Severe Storm Outlook Narrative (AC)
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
979 ACUS02 KWNS 141712 SWODY2 SPC AC 141710 Day 2 Convective Outlook NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 1110 AM CST Fri Nov 14 2025 Valid 151200Z - 161200Z ...THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS PARTS OF EASTERN OHIO...WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA... ...SUMMARY... Showers and a few thunderstorms may be accompanied by strong wind gusts across parts of the upper Ohio Valley late Saturday afternoon through Saturday evening. ...Discussion... Although smaller-scale developments remain uncertain, latest model output offers little change to prior runs concerning the large-scale pattern evolution Saturday through Saturday night. It still appears that a more progressive flow emanating from the northern mid-latitude Pacific, including a prominent cyclone on its leading edge, will begin to impinge on a blocked regime which has evolved across parts of eastern North America into the Atlantic. The cyclone is likely to undergo considerable deformation and weaken, but an emerging mid-level perturbation is forecast to dig across the upper through lower Great Lakes region, accompanied by secondary surface cyclogenesis. Upstream, the westerlies may undergo notable amplification, including building ridging across and east of the Canadian and northern U.S. Rockies, as well as across parts of the central into eastern northern mid-latitude Pacific. In between the ridge axes, models indicate that splitting troughing will progress across the eastern mid-latitude Pacific. With the approach of the digging southern portion of this trough, an initially cut-off low offshore of the southern California/northern Baja coast is forecast to accelerate into the Southwest late Saturday through Saturday night. ...Upper Ohio Valley... Within the warm sector of the developing surface low, modest low-level moisture return is forecast. Both NAM and Rapid Refresh forecast soundings indicate that this will contribute to the development of thermodynamic profiles characterized by at least weak conditional and convective instability in the lowest 5-6 km AGL, becoming focused ahead of a southward advancing cold front, across parts of the mid into upper Ohio Valley/Allegheny Plateau vicinity by late Saturday afternoon. Where the weak boundary-layer destabilization occurs, it appears that a warm layer aloft may tend to suppress thunderstorm development, and mid/upper forcing for ascent to overcome the inhibition remains unclear due to model spread. However, there does appear a general consensus for a pocket of modest mid-level cooling across eastern Ohio into the western slopes of the Allegheny Mountains late Saturday afternoon into Saturday evening. This may be accompanied by the development of a relatively compact band of stronger showers and thunderstorms, in the presence of strengthening lower/mid-tropospheric wind fields (including 40-50 kt mean west-northwesterly flow). Perhaps aided by latent cooling in downdrafts associated with melting small hail, this activity may contribute to the downward transfer of stronger winds to the surface, before weakening will crossing the Allegheny Mountains Saturday evening. ...Southwest... It still appears that a pocket of colder mid-level air, characterized by 500 mb temperatures as cold as near or just below -20 C, will finally spread inland late Saturday through Saturday night. These temperatures are generally on the warmer side compared to cool season environments typically conducive to low-topped convective capable of producing lightning across and inland of Pacific coastal areas. However, it is possible that low-level moisture return emanating from the lower latitude eastern Pacific and Gulf of California may compensate and contribute to thermodynamic profiles at least minimally sufficient for thunderstorms. Even if this occurs, particularly near southern California coastal areas, generally saturated profiles with very weak CAPE, and low-level hodographs becoming modest to weak, seem likely to minimize the risk for severe weather. Otherwise, it might not be out of the question that preceding elevated moisture return contributes to layers of weak conditional instability minimally supportive of convection capable of producing lightning across parts of the Mojave Desert/lower Colorado Valley vicinity. ..Kerr.. 11/14/2025 $$