


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wilmington, NC
Issued by NWS Wilmington, NC
Versions:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
500 FXUS62 KILM 060238 AFDILM Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington NC 1038 PM EDT Thu Jun 5 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Low pressure will lift north of the area tonight. After a one day break in thunderstorm activity Friday, the weather will turn quite unsettled for the next several days as a series of upper level disturbances cross the area during hot and humid conditions. && .UPDATE... All flood products issued will end soon as storms weaken and end. Otherwise, forecast on track with low pressure moving slowly NE up through NC tonight. Some stronger storms this evening but mainly issues with flooding. Lingering showers will continue to diminish through midnight with winds shifting around to the west-northwest after midnight. Patchy fog or low clouds can be expected. Winds look lightest across northern tier counties and therefore expect possibly fog over stratus there. Better instability exists over SC this evening ahead and along trailing cold front but expect drier air to move in aloft slowly after midnight. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/... Weak low pressure is currently centered near Marlboro county, and will slowly move northeast across eastern NC tonight into tomorrow. Scattered storms will continue to develop and move east-northeast across the area through early this evening, as instability has increased from the south aided by sunshine. Marginal risk of flooding remains for this afternoon if any storm training occurs in this very moist environment. Precipitation will come to an end from west to east after sunset as dry air wraps around the low. Overnight, after the rain has exited the area, could see low stratus and fog develop through morning, especially across SE NC. Don`t expect the fog to become dense as BL winds remain a bit elevated, but can`t rule out patches of thicker fog Friday morning. Low temps tonight around 67-70F. Weather will be quiet on Friday with partly cloudy skies and highs near 90F. There is a chance an isolated storm or two could develop along the sea breeze Friday afternoon, but overall dry air aloft as low level subsidence develops around the exiting low. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... Moisture return will be underway at the start of the period. Some warmer air also starts to advect in from the SW. This warming paired with a fair amount of June sunshine for most of the day will allow for a hot afternoon with highs in the low 90s away from the beaches. And with dewpoints warming into the 70s we`ll be looking at heat indices topping out around 100 degrees. Lastly the steep low level lapse rates that develop in the afternoon will yield some healthy instability and our severe potential may hinge on how strong the subsidence drying above 700mb grows. Models like the WRF have massive drying and little to no convective signal despite having the strongest instability forecast. Prefer to maintain mid range chc POPs as such a dry solution seems suspect and is not present in other guidance. The best mid level forcing now appears to pass north of the area. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Sunday now looking like one of the busier days of the forecast. Saturday`s moisture problem appears gone for a better coverage of thunderstorms and shear/instability parameters still point to the possibility of severe weather mainly in the form of wet downbursts. We also may see a few more mid level disturbances, some of which may be convective in origin. The remainder of the forecast period remains quite unsettled, perhaps even to the extent of Sunday. Increasingly deep trough north the Great Lakes will enhance SWrly flow locally and a few sheared shortwaves will traverse the area all in the presence of deep moisture. The severe trend may trend downward even if only slightly as there may be a small downtick in high temperatures and more widespread cloud cover. && .AVIATION /03Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Low pressure just west of the inland terminals will continue to track slowly off to the northeast through tonight. Best instability exists over SC along and ahead of the trailing cold front will continue to produce some heavier SHWRS and iso TSTMs up until 02-04Z, mainly from FLO to CRE. Elsewhere intermittent light rain will affect the terminals. Low clouds and fog should develop and produce MVFR to IFR vsbys and ceilings, but may fluctuate at times through 13z. Moisture pofiles and soundings show drier air moving in aloft behind trailing cold front, but shallow moisture holding on through daybreak. Expect VFR conditions across the area by 14-15Z with low clouds and fog lifting and some lingering strato-cu through afternoon around 5k ft. Winds will veer to NW and then back to W-SW by Fri evening, the end of the TAF period. Extended Outlook...Brief restrictions possible during afternoon into early evening thunderstorms Saturday through Monday, along with chance of overnight/morning fog and stratus Saturday night and Sunday night. && .MARINE... Through Friday...Weak low pressure inland will slowly move northeast across eastern NC tonight into tomorrow. Scattered storms may impact local coastal waters through this evening as they move offshore. Southwest winds 15-20 kts tonight will briefly turn westerly around 15 kts early Friday as the low moves to the north before sea breeze influence aids in backing the winds back to southwesterly Friday afternoon. Seas 4-5 ft tonight will lower to 3 ft by late Friday afternoon as the southerly swell slowly weakens. Friday night through Tuesday... Southwesterly flow, our most common warm season wind, will be in place for the entire period. The coast will be between stalled surface troughs and late in the period a cold front to the west, and a slightly expanding area of high pressure in the Atlantic. Spectral wave plots keep dominant periods in the wind wave category as most of the swell energy appears to remain offshore. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...None. SC...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...ILM UPDATE...RGZ NEAR TERM...VAO SHORT TERM...MBB LONG TERM...MBB AVIATION...RGZ MARINE...ILM