639 FXUS62 KCAE 111027 AFDCAEArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Columbia SC 627 AM EDT Sat Oct 11 2025
.SYNOPSIS... A coastal low will form tonight and pass off the coast this weekend, resulting in greater rain chances along with cooler and breezy conditions, mainly across the eastern Midlands. High pressure will then prevail through the middle of next week, with dry weather and near to slightly above normal temperatures.
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.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Key message(s):
- Cloudy and cool across the area today. - Rain chances expected across the eastern half of the FA, potentially increasing tonight further west. - Breezy conditions to continue.
Active and somewhat uncertain weather expected through early Sunday and beyond. Water vapor imagery reveals an amplified pattern across the eastern CONUS. A deep trough is spinning across northern Florida currently, with an upper level jet streak pushing to the north of the Carolinas. A beautiful baroclinic leaf in WV imagery is present across the Carolinas, revealing the position of the upper level jet streak. In the immediate term (at least through sunrise or mid- morning), little is expected across the forecast area in terms of sensible weather. Widespread cloud cover will prevent temps from falling significantly, keeping lows generally in the upper 50s and lower 60s. Some light showers are possible across the eastern Midlands through early morning but these should remain light considering dewpoint depressions are still 10F+.
As we get into the day on Saturday, the coastal low will continue developing off Carolina coastline. The upper level jet streak should continue to foster this low developing up the coast of SC through the day, but confidence on exactly where the low goes is uncertain and mixed within guidance. This casts some doubt on the forecast overall, despite the synoptic scale pattern being modeled very similarly between different pieces of guidance. Generally, with low- level northeasterly flow increasing as the low strengthens, moisture is forecast to increase through the day today. Showers are forecast across the eastern 1/3rd of the forecast area by early afternoon, with isolated to scattered coverage further west. There should be a pretty tight moisture gradient across the area which should limit rainfall coverage as you get into the far western Midlands and northern CSRA. Highs today are forecast to be muted in general as widespread cloud cover holds us in the upper 60s and low 70s. As we get into tonight, the uncertainty in the placement of the surface low becomes event more important. Some guidance is faster with the low, pushing it northward into NC and keeping rainfall primarily confined to Sunday`s forecast for our area. However, some pieces of guidance (including some CAMs) are pretty aggressive developing rain this evening and keeping it overnight tonight. Splitting the difference is a reasonable spot to be in currently, so expect rain to gradually redevelop tonight after a lull in the eastern Midlands. It should fill back in and push westward after 2a tonight, with lows in the 60s expected. Forecaster confidence in the forecast tonight is lower than normal, but there is high confidence that impacts will be minimal overall.
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.SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... Key message(s):
- Cloudy and cool with scattered areas of rain on Sunday. - Drying out on Monday with sunshine returning.
Sunday: Upper low moves little on Sunday, remaining overhead. Associated surface low also slows to a crawl on Sunday just off the coast of the Carolinas. In between, some significant mid level frontogenesis will support an area of lift, given us a continuation of light to at times moderate rain. Tricky part is determining where the band of higher accumulation will set up. Models show a lot of variability with the banding, but they generally agree with high end chance to likely rain, with better chances in eastern and northern areas. We may need to raise POPs more with later forecasts if we start to see a convergence of model solutions.
Sunday Night: Upper low finally begins to kick northeast, but showers will likely linger in the midlands through the evening and in the Pee Dee well into the night.
Monday and Monday Night: As the system pulls further away into the Atlantic, a high pressure ridge begins to fill in behind. There is still a bit of variability on how quickly things dry out in the east, but for now have followed the quicker models and kept POPs out of the forecast Monday morning. Drying will continue into Monday night.
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.LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... Key message(s):
- Seasonable temperatures and dry weather through the week.
High pressure will dominate the weather through the work week. High temps will run a touch above normal, with lows a touch below normal. A dry cold front will move through on Wednesday bringing a few clouds, but chances for showers are low enough to leave out of the forecast for now.
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.AVIATION /10Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... VFR conditions continue currently, with MVFR cigs likely to develop at some point today.
The forecast hasn`t changed that much, with the exception that some showers have developed early this morning near OGB. These have generally remained Southeast of the airport but expect that they`ll end up impacting Orangeburg this morning. Regardless of whether they do or not, look for MVFR cigs to move in from the east in short order this morning. SHowers are expected to be spotty through the rest of the day at all sites, with the highest probability for rain at OGB. As we get into the late afternoon hours, guidance begins to diverge as to when and where rain redevelops and pushes into the forecast area. It looks Orangeburg should begin seeing consistent rainfall sometime around 00z, give or take a few hours, with Columbia following after that between 03z and 06z, and then even later at AGS. Some guidance has rain earlier than these periods, while others don`t have much rain at all tonight! This uncertainty leads to lower than normal forecaster confidence as all of this will dictate restrictions overnight. Confidence is high that breezy winds should continue through the period, with winds out of the northeast predominant and gusts up to 25 knots.
EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...Restrictions likely Sunday into Sunday night as a coastal low wraps moisture back into the forecast area. Conditions will improve during Monday morning, with VFR expected through mid week.
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.CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...Lake Wind Advisory until 11 AM EDT this morning for SCZ016-018- 020>022-025>031-035-037-038-041-115-116-135>137. GA...Lake Wind Advisory until 11 AM EDT this morning for GAZ040- 063>065-077.
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SYNOPSIS... NEAR TERM... SHORT TERM... LONG TERM... AVIATION...
NWS CAE Office Area Forecast Discussion