232
FXUS62 KRAH 021734
AFDRAH
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
130 PM EDT SAT MAY 2 2026
WHAT HAS CHANGED
* HAVE BUMPED TODAY'S HIGHS DOWNWARD SLIGHTLY FROM THE TRIANGLE
SOUTH AND EAST, WHERE CONFIDENCE IN WIDESPREAD RAIN IS HIGH.
OTHERWISE, NO MAJOR CHANGES.
KEY MESSAGES
AS OF 310 AM SATURDAY...
1) UNSEASONABLY COOL TODAY, WITH A HIGH CHANCE OF WETTING RAINFALL
OVER ALL BUT THE NW.
2) TEMPS WILL TREND ABOVE NORMAL MON INTO WED, AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT
THAT MAY BRING STRONG STORMS BY THU.
3) MARGINAL FIRE CONCERNS MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITHIN A DRY AND
INCREASINGLY GUSTY AIRMASS.
DISCUSSION
AS OF 310 AM SATURDAY..
KEY MESSAGE 1... UNSEASONABLY COOL TODAY, WITH A HIGH CHANCE OF
WETTING RAINFALL OVER ALL BUT THE NW.
TODAY'S FORECAST REMAINS LARGELY ON TRACK, WITH INCREASING
CONFIDENCE IN A SOLID AREA OF RAIN SPREADING OVER MAINLY OUR SE
HALF. A WEAK SURFACE COLD FRONT PUSHING SE THROUGH THE AREA
CURRENTLY WILL MERGE WITH AN EXISTING STRONGER COLD FRONT SNAKING
FROM THE N GULF ACROSS N FL AND JUST OFF THE SOUTHEAST/CAROLINA
COAST, AND THIS FRONT WILL WAVER A BIT BUT MOSTLY HOLD IN PLACE
TODAY AS A SERIES OF SURFACE LOWS TRACKS ALONG THE FRONT, ALL WHILE
A COOLER AIR MASS BEGINS TO MOVE IN FROM THE NW AND W. (THIS
SYNOPTIC SETUP IS SIMILAR TO A TYPICAL WINTERTIME PATTERN IN THE
CAROLINAS, ALTHOUGH WITH WARMER TEMPERATURES.) THE OCCURRENCE OF
RAIN TODAY IS A NEAR CERTAINTY FOR AREAS SE OF THE TRIANGLE, WHERE
PW VALUES ARE PROJECTED TO BE ABOVE NORMAL TODAY AND WHERE LIGHT
RAIN IS ALREADY APPROACHING FROM THE SW, ACCORDING TO REGIONAL
COMPOSITE RADAR IMAGERY. BUT A COUPLE OF FACTORS WILL KEEP RAINFALL
AMOUNTS TO A HALF INCH OR LESS OVER ALL BUT THE FAR SE CWA
(MEB/FAY/CTZ/GSB): OVER MUCH OF THE AREA, SOMEWHAT DRY AIR IN THE
VERY LOW LEVELS COMBINED WITH MODEST AND ELEVATED MOIST UPGLIDE,
MARGINAL PW JUST A BIT ABOVE NORMAL, AND AN OVERALL LACK OF
CONVECTIVE ELEMENTS SHOULD LIMIT RAIN RATES. WE'RE ALREADY SEEING
THIS UPSTREAM WITH THE NORTHERN AREA OF THE RAIN SHIELD PRODUCING
RATES OF JUST A FEW HUNDREDTHS PER HOUR. OVER OUR FAR SE CWA,
HOWEVER, WHERE MOISTURE WILL BE DEEPER WITH A SHALLOWER SUB-CLOUD
LAYER BENEATH STRONGER UPPER DIVERGENCE TO HELP FORCE ASCENT,
RAINFALL TOTALS TODAY ARE EXPECTED TO REACH THREE-QUARTERS TO JUST
OVER ONE INCH. THESE TOTALS ARE IN LINE WITH THE MOST LIKELY
SCENARIO FROM THE LATEST HREF AND LREF SUITES. POPS ARE EXPECTED TO
BE HIGHEST BETWEEN 12Z AND 19Z. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON
MOVING PRECIP OUT OF OUR NE IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON AND OUT OF OUR SE
DURING THE EARLY EVENING HOURS.
TEMPS ARE EXPECTED TO BE QUITE COOL TODAY, WITHIN SEVERAL DEGREES OF
RECORD-COOL DAYTIME HIGHS AT RDU AND ESPECIALLY FAY (SEE CLIMATE
SECTION BELOW). THE TRIAD AREA, WHICH WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR A
LITTLE LATE-AFTERNOON PARTIAL SUNSHINE, SHOULD REACH THE LOW-MID
60S, HOWEVER FROM THE TRIANGLE TO THE S AND E, HIGHS ARE MOST LIKELY
TO RANGE FROM THE MID 50S TO AROUND 60, GIVEN THE WIDESPREAD PRECIP
AND CLOUDS.
KEY MESSAGE 2... TEMPS WILL TREND ABOVE NORMAL MON INTO WED, AHEAD
OF A COLD FRONT THAT MAY BRING STRONG STORMS BY THU.
NO MAJOR CHANGES HAVE BEEN NOTED IN THE EXTENDED NEXT WEEK, WITH THE
TWO MAIN POINTS BEING TEMPERATURES TRENDING ABOVE NORMAL AND
WATCHING OUR NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM LATE IN THE WEEK.
