATED LIGHT FLOW REGIME AND RESIDUAL CAD  
STABILITY/RH WILL FAVOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF FOG AND VERY LOW  
OVERCAST TONIGHT. SOME MAY BE DENSE, ESPECIALLY AWAY FROM THE VA  
BORDER COUNTIES WHERE A MID-LEVEL CLOUD BAND AND VIRGA/ISOLATED  
SPRINKLES WILL MOVE OVERHEAD LATE. LOW TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL BE  
MOSTLY MID/UPR 40S.  
 
TUESDAY: HIGH PRESSURE AND THE RESIDUAL CAD AIRMASS WILL REMAIN OVER  
THE CAROLINAS AND GA. LOW OVERCAST AND FOG IN THE MORNING WILL LIFT  
AND DISPERSE MORE QUICKLY THAN ON MON, THOUGH SLOWEST OVER THE NW NC  
PIEDMONT WHERE TEMPERATURES WILL HOLD IN 50S THROUGH NOON, THEN  
REACH THE LWR-MID 60S BY MID-LATE AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL  
INCREASE MORE QUICKLY AND INTO THE 60S ELSEWHERE, PEAKING IN THE LWR-  
MID 70S OVER SERN NC, INCLUDING IN THE ERN SANDHILLS AND SRN-CNTL  
COASTAL PLAIN. CONTINUED LIGHT FLOW AND RESIDUAL EFFECTS OF THE CAD  
AIRMASS WILL LIKELY RESULT IN THE REDEVELOPMENT OF AREAS OF FOG BY  
MID-EVENING, WITH SOME POSSIBLY AGAIN DENSE OVERNIGHT.  
 

 
   
SHORT TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/
 
 
AS OF 305 AM MONDAY...  
 
BY TUESDAY NIGHT, LOW PRESSURE WILL BE ACROSS FAR EASTERN CANADA  
WITH A COLD FRONT EXTENDING SOUTH INTO THE WESTERN ATLANTIC THEN  
BACK TO THE SOUTHWEST ACROSS VIRGINIA AND TENNESSEE. ANOTHER WAVE OF  
LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT AND MOVE NORTHEAST. THE  
ECMWF/EPS HAS REMAINED VERY CONSISTENT OVER THE LAST THREE DAYS  
DEVELOPING THE SYSTEM SLIGHTLY FARTHER TO THE SOUTHEAST THAN THE  
GFS/GEFS, WHICH BRINGS POPS INTO THE REGION MORE QUICKLY. DID DECIDE  
TO SLIGHTLY BACK OFF THE ARRIVAL OF CHANCE POPS TUESDAY NIGHT, AND  
MADE MINIMAL CHANGES TO POPS ON WEDNESDAY. MODELS ARE NOW BEGINNING  
TO SHOW A SPLIT IN PRECIPITATION WEDNESDAY NIGHT, WITH ONE AREA  
FOCUSED ALONG THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS AND A SECOND AREA FOCUSED  
ALONG THE GULF STREAM, POTENTIALLY SPLITTING THE CENTRAL PART OF THE  
STATE. HAVE EXPANDED LIKELY POPS TO ALL LOCATIONS, BUT RIGHT NOW  
THIS LOOKS LIKE A HIGH POP/LOW QPF SCENARIO, WHERE THERE IS A GOOD  
CHANCE OF RAIN WITH LOW OVERALL RAINFALL AMOUNTS. LOWS TUESDAY NIGHT  
WILL RANGE FROM THE MID 40S TO THE MID 50S. WEDNESDAY WILL BE  
ANOTHER WARM DAY WITH SOUTHERLY FLOW, AND HIGHS WILL RANGE FROM THE  
MID 60S TO THE MID 70S. AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH WEDNESDAY  
NIGHT, LOWS WILL FALL INTO THE 40S EVERYWHERE.  
 

 
   
LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/
 
 
AS OF 305 AM MONDAY...  
 
MODELS CONTINUE TO SPEED UP THE DEPARTURE OF THE COLD FRONT, AND  
HAVE REMOVED ALL POPS ON THURSDAY. LOW PRESSURE ACROSS THE NORTHERN  
PLAINS ON THURSDAY WILL REACH THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY BY FRIDAY  
MORNING. THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY LOW WILL WEAKEN AS IT MOVES TO THE  
SOUTHEAST, BRINGING LITTLE MORE THAN SKY COVER AND NO CHANCE OF  
RAIN. HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN DOMINATE THE FORECAST OVER THE  
WEEKEND, WITH THE CENTER DROPPING FROM MANITOBA ON SATURDAY INTO THE  
PLAINS ON SUNDAY. AFTER NEAR NORMAL HIGHS IN THE 50S THURSDAY AND  
FRIDAY, NORTHERLY FLOW WILL PLUNGE HIGHS INTO THE 40S ON SATURDAY  
AND INTO THE 30S/40S ON SUNDAY. LOWS WILL BE NEAR FREEZING THURSDAY  
AND FRIDAY NIGHTS, THEN DROP INTO THE UPPER TEENS AND 20S SATURDAY  
NIGHT.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /06Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/
 
 
AS OF 1255 AM MONDAY...  
 
LIFR-IFR RESTRICTIONS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS CNTL NC WHERE  
THEY HAVE NOT ALREADY (IE. AT FAY IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS), THEN  
PERSIST THROUGH MUCH OF THE MORNING. ADDITIONALLY, OCCASIONAL  
DRIZZLE AND LIGHT RAIN WILL ACCOMPANY THOSE FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS AT  
PIEDMONT SITES AND MORE BRIEFLY AT RWI THIS MORNING. MATURE COLD AIR  
DAMMING WILL MAINTAIN IFR RESTRICTIONS AT INT/GSO, WHILE A SOUTHEAST  
TO NORTHWEST IMPROVEMENT THROUGH MVFR AND LIKELY TO VFR AT FAY, RWI,  
AND RDU SHOULD RESULT THIS AFTERNOON. WIDESPREAD LIFR-IFR  
RESTRICTIONS ARE EXPECTED AGAIN OVERNIGHT-TUE MORNING. LOW-LEVEL  
WIND SHEAR WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE OVER THE PIEDMONT LATE TONIGHT-TUE  
MORNING.  
 
OUTLOOK: FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS AT INT/GSO WILL LIKELY FLUCTUATE  
BETWEEN IFR-MVFR BY DAY AND LIFR-IFR BY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY  
MORNING, AS COLD AIR DAMMING HOLDS OVER THE NW NC PIEDMONT.  
MEANWHILE TO THE EAST, FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE LIKELY TO BE CONFINED  
MAINLY TO THE LATE NIGHT-MORNING HOURS THROUGH THE SAME TIME.  
 

 
   
RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
NONE.  
 

 
 

 
SYNOPSIS...MWS  
NEAR TERM...MWS  
SHORT TERM...GREEN  
LONG TERM...GREEN  
AVIATION...MWS  
 
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