Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Issued by NWS Pittsburgh, PA
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832 FXUS61 KPBZ 131129 AFDPBZ Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA 629 AM EST Thu Nov 13 2025 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure will promote dry weather and more seasonable temperatures through Friday. Rain returns this weekend and may linger into early next week, eventually transitioning to light snow. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... KEY MESSAGES: - Dry with more seasonable temperatures - Gusty winds to continue today, diminishing overnight --------------------------------------------------------------- Quiet weather continues this morning as skies continue to slowly clear from the west. Surface high pressure will begin to build over the Mississippi and Tennessee valleys today under rising heights. This will dry weather in the forecast with moderating temperatures. The area should remain mostly sunny today, but moist northwest flow off the lakes will likely keep stratocu along the I-80 corridor. Gradient winds remain gusty today, though not as strong as Wednesday. Gusts should peak around 30 mph this afternoon across the low lands with isolated gusts to 40 mph possible in the higher terrain. Relaxing pressure gradient as high pressure builds east will allow winds to slowly diminish overnight as temperatures fall into the upper 20s and lower 30s under mostly clear skies. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... KEY MESSAGES: - Dry weather and moderating temperature continue ---------------------------------------------------------------- Surface high pressure should extend up the spine of the Appalachians by Friday under continued rising heights aloft. Surface winds will become more southerly during the day as 850mb flow backs westerly and strong warm advection ensues. This will keep the dry and warming trend going with less breezy conditions than previous days. Daytime highs will reach seasonable levels under partly sunny skies. Friday night, continued warm advection and increasing clouds from the southwest ahead of the next system will keep warmer conditions for the south and west half of the region. Locations across east central OH and northern WV will bottom out in the upper 30s to lower 40s, with locations north of Pittsburgh drop into the 20s. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... - Precipitation chances (mainly rain) return this weekend - Above-normal warmth with some modest severe weather potential Saturday afternoon/evening - Showery weather with near to below-normal temperature Sunday into early next week ------------------------------------------------------------------- 500mb heights are likely to peak on Saturday (along with temperature) as a ridge axis crosses. This will be accompanied by a warm frontal passage during the day, with follow-up cold FROPA expected by 12Z Sunday. Also at this time, a negatively- tilted mid-level trough will dig across the Great Lakes and into the Upper Ohio Valley. There will likely be a moisture surge between the fronts, with precipitable water values approaching an inch Saturday afternoon and night. The approaching trough will help to amp up deep-layer shear, with 45-55 knots 0-6km values possible. All of this leads to first raindrops by Saturday morning, with peak precipitation potential Saturday night. Long-range machine learning guidance does suggest at least some low potential for severe weather Saturday, with wind gusts being the most likely threat. Similar to recent systems, it does appear that CAPE could be the limiting factor, with ensembles highlighting 100 J/kg or less of available buoyancy. Timing could play into this as well, as the cold front could wait until after sunset to cross. Shear/wind fields would support some severe potential however, and a severe threat could materialize if CAPE manages to overperform expectations. This bears monitoring, and the severe potential should become a bit more clear once the event enters the realm of CAMs. Gusty winds seem likely independent of storms as well. In any event, the speed of the system will likely keep rain amounts somewhat suppressed and below the level of concern. After peaking into upper 50s/lower 60s Saturday, temperatures fall back to climatologic levels (upper 40s/lower 50s) Sunday behind the front, and a secondary shortwave could bring subfreezing temperatures back for Sunday night into early Monday. At least scattered lake-enhance, northwest-flow showers are possible Sunday into Monday. At least some of this could be in the form of snow, with ensembles suggesting 850mb temperatures dropping into the -5C to -7C range. The forecast remains murkier thereafter, as the ensembles disagree on how strong northeast CONUS troughing becomes, and how quickly to move it east in favor of increasing Plains/Mississippi Valley ridging. For now, slow temperature moderation back to climatology and low, but mentionable, precipitation chances appear to be the best course for Tuesday and Wednesday. && .AVIATION /12Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... VFR is expected to prevail through the TAF period at all ports. The only possible hiccup could be low-end fog chances at FKL/DUJ early Friday morning. Mostly clear skies outside of the I-80 corridor are observed across the region at this time. VFR stratocu will likely linger at FKL/DUJ through the day with daytime mixing. Winds are expected to pick up once again by late morning and last through the afternoon hours with daytime mixing. Most ports can gust between 20-25 kts this afternoon. Outlook... Friday will be largely VFR across the region, except for FKL/DUJ where flow off the lakes could result in some MVFR stratocu. Ensemble guidance shows a 30-40% chance up through early afternoon. Another low pressure system brings rain chances and restriction potential to the region over the weekend. && .PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PA...None. OH...None. WV...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Rackley NEAR TERM...Rackley SHORT TERM...Rackley LONG TERM...Rackley/CL AVIATION...88/AK