Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wilmington, NC
Issued by NWS Wilmington, NC
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310 FXUS62 KILM 130605 AFDILM Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington NC 105 AM EST Thu Nov 13 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Expect unseasonably warm temperatures over the weekend. A couple of fronts will affect the area early to middle of next week with only a limited chance of any rain, mainly on Tuesday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... High pressure will slowly build in from the west today following the passage of a weak, dry cold front. Not much of a cold push behind the front with the 5h trough axis already well off to the east and the surface air mass coming directly from Canada. West to northwest winds will add a bit of a downslope component to help more than offset the slight cooling and highs will end up a few degrees warmer than yesterday. Most areas should be right around normal. Forecast soundings show the air mass remains very dry with humidity dropping under 5% at the top of the boundary layer. Expect another day with afternoon RH dropping under 30% for much of the area with potential for 20% across inland SC. Forecast soundings also show 25-30kt of wind at the top of the mixed layer through the morning before dropping closer to 20kt for the afternoon. This will once again create breezy conditions with gusts 20-30 mph developing by mid- morning and lasting into the afternoon. Gusts will decrease in strength and frequency past midday as the winds aloft start to weaken. Deep dry air keeps skies clear tonight, but there should be enough wind to prevent strong radiational cooling. Typical cold spots and sheltered areas will run cooler than surrounding areas with most areas in the upper 30s to lower 40s. The expected boundary layer winds overnight could very well keep lows a few degrees warmer than currently forecast. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... High pressure initially over the area on Friday morning will drift southward throughout the day and south of the region on Friday night. Light winds and weak cold to neutral advection will keep temperatures near normal for the afternoon. Highs in the mid and upper 60s. A little cooler over eastern NC where cold air advection will be strongest. Winds increase on Saturday with high pressure centered over the Florida panhandle and an area of low pressure building into the northeastern US. Boundary layer mixing won`t be extraordinarily deep, but strong winds aloft will allow surface gusts to peak around 20-25 mph across the region. Southwesterly flow will bring warm advection on should send temperatures climbing into the low to mid 70s. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Breezy conditions continue on Sunday ahead of a cold front. Warm advection will push temperatures into the upper 70s. An upper level shortwave pushing southeastward from the Great Lakes through the northeastern metro will stay north of the area and progress eastward once offshore. With the cold front lacking upper level support, rain chances should be minimized. Weak cold air advection will bring temperatures into the upper 60s to near 70 on Monday. Zonal flow will allow temperatures to rebound into the lower 70s on Tuesday. A lifting shortwave will drag a weak area of low pressure eastward through the eastern US on Tuesday. Most ensembles hold on to dry weather due to unfavorable moisture advection, but there could be a small chance of a shower in some weak onshore flow. Dry weather is expected to return on Wednesday with help from a growing ridge to our south late next week. && .AVIATION /06Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... VFR through the TAF period. Dry cold front moving offshore will lead to northwest winds at all sites today. Once the weak inversion mixes out this morning enhanced winds between 3k ft and 5k ft will mix to the surface in the form of gusts around 25kt. Strongest gusts will occur before midday with winds aloft weakening by afternoon. Winds become a little more northerly tonight with speeds decreasing as the pressure gradient relaxes. Extended Outlook... VFR. && .MARINE... Through Tonight... Small Craft Advisory has been allowed to expire as conditions have been gradually improving across the waters. Offshore flow in the wake of a cold front will push highest seas beyond 20 nm and the lack of cold advection coupled with weakening gradient is resulting in wind speeds gradually decreasing. West-northwest flow will be under 15 kt by daybreak and likely under 10 kt by midday. Winds will veer to a more northerly direction tonight, with only a slight increase in speeds closer to daybreak. Seas currently 2-4 ft will be 2 ft or less by this afternoon with little change through the rest of today and tonight. A west-southwest wind wave will be dominant with a weak southeast to east swell still present. Friday through Monday... Winds increase ahead of a cold front late Saturday. Small Craft Advisory conditions are possible as high pressure sinks southward and low pressure builds over the northeastern US. Warm advection will make mixing marginally inefficient and gusts should peak around 25-30 knots on Sunday. The cold front moves through the region on Sunday night and will lack the cold air and upper support to maintain any chance of a prolonged SCA. Conditions should gradually improve around sunrise as winds continue to weaken throughout the day. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...None. SC...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...ILM NEAR TERM...III SHORT TERM...21 LONG TERM...21 AVIATION...III MARINE...III/21