Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Sterling, VA
Issued by NWS Sterling, VA
516 FXUS61 KLWX 081851 AFDLWX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC 151 PM EST Fri Nov 8 2024 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure builds into the region to start the weekend. A frontal system with a better moisture approaches from the Ohio River Valley Sunday, then cross the Mid-Atlantic Monday. Another cold front will likely cross the region Wednesday into Thursday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Dry airmass moving into the region as abundant sunshine prevails this afternoon. Gusty northwest winds gust around 20 mph, with up to 30mph in the mountains. Some gusts of 15 to 20 mph linger into the evening behind a second passing cold front. Above normal highs this afternoon reach the upper 60s to mid 70s. Red Flag Warnings are in effect for parts of the area. See Fire Weather section below for additional details on elevated fire threat today and Saturday. A slow, steady drop in temperatures this evening, with a sharper drop in sheltered valleys possible late overnight as winds go light. Overnight lows drop to the 40s, with near freezing along the Allegheny Front. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... Surface high over the Great Lakes quickly slides offshore Saturday into Sunday, as upper ridging also quickly traverses the region. Dry conditions continue Saturday in lighter wind flow, and still abundant sunshine. Highs near normal in the upper 50s to low 60s. Cooler air Saturday night drops lows to the 30s to low 40s. A compact shortwave trough/upper low ejects from the mid Mississippi River Valley to the Great Lakes on Sunday. A warm front lifts northeast ahead of this system`s surface low Sunday, followed by its cold front late Sunday night into Monday morning. Moisture looks to better sourced with this system as it is connected to a stream of tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Although the chance for rain will be higher than with recent systems, it still looks generally light in nature. Early projections are for a broad quarter to half inch of rain (with a couple more tenths than that along and west of the Alleghenies), though some areas will only get a couple tenths of an inch. Cloudy skies and rain keep highs in the upper 50s to low 60s again on Sunday. Light rain/showers continue into Sunday night as the front slowly crosses the area. Milder overnight lows in the 50s for most, with upper 40s in the highest elevations. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... By Monday morning, a shortwave trough and its associated surface low will be situated well to our north over far eastern Ontario/Quebec. A weak cold front will trail to its south and move through the area Monday morning. As this boundary progresses off to our south and east, conditions should gradually clear out through the day, with any morning clouds or showers giving way to sunny skies during the afternoon. Temperatures on Monday will remain above normal, with highs in the upper 60s to low 70s for most (50s mountains). An additional shortwave will track across the Northeast/Southern Canada Monday night into Tuesday morning, driving a reinforcing cold front southward through the area. This front will have little to no moisture to work with, but will lead to a noticeable decrease in temperatures. Conditions will remain dry on both Tuesday and Wednesday as high pressure builds to our north. Highs on Tuesday are forecast to reach into the low-mid 60s for most, with upper 50s to near 60 on Wednesday. A rather progressive flow regime across the CONUS will allow the next in a series of shortwave disturbances to approach the area by Wednesday night. While forecast uncertainty does start to increase, there appears to be at least a chance for some much needed rainfall with this system Wednesday night into the day Thursday. High temperatures on Thursday are forecast to reach into the 50s for most (40s mountains). && .AVIATION /19Z FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... VFR conditions are expected through Saturday night. Northwest winds gusting around 20 knots this afternoon. Winds lessen this evening, then turn north and pick up again for the first half of tonight, gusts of 20-25 knots possible. Winds diminish quickly Saturday afternoon, and turn northeast to east. A cold front approaches the area Sunday, causing winds to turn south. There will be a chance for showers Sunday afternoon into Sunday night. Some sub-VFR conditions are possible Sunday night. Some sub-VFR ceilings may linger into Monday morning, but improvement back to VFR is expected by afternoon. VFR conditions will continue through the day Tuesday. Winds are forecast to be out of the west on Monday, northwest Monday night into Tuesday, and then north Tuesday night. && .MARINE... Small Craft Advisories are in effect for all the waters through tonight. Northwest winds this afternoon are gusting around 15-20 knots, then expect a brief decrease in winds early this evening. Winds turn north and increase significantly tonight as a secondary cold front crosses the local waters. A few gusts to near gale force can`t be ruled out over the wider/open waters this evening. Winds gradually subside Saturday morning, dropping below SCA levels by Saturday afternoon as high pressure builds. A warm front moves from south to north across the waters Sunday, followed by a cold front late Sunday night into early Monday morning. Winds likely increase ahead of the front, which would prompt additional SCAs. Rain showers likely accompany this frontal system, as well. Winds are forecast to be out of the west on Monday, northwest Monday night into Tuesday, and then north Tuesday night. Low-end SCA conditions may be possible at times on both Monday into Tuesday. && .FIRE WEATHER... Northwest to north winds remain elevated tonight at around 15 to 20 mph, with higher gusts in the mountains. The breezy conditions and continued dry advection will lead to rather gradual and poor RH recovery the first half of the night for many areas. Locally elevated fire weather conditions could persist for a portion of tonight depending on the exact extent of mixing and drying into the evening hours. Winds remain elevated along and east of Interstate 95 through early Saturday afternoon. Confidence has increased on a very dry airmass moving into the area, likely dropping dew points to the 20s areawide, with teens likely along the Blue Ridge and highest mountains west of the Shenandaoh Valley. Especially along the Western Shore in Maryland, winds will be gusting around 15-20mph through around noon Saturday, before quickly diminishing in the mid to late afternoon. This brief window of elevated fire weather concern is being monitored for possible Elevated Fire Statement. Of note, very low RH around 10 percent is possible above 2000 feet due to abundant dry air a few thousand feet above the surface. Winds will likely be less further west over the higher terrain since the gradient will be weaker. Even as winds decrease late in the day, an elevated fire danger will exist until widespread wetting rains arrive Sunday. && .LWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DC...Red Flag Warning until 6 PM EST this evening for DCZ001. MD...Small Craft Advisory until 11 AM EST Saturday for MDZ008. Red Flag Warning until 6 PM EST this evening for MDZ003>006- 008-011-013-014-502>508. VA...Red Flag Warning until 6 PM EST this evening for VAZ028-030- 031-053-054-501-505-506-526. WV...Red Flag Warning until 6 PM EST this evening for WVZ050>053- 504. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 11 AM EST Saturday for ANZ530-531- 536-538-539. Small Craft Advisory until 2 PM EST Saturday for ANZ532-533- 537-540>542. Small Craft Advisory from 6 PM this evening to 2 PM EST Saturday for ANZ534-543. Small Craft Advisory until 5 AM EST Saturday for ANZ535. && $$ SYNOPSIS...KRR NEAR TERM...KRR SHORT TERM...KRR LONG TERM...KJP AVIATION...KJP/KRR MARINE...KJP/KRR FIRE WEATHER...KRR