Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC
Issued by NWS Raleigh/Durham, NC
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807 FXUS62 KRAH 300020 AFDRAH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Raleigh NC 820 PM EST Sat Nov 29 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Cold high pressure will extend southwestward into VA and NC tonight and Sunday. A cold front will move across the region Sunday night, followed by another area of cold high pressure that will build briefly overhead Monday and offshore Monday night. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 233 PM Saturday... A strong 1035 mb sfc high centered over southeast VA will slide offshore through tonight promoting light esely return flow. Dew points will be slow to recover, as such expect dry and chilly conditions to persist through this evening. Aloft, a short-wave currently over Missouri/Kansas will eject east across the Ohio Valley through Sunday afternoon. Mid-level height falls/upper forcing with this feature will maximize well north of our area. Moisture initially with this system should be rather limited (in the overnight through sunrise period). However, can`t rule out some very light isentropic-driven rain over the southern/western Piedmont near 12Z Sunday morning. Forecast soundings across this area continue to depict a strong warm nose aloft, with generally near to above freezing sfc temperatures during the potential period of early morning precipitation. Median HREF wetbulb temperatures are in the upper 20s in this vicinity, but don`t think there will be enough moisture to 1) evaporatively cool to those values and 2) overcome low-level dry layers to reach the sfc. Overnight lows in the upper 20s to lower 30s is expected. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT/... As of 233 PM Saturday... A strong sfc low will eject through the Ohio Valley on Sunday sending a cold front across central NC later Sunday night. Ahead of the front, a plume of deeper Gulf moisture will advect into the Deep South/southeast. While the deepest moisture will remain over the Gulf states, and the strongest upper forcing will remain to our north, enough forcing will be present to induce a thin line of light rain across our area Sunday afternoon and evening. However, QPF amounts will be negligible, primarily trace to a few hundreds (highest amounts across the NC/VA border). Any rain should exit east of the area by ~06Z Monday. CAD will likely develop which should create a rather steep temperature gradient with generally mid to upper 40s highs across the northwest/northern Piedmont to near mid 60s in the southern Coastal Plain. Overnight lows will range from the upper 20s (NW) to around 40 (SE). Depending on the pace of the Sunday night cold front, there could be a brief period of dense across the Piedmont as drier air filters in aloft ahead of the front. Otherwise, the front should sweep low- level moisture out of our area by 12Z Sunday. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... As of 400 PM Saturday... Monday will feature a brief lull in precipitation chances as a ~1030 mb surface high builds down the Eastern Seaboard from Upstate NY and New England. Temperatures will only reach the mid-40s to lower-50s (7-12 degrees below normal) and dew points will be in the 20s. However, this surface high will quickly move east to the Canadian Maritimes on Monday night as a potent shortwave tracking from the Southern Plains to the Middle MS Valley spawns a surface low over the northern Gulf Coast along a stalled front. This low will deepen as it tracks NE through the eastern Carolinas on Tuesday and looks to provide a soaking rain to our region from Monday night into Tuesday, which will be welcome as most of central NC is in D1 (Moderate Drought) conditions. While the system will be fast moving, it will contain plenty of anomalous moisture (PW values around 200% of normal) and dynamics. There is still some uncertainty on the low track which will affect total amounts, as the 12z ECMWF and CMC trended slightly farther east and drier while the 12z GFS is still on the wet side of guidance. The official forecast totals have slightly decreased from yesterday to around an inch, but WPC still has much of central NC outside of the NW Piedmont in a marginal (level 1 of 4) risk for excessive rainfall on Tuesday. Given how dry it has been lately and the fact that much of our area will be on the cool/stable side of the low, the main threat would be nuisance and urban and poor drainage type flooding. Also watching potential for a brief period of freezing rain at the onset of precipitation over the NW Piedmont on Monday night. Based on latest GFS and NAM forecast model soundings, a strong and prominent warm layer aloft will preclude any chance of sleet or snow, and it will be difficult to even get any freezing rain with wet bulb temperatures near or just above freezing even at the onset. Looking at the overall synoptic pattern, the high pressure system will be centered to our NE by this point and the low according to most guidance will be taking an unfavorable slightly inland track over eastern NC. GFS and ECMWF ensemble members are similarly unimpressed and have trended warmer with none now showing any freezing rain at INT/GSO with the 12z runs. Monday night`s lows will be in the mid-30s to lower-40s, and with widespread cloud cover and WAA, temperatures will be near steady or even slowly rise. Tuesday`s highs will range from lower-40s in the far northern Piedmont to lower-to-mid-50s in the far SE. Rain chances will end from west to east in the late afternoon and early evening as a cold front sweeps through behind the departing low. Lows Tuesday night will be in the upper-20s to mid-30s with clearing skies. Dry weather will prevail on Wednesday and Thursday as chilly surface high pressure builds in from the west. A second chilly high will build down from the north on Friday before moving offshore. The next wave will move across the Southeast US in the southwest flow aloft sometime Friday/Saturday, potentially spawning a coastal low and bringing additional precipitation. Details such as timing and amounts are still uncertain at this time. Below-normal temperatures will likely continue from Wednesday through Friday, with confidence decreasing by Saturday. && .AVIATION /00Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 820 PM Saturday... 24 hour TAF period: Generally light and variable winds expected through Sun morn, becoming swly/wswly Sun aft. VFR conditions should prevail everywhere through about 12Z Sun. At KINT, KGSO and KRDU, MVFR cigs are expected to develop over the northwest Piedmont/Triad terminals (KINT/KGSO) around 12Z. KRDU should stay VFR, possibly dropping to MVFR if/when light rain occurs during the aft/eve. However, there is a chance some MVFR cigs could creep as far east as KRDU before noon. Spotty light rain is possible off and on through much of the day at KINT/KGSO, spreading ewd to KRDU Sun aft/eve ahead of the approaching cold front. There is also the potential for LLWS at KINT, KGSO and possibly KRDU. At KFAY and KRWI, VFR cigs are largely expected through the TAF period, with the chance for rain and some MVFR cigs around the end of the TAF period. At KRWI, winds at 2kft may stay just below LLWS criteria, with none currently expected at KFAY. Outlook: A cold front will move southeast across the area Sun eve/night, with a chance of rain and associated sub-VFR restrictions ahead of it. Dry, VFR conditions expected on Mon with the cold front stalled south of the area. A potent low pressure system will track newd from the nrn Gulf, across the Southeast US, and along the Carolina and mid-Atlantic coast Mon night through Tue, with widespread rain/showers and sub-VFR restrictions expected from early Mon night into Tue aft. && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...MWS NEAR TERM...Luchetti SHORT TERM...Luchetti LONG TERM...Danco AVIATION...10