695  
FXUS62 KCAE 281824  
AFDCAE  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC  
224 PM EDT TUE APR 28 2026  
   
WHAT HAS CHANGED
 
 
LOWERED TODAY'S HIGH TEMPERATURES WITH SHOWERS AND CLOUD COVER  
KEEPING TEMPERATURES COOLER THAN NBM VALUES. ADDITIONAL DETAILS  
ON A LOW THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. UPDATED  
AVIATION DISCUSSION FOR 18Z TAFS.  
 

 
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
- 1. ROUNDS OF RAIN THROUGH MID-WEEK, SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE  
POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON BUT CONFIDENCE IS LOW.  
 
- 2. CONFIDENCE INCREASING IN MODERATE RAINFALL FOR PORTIONS OF  
THE FORECAST AREA FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY.  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION
 
 
KEY MESSAGE 1: ROUNDS OF RAIN THROUGH MID-WEEK, SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS  
ARE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON BUT CONFIDENCE IS LOW.  
 
WITH UPPER RIDGING FLATTENING OVER THE SOUTHEAST WE WILL SEE SEVERAL  
ROUNDS OF SHORTWAVE TROUGHS ROLL OVER THE RIDGE AND INTO THE  
FORECAST AREA THROUGH THURSDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL ALSO WORK ACROSS  
THE SOUTHEAST WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY PROVIDING SOME ENHANCED  
CONVERGENCE FOR CONVECTION UPSTREAM. THE TIMING OF THE CONVECTION  
THAT WORKS INTO THE FORECAST AREA EACH DAY SHOULD BE SIMILAR TO  
TUESDAY MORNING WITH DECAYING THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE PREVIOUS DAY  
PERSISTING DUE TO THE ENHANCEMENT FROM SHORTWAVE ENERGY.  
 
THE MOST ACTIVE DAY FOR OUR AREA WILL BE WEDNESDAY WHEN DEEPER  
MOISTURE WILL BE OVER THE AREA. EXPECT WIDESPREAD SHOWERS TO  
CROSS THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY MORNING. CAMS INDICATE  
THE WEAKENING CONVECTION SHOULD LIMIT THE EXTENT OF THUNDER BUT  
WE SHOULD SEE AT LEAST ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN  
THE MORNING WITH MUCAPE VALUES BELOW 500 J/KG. NO SEVERE WEATHER  
IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE MORNING. TOTAL RAIN AMOUNTS WILL  
LARGELY DEPEND ON HOW MUCH OF THE DEEPER CONVECTION CAN HOLD  
TOGETHER BUT IN GENERAL WE SHOULD SEE AROUND A QUARTER OF AN  
INCH OF RAIN WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS IN TALLER CELLS.  
 
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, THERE IS A LOW THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WITH  
THE MAIN THREAT LOCATED IN THE PEE DEE AND CATAWBA. AS THE COLD  
FRONT APPROACHES THE FORECAST AREA FROM THE NORTH, WE MAY SEE  
ADDITIONAL CONVECTION DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE BOUNDARY. THERE IS A  
QUESTION OF WHETHER WE WILL SEE THE AIR MASS DESTABILIZE AS MODELS  
SHOW, BUT IF SO THE 35 TO 45 KTS OF DEEP LAYER (0-6KM) SHEAR SHOULD  
ALLOW FOR ORGANIZED THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. MEAN SBCAPE VALUES  
FROM THE HREF AND REFS ARE GENERALLY AROUND 1000 J/KG IN THE PEE DEE  
AND CATAWBA. LOW LEVEL SRH (0-1KM) VALUES ALSO APPROACH 100 M2/S2  
WITH STP AT 0.8 TO 1.0 IN THESE AREAS. ULTIMATELY THE THREAT OF  
SEVERE WEATHER WILL LARGELY DEPEND ON HOW QUICKLY/IF WE BREAK  
OUT OF THE CLOUD COVER FOLLOWING SHOWERS IN THE MORNING. IF  
DESTABILIZATION OCCURS THERE WILL BE POTENTIAL FOR ORGANIZED  
THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAZARDS OF HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. WE ALSO  
CANNOT RULE OUT A TORNADO THREAT.  
 
KEY MESSAGE 2: CONFIDENCE INCREASING IN MODERATE RAINFALL FOR  
PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY.  
 
ENSEMBLES CONTINUE TO FAVOR BROAD TROUGHING OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF  
THE US FROM LATE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND. NAEFS IVT PERCENTILES  
HAVE INCREASED TO 99.5 OF CLIMATOLOGY, WITH HIGHEST VALUES IN THE  
SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA. THIS INDICATES THE POTENTIAL  
FOR A PERIOD OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL FROM LATE FRIDAY THROUGH  
SATURDAY. MODELS ARE STARTING TO COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT WITH THE  
TIMING OF THE RAINFALL AND TRACK OF THE LOW ACROSS THE  
SOUTHEAST. THAT HAS LED TO A JUMP IN PROBABILITIES FOR MODERATE  
RAINFALL. THE 25TH PERCENTILE FROM THE NBM IS NOW UP TO 0.25 TO  
0.5 INCHES FOR AREAS SOUTH OF I-20 WITH MEANS CLOSER TO 1 TO  
1.5 INCHES AREA WIDE (FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY TOTALS).  
 

 
   
AVIATION /18Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/
 
 
GENERALLY VFR CONDITIONS INTO TONIGHT. ANOTHER ROUND OF  
RESTRICTIONS POSSIBLE EARLY WEDNESDAY.  
 
THE LAST OF THE RAIN SHOWERS, BUT SOME LINGERING IFR CEILINGS  
ARE MOVING OVER THE TERMINALS AT THE START OF THE TAF PERIOD.  
EXPECT BROKEN CEILINGS, BUT GENERALLY VFR THE REST OF THE  
AFTERNOON WITH SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS BETWEEN 5-10 KTS.  
OVERNIGHT, WINDS BECOME LIGHT AND VARIABLE AS VFR CIGS CONTINUE.  
ANOTHER SYSTEM APPROACHES THE AREA LATE TONIGHT, WITH  
RESTRICTIONS ANTICIPATED TO MOVE IN DURING THE 08Z-10Z  
TIMEFRAME. SHOWER ACTIVITY IS ALSO EXPECTED TO MOVE IN DURING  
THIS TIME, SO HAVE ADDED A TEMPO GROUP TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS.  
ALTHOUGH UNLIKELY, THERE COULD BE AN EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORM OR  
TWO WITH THIS ACTIVITY LIKE WE SAW TODAY. AFTER THE SHOWERS MOVE  
OUT, WINDS ARE FORECAST TO PICK UP OUT OF THE SOUTHWEST,  
GUSTING TO 15-20 KTS AT TIMES.  
 
EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...PERIODS OF RESTRICTIONS ARE  
POSSIBLE LATE THIS WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND WITH MORE RAIN CHANCES.  
 

 
   
CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
SC...NONE.  
GA...NONE.  
 

 
 

 
 
DISCUSSION...CJR  
AVIATION...29  
 
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.

The Nexlab SC Page
The Nexlab GA Page Main Text Page