336  
FXUS61 KRNK 101840  
AFDRNK  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA  
240 PM EDT FRI MAY 10 2024  
   
SYNOPSIS
 
 
LOW PRESSURE OVER THE MID ATLANTIC WILL MOVE OFFSHORE TONIGHT,  
THEN ANOTHER LOW TRACKING THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES WILL PUSH A  
COLD FRONT THROUGH THE REGION SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. THESE  
SYSTEMS WILL TRIGGER SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED  
THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING, AND AGAIN SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND  
EVENING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING DRY WEATHER FOR SUNDAY AND  
MONDAY, THEN WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TUESDAY AND  
WEDNESDAY.  
 

 
   
NEAR TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY/
 
 
AS OF 215 PM EDT FRIDAY...  
 
KEY MESSAGES:  
 
- SCATTERED SHOWERS, ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING  
 
- CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN SATURDAY  
 
SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WAS OVER EASTERN VIRGINIA THIS AFTERNOON.  
ENOUGH INSTABILITY FROM THE PIEDMONT INTO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY  
FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. HI-RES MODELS  
AS WELL AS 3KM NAM AND GFS WERE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH SYNOPTIC  
SCALE FEATURES TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. THE GUIDANCE RAPIDLY  
DIMINISHES THE COVERAGE OF PRECIPITATION AFTER 00Z/8PM AND A  
MAJORITY OF THE CLOUD COVER BY MIDNIGHT. THE EXCEPTION WILL BE  
ON THE FAR WESTERN SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS. LOW  
CLOUDS WILL REMAIN UNTIL THE UPSLOPE WINDS DIE OFF LATE TONIGHT.  
 
WATER VAPOR IMAGES SHOWED A WELL-DEFINED SHORT WAVE IN NORTHERN  
MINNESOTA. THIS FEATURE MOVES ACROSS THE NORTHEAST UNITED STATES  
TONIGHT AND SATURDAY, PUSHING A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE MID  
ATLANTIC REGION SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE COLD AIR  
ALOFT WITH THIS SHORT WAVE IS FORECAST TO CROSS CENTRAL AND  
NORTHERN VIRGINIA, BUT CANNOT RULE OUT A FEW REPORTS OF GRAUPEL  
SATURDAY, ESPECIALLY NORTH OF I-64 WEST OF THE LEXINGTON.  
 
THE WIND TURNS TO THE NORTH TONIGHT, THEN BACKS TO THE WEST-  
SOUTHWEST SATURDAY MORNING IN RESPONSE TO THE APPROACHING UPPER  
WAVE. LOWS TONIGHT WILL BE MAINLY IN THE 40S, BUT THE MT.  
ROGERS, THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS OF WATAUGA COUNTY AND THE TYPICAL  
FAVORED LOCATIONS LIKE BURKES GARDEN AND MOUNTAIN LAKE WILL DIP  
INTO THE UPPER 30S. WILL USE NBM GUIDANCE AS A STARTING POINT  
FOR HIGHS ON SATURDAY BUT WILL TREND WARMER SINCE MAXIMUM  
TEMPERATURES SIMILAR TO FRIDAY ARE EXPECTED.  
 

 
   
SHORT TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/
 
 
AS OF 1245 PM EDT FRIDAY...  
 
KEY MESSAGES:  
 
1) CONFIDENCE IS HIGH FOR DRIER WEATHER ON SUNDAY.  
 
2) WARMER AIR SHOULD RETURN BY MONDAY WITH INCREASING CHANCES OF  
RAIN TOWARDS MONDAY NIGHT.  
 
WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL APPROACH THE MID ATLANTIC TO HALT THE  
UPSLOPE MOUNTAIN RAIN SHOWERS DURING SATURDAY NIGHT. THE WIND MAY  
STILL BECOME BREEZY ON SUNDAY AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH HEADS  
OFFSHORE. WITH HIGH PRESSURE PASSING ACROSS THE APPALACHIAN  
MOUNTAINS ON SUNDAY NIGHT, LOW TEMPERATURES BY MONDAY MORNING SHOULD  
FALL INTO THE UPPER 30S TO THE UPPER 40S. THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN  
WILL FLATTEN AND BECOME ZONAL ON MONDAY TO END THE SOMEWHAT COOLER  
STRETCH OF WEATHER. A SOUTHWEST FLOW AT THE SURFACE SHOULD PROVIDE  
WARMER AND MOISTER AIR FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO FOR MONDAY AFTERNOON.  
HOWEVER, A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL ENTER KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE BY  
MONDAY NIGHT, WHICH SHOULD YIELD INCREASING CHANCES OF SHOWERS AND  
THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE SOUTHERN BLUE RIDGE AND FAR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA.  
 