WITH RESPECT TO TEMPERATURES, COOL HIGH PRESSURE FROM SUNDAY SHIFTS
OFF THE COAST MONDAY, ALLOWING RETURN FLOW TO SET IN FOR MUCH OF
NEXT WEEK. HIGHS WILL LARGELY HOVER ABOVE NORMAL, STARTING OUT IN
THE UPPER 70S MONDAY AND REACHING THE LOW TO MIDDLE 80S TUESDAY
THROUGH THURSDAY. SOME UPPER 80S ARE POSSIBLE MIDWEEK WITH LOW-LEVEL
THICKNESSES RISING TO AROUND 1400M.
IN REGARDS TO THE LATE-WEEK SYSTEM, ENSEMBLE SPREAD REMAINS LARGE
WITH A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE SOMETIME LATE WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY.
ALOFT, THIS SPREAD SEEMS TO STEM FROM THE POTENTIAL INTERACTION OR
PHASING OF A NORTHERN STREAM TROUGH WITH A SOUTHERN CLOSED LOW
DURING THE EARLY TO MIDDLE PART OF NEXT WEEK. THESE DIFFERENCES WILL
NOT BE RESOLVED UNTIL THE SYSTEMS CAN BE BETTER SAMPLED. BUT AS OF
NOW, MOST ENSEMBLE CLUSTER SOLUTIONS SUPPORT THE BEST CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND STORMS LATE WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY, WITH THE FRONT MOVING
THROUGH BY EARLY FRIDAY. GIVEN THE ENSEMBLE SPREAD, THE AI
CONVECTIVE GUIDANCE IS NOT AS CLEAR CUT AS IT WAS YESTERDAY, BUT
STILL INCLUDES SOME PROBABILITIES FOR A SEVERE THREAT LATE WED OR
THU. IF CONDITIONS CAN ALIGN, THE FRONT WILL CERTAINLY HAVE
FAVORABLE SHEAR AND INSTABILITY TO SUPPORT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
STORMS DURING THIS TIME, BUT UNCERTAINTY IS STILL TOO LARGE.
KEY MESSAGE 3... MARGINAL FIRE CONCERNS MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITHIN A
DRY AND INCREASINGLY GUSTY AIRMASS.
AS HIGH PRESSURE SHIFTS OFFSHORE NEXT WEEK, RETURN SOUTHWEST FLOW
TAKES SHAPE ACROSS CENTRAL NC. IN THE LOW-LEVELS, THE 925-MB FLOW
WILL RANGE FROM 20-25 KT WITHIN A MORE PRONOUNCED PRESSURE GRADIENT.
AS HAPPENS QUITE OFTEN IN THESE REGIMES DURING THE SPRINGTIME, THE
MOISTURE RETURN IS INITIALLY SLOW TO RECOVER. DEWPOINTS ARE EXPECTED
TO MIX OUT INTO THE LOW TO MIDDLE 40S OVER THE PIEDMONT MON AND TUE.
DURING THIS TIME AS WELL, SOUTH-SOUTHWEST WINDS MAY GUST IN THE 15-
25 MPH RANGE, PERHAPS 25-30 MPH OVER THE WESTERN PIEDMONT ON TUE.
WHILE THE LATEST FORECAST INDICATES THAT CONDITIONS SHOULD REMAIN
BELOW IFD CRITERIA, THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SHOWS THAT IT ALSO
CANNOT BE ENTIRELY RULED OUT. THE MOST FAVORABLE FIRE DANGER MAY BE
ACROSS THE WESTERN PIEDMONT, WHICH MAY SEE LITTLE IF ANY RAIN FROM
THIS SATURDAY'S SYSTEM.
AVIATION /18Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/
AS OF 130 PM SATURDAY...
TAF PERIOD: INT, GSO, AND RDU HAVE REMAINED VFR SO FAR TODAY, AND
THERE IS NO REASON TO EXPECT THAT ANY CEILING RESTRICTIONS WILL
DEVELOP AT THESE THREE TERMINALS AS THE SHIELD OF RAIN AND LOW
CLOUDS WITH A COASTAL LOW CONTINUES TO MOVE TO THE EAST. WITH THE
GREATEST AMOUNT OF MOISTURE FARTHER TO THE SOUTH AND EAST, EXPECT
INTERMITTENT IFR CEILINGS AT FAY AS RAIN COMES TO AN END, ALONG WITH
PREVAILING MVFR CEILINGS AT BOTH FAY AND RWI. RAIN WILL COME TO AN
END AT THESE TWO SITES BEFORE SUNSET WITH SKIES BECOMING MOSTLY
CLEAR BY MIDNIGHT. FOR ALL FIVE TERMINALS, EXPECT THE WIND TO BACK
FROM THE NORTHEAST TO THE NORTHWEST THIS EVENING AS THE COASTAL LOW
MOVES OFFSHORE AND HIGH PRESSURE MOVES INTO THE REGION FROM THE
WEST. SOME GUSTS UP TO 15-20 KT ARE POSSIBLE LATE SUNDAY MORNING,
BUT CONFIDENCE WAS NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO INCLUDE THIS MENTION IN THE
FORECAST.
OUTLOOK: DRY VFR CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT, AT
WHICH POINT SOME RESTRICTIONS AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS WILL ENTER THE
FORECAST AT INT/GSO/RDU. SHOWERS AND RESTRICTIONS WILL BECOME MORE
WIDESPREAD AT INT/GSO WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND AT OTHER TERMINALS
THURSDAY, ALONG WITH A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.
CLIMATE
RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES:
MAY 2:
KRDU: 53/1939
KFAY: 61/1963
RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
NONE.
DISCUSSION...HARTFIELD/KREN
AVIATION...GREEN
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