@                      FXUS61 KRLX 190703
AFDRLX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Charleston WV
303 AM EDT Tue May 19 2026

.WHAT HAS CHANGED...
Little to no changes were made with the Day 1/Day 2 severe
weather outlooks in our forecast area, still carrying Marginal
Risks for both days amid the passing cold front.

&&

.KEY MESSAGES...
1) Another unseasonably hot day on tap today before relief
arrives for midweek and beyond. Record high temperatures could
once again be challenged today.

2) A cold frontal passage late tonight into Wednesday will serve
up unsettled weather through the Memorial Day weekend. Strong to
potentially severe thunderstorms track ahead of the boundary
late tonight and once again Wednesday afternoon.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
KEY MESSAGE 1...

High pressure centered off the Carolina coast will continue to
encourage strong onshore flow into the forecast area today and
once again serve up unseasonably hot temperatures this
afternoon. Several of our climate sites observed record breaking
high temperatures as a result of this pattern set up yesterday,
and could once again be challenged today as daytime highs soar
into the low 90s across the lowlands and 80s along the higher
terrain. A cold front, spoken about in greater detail below in
Key Message 2, will bring a relief from this early season warm
spell, returning temperatures closer to their seasonable norm
for the end of the work week and into the weekend.

KEY MESSAGE 2...

An active weather pattern looms with the arrival of a cold front
late tonight. Until then, one more mostly dry day is on tap for
the area, with the exception of some diurnally driven showers
and storms that attempt to sprout within afternoon cumulus
fields around the Ohio River Valley.

The front is then progged to pivot in from the west starting
late tonight into Wednesday morning. Latest hi-res simulated
reflectivity depicts a line of showers and storms aligned along
the boundary forming during peak heating hours this afternoon
through Ohio and Indiana and promoting strong to severe
thunderstorms through the course of the afternoon and evening.
As this line approaches the western flank of our forecast area
after sunset, this sharp line of convection will begin to shear
apart and fade due to the loss of daytime heating. SPC continues
to paint a Marginal Risk for severe weather through our
southeast Ohio Counties before trailing off into a general risk
for the rest of the area overnight tonight. Showers and embedded
thunderstorms prevail overnight into Wednesday morning as the
front makes slow eastward progress.

For Wednesday, the front remains sluggish in its journey
overhead, and will once again serve up afternoon thunderstorm
potential for areas out ahead of the boundary. With abundant
cloud coverage now in place, instability will be harder to come
by for the bulk of our forecast area, and foresee most of the
severe potential then shifting east of the Appalachian
mountains. 

Despite a complete frontal passage progged for Wednesday night 
into Thursday, the boundary will remain in close proximity to 
the area as a result of the strong offshore surface high 
preventing forward progress eastward. In response, the front is 
likely to stall just to our south and eventually retreat 
northward by Saturday. This will maintain daily chances for 
showers and thunderstorms in the Central Appalachians through 
the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Dry antecedent ground 
conditions should help keep flooding concerns at bay, but low 
lying areas and known trouble spots could begin to see 
localized issues by the end of the weekend depending upon radar 
trends and where the heaviest bands of rain sets up amid the 
stagnant frontal boundary.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
VFR conditions remain in place this morning amid a blanket of
upper level clouds. While this trend is expected to hold through
the day, am a bit skeptical of localized fog not developing
around CRW Tuesday morning due to late night convection that
passed over the airfield and produced light rain. This could
certainly prime the area for fog as a result, and therefore a
tempo group was introduced from 09z to 12z for this potential.

Another mostly quiet, albeit unseasonably hot, weather day is
expected on Tuesday before a cold front approaches late in the
evening. Some isolated storms could form in the Ohio River
Valley within afternoon cumulus development, but widespread
restrictions will arrive just after the conclusion of the valid
TAF period with showers and storms riding in along the frontal
boundary for Wednesday morning.

Calm or very light southerly flow is expected tonight, with 
southwest flow during the day on Tuesday. Breezes of 15-25 kts 
are expected at times from late morning onward, especially 
central/north.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND ALTERNATE SCENARIOS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY...
     
FORECAST CONFIDENCE: High.

ALTERNATE SCENARIOS: Local restrictions due to fog at CRW may
vary this morning.

EXPERIMENTAL TABLE OF FLIGHT CATEGORY OBJECTIVELY SHOWS CONSISTENCY
OF WFO FORECAST TO AVAILABLE MODEL INFORMATION:
H = HIGH:   TAF CONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL.
M = MEDIUM: TAF HAS VARYING LEVEL OF CONSISTENCY WITH MODELS.
L = LOW:    TAF INCONSISTENT WITH ALL MODELS OR ALL BUT ONE MODEL.

DATE                              TUE 05/19/26
UTC 1HRLY       06   07   08   09   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17
EDT 1HRLY       02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10   11   12   13
CRW CONSISTENCY  H    H    M    M    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H
HTS CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H
BKW CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H
EKN CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H
PKB CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H
CKB CONSISTENCY  H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H    H

AFTER 06Z WEDNESDAY...
Patchy IFR is possible in convection Wednesday through the weekend.

&&

.Climate...
Several record high temperatures were set or tied on Monday.

        Observed / Prior Records 
----------------------------------
CRW |  93 (Record) / 92 (1962)   | 
HTS |  92 (Tied)   / 92 (1906)   | 
BKW |  88 (Record) / 87 (1962)   | 
EKN |  90 (Record) / 89 (1911)   | 
----------------------------------

Record high temperatures could also be challenged on Tuesday.

  Forecast / Record High Temperatures
---------------------
       Tue, 5/19    |
---------------------
CRW | 91 / 95 (1931) |
HTS | 90 / 92 (1996) |
CKB | 89 / 90 (1959) |
PKB | 90 / 90 (1964) |
BKW | 85 / 89 (1996) |
EKN | 87 / 93 (1996) |
---------------------

&&

.RLX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WV...None.
OH...None.
KY...None.
VA...None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...05
AVIATION...05
CLIMATE...05/GW