 
   
LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/
 
 
AS OF 1245 PM EDT FRIDAY...  
 
KEY MESSAGES:  
 
1) CONFIDENCE IS HIGH FOR UNSETTLED WEATHER DURING TUESDAY AND  
WEDNESDAY WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.  
 
2) DRIER AIR MAY BRIEFLY RETURN BY EARLY THURSDAY, BUT MORE SHOWERS  
AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TO END THE WORK WEEK.  
 
UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL RETURN FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS A LOW  
PRESSURE SYSTEM CROSSES THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS. WIDESPREAD  
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE ANTICIPATED FOR TUESDAY AND WILL  
LIKELY CARRY OVER THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL  
EXIT THE MID ATLANTIC BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT, WHILE WEAK HIGH PRESSURE  
COULD BRIEFLY PROVIDE DRIER CONDITIONS FOR THURSDAY MORNING. ANOTHER  
LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM SHOULD MOVE EASTWARD FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY  
THURSDAY AFTERNOON. SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES MAY RESUME  
TOWARDS THURSDAY EVENING AND BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD AGAIN BY FRIDAY  
AS THIS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM REACHES THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /18Z FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/
 
 
AS OF 230 PM EDT FRIDAY...  
 
SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WAS OVER EASTERN VIRGINIA THIS AFTERNOON.  
ENOUGH INSTABILITY FROM THE PIEDMONT INTO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY  
FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. THE  
THUNDERSTORMS AND MORE INTENSE SHOWERS MAY HAVE MVFR CEILINGS  
AND VISIBILITIES.  
 
HI-RES MODELS AS WELL AS 3KM NAM AND GFS WERE IN GOOD AGREEMENT  
WITH SYNOPTIC SCALE FEATURES TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. THE GUIDANCE  
RAPIDLY DIMINISHES THE COVERAGE OF PRECIPITATION AFTER 00Z/8PM  
AND A MAJORITY OF THE CLOUD COVER BY MIDNIGHT. THE EXCEPTION  
WILL BE ON THE FAR WESTERN SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS.  
LOW CLOUDS WILL REMAIN UNTIL THE UPSLOPE WINDS DIE OFF LATE  
TONIGHT. WIND GUSTS WILL BE 15 TO 30 KNOTS THROUGH 00Z/8PM.  
 
WATER VAPOR IMAGES SHOWED A WELL-DEFINED SHORT WAVE IN NORTHERN  
MINNESOTA. THIS FEATURE MOVES ACROSS THE NORTHEAST UNITED STATES  
TONIGHT AND SATURDAY, PUSHING A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE MID  
ATLANTIC REGION SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE COLD AIR  
ALOFT WITH THIS SHORT WAVE IS FORECAST TO CROSS CENTRAL AND  
NORTHERN VIRGINIA, BUT CANNOT RULE OUT A FEW REPORTS OF GRAUPEL  
SATURDAY, ESPECIALLY NORTH OF I-64 WEST OF THE LEXINGTON.  
 
THE WIND TURNS TO THE NORTH TONIGHT, THEN BACKS TO THE WEST-  
SOUTHWEST SATURDAY MORNING IN RESPONSE TO THE APPROACHING UPPER  
WAVE.WIND SPEEDS DIMINISH ENOUGH TO SUPPORT PATCHY MVFR FOG LATE  
TONIGHT IN MOUNTAIN VALLEYS AND IN LOCATIONS WHERE THERE WAS  
RAIN FRIDAY AFTERNOON. CONFIDENCE WAS TOO LOW ON THE OCCURRENCE  
OF FOG AT KLWB AND KBCB TO INCLUDE IN THE TAFS AT THIS TIME.  
 
AVERAGE CONFIDENCE ON CEILING, VISIBILITY, WIND.  
 
EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...  
 
SOME UPSLOPE MVFR CLOUDS WILL REMAIN AT KLWB AND KBLF UNTIL  
SUNDAY MORNING. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED SUNDAY AND MONDAY  
UNDER DRY, HIGH PRESSURE.  
 
PRECIPITATION AND SUB-VFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES RETURN TO  
THE REGION ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY DUE TO A LOW PRESSURE  
SYSTEM APPROACHING FROM THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES.  
 

 
   
RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
VA...NONE.  
NC...NONE.  
WV...NONE.  
 

 
 

 
 
SYNOPSIS...AMS  
NEAR TERM...AMS  
SHORT TERM...PW  
LONG TERM...PW  
AVIATION...BMG  
 
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