Chapel Hill, North Carolina 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

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FXUS62 KRAH 220515
AFDRAH

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Raleigh NC
1215 AM EST Sun Dec 22 2024

.SYNOPSIS...
Arctic high pressure centered over southern Ontario will extend
southward into North Carolina as it drifts over the Northeast and
Mid Atlantic states through early Monday. The high will weaken and
push offshore late Monday, allowing for gradually warming
temperatures through mid week.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
As of 903 PM Saturday...

Strong (1036+ mb) surface high pressure was located over Ontario
this evening. The high pressure extended south and east throughout
much of the eastern U.S. CAA continued with 5-12 mph NNW surface
winds at mid-evening. Dew points were in the teens north and west to
lower 20s SE. Winds are expected to drop off to less than 6 mph
overnight (light). However, this will still produce enough mixing
for only fair to good radiational cooling later tonight. It is
expected to remain mostly clear as a few high clouds should continue
to skirt the region under the upper trough. Lows generally in the
lower to mid 20s.

&&

.SHORT TERM /SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT/...
As of 259 PM Saturday...

A chilly sfc high will drift east over the mid-Atlantic Sunday
promoting chilly nnely sfc flow over central NC. Highs on Sunday
will struggle to reach the upper 30s/lower 40s. Any stratocu should
largely remain offshore.  As the center of the high remains near
Sunday night, and winds go calm, excellent radiational cooling
conditions should yield cold overnight lows in the mid to upper
teens.

&&

.LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
As of 259 PM Saturday...

As of Monday morning, high pressure is forecast to be sitting over
New York with a ridge extending southwest into the Carolinas. A weak
shortwave in the upper level flow should force a weak surface low to
develop off the Florida coast Monday evening. The low should reach
its closest point to central North Carolina Tuesday afternoon off
the coast of Wilmington and move northeast offshore after that.
There is a bit of uncertainty as to how far northwest the
precipitation will extend, and at this point, have kept a dry
forecast Monday night but introduced a slight chance of pops across
southeastern counties Tuesday. Cannot rule out the potential that
precipitation could start off very briefly as freezing rain, as
soundings show a thick layer of above freezing air above the
surface, but confidence is too low to include freezing rain in the
forecast at this time; the precipitation is primarily expected to
fall as rain. As the low moves off the coast Tuesday night, have
removed pops from that part of the forecast. Monday will be slightly
warmer than Sunday, with highs ranging from the upper 30s to the
upper 40s. Similarly, Monday night will be slightly warmer than
Sunday night, ranging from the lower 20s to the lower 30s. All
locations should rise into the 50s on Tuesday.

The next system will develop over the Plains on Christmas and move
east. However, there is quite a bit of uncertainty between all
models in how quickly east precipitation will make its way into
North Carolina, especially considering another high pressure system
will extend from the Northeast into the Carolinas, bringing
additional dry air. Primarily relying on ensembles, have gone with
slight chance pops across portions of the area from Wednesday
afternoon through Thursday night, considering the deterministic
models are dry through this period. It`s not until Friday that the
GEFS and EPS both start to show a more substantial area of rainfall
move in from the west, and have chance pops through the rest of the
forecast. Temperatures will be slightly below normal, with highs in
the upper 40s and 50s and lows mostly in the 30s.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
As of 1215 AM Sunday...

Confidence is high that VFR conditions will continue across central
NC terminals for the next 24 hours, as a dry and chilly air mass
extends over the region. Little more than a few high clouds are
expected. Surface winds will be from the NE or ENE under 8 kts.

Looking beyond 06z Mon, VFR conditions will hold through Mon. There
is a good chance of sub-VFR conditions with light rain Mon night
through Tue at RDU/FAY/RWI, with the greatest chances at FAY/RWI, as
weak low pressure tracks NE along the NC coast. VFR conditions
should then dominate from Tue night through Thu, although a short
period of sub-VFR cigs is possible Wed/Wed night as an upper level
disturbance crosses the region. -GIH

&&

.RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$

SYNOPSIS...Hartfield
NEAR TERM...Badgett/Luchetti
SHORT TERM...Luchetti
LONG TERM...Green
AVIATION...Hartfield