Lexington, Massachusetts, USA
Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 320 AM EDT Tue Sep 17 2024 Valid 12Z Tue Sep 17 2024 - 12Z Thu Sep 19 2024 ...A coastal low will bring a threat of flash flooding to the Mid-Atlantic today... ...A strong low pressure system will bring unsettled weather to the Rockies and Plains with severe thunderstorms in the northern and central High Plains... A coastal low, previously labeled as Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight, will continue to slowly move north across the Carolinas towards the Mid-Atlantic over the next day or so. Moist, onshore flow will support persistent showers and thunderstorms across portions of North Carolina and the southern Mid-Atlantic today, and locally heavy rainfall could result in isolated to scattered instances of flash flooding. Flood Watches are in effect today for portions of southeastern Virginia and North Carolina. Precipitation coverage and intensity should decrease on Wednesday, resulting in a lower threat for flash flooding. Coastal flooding will also be a concern with a prolonged period of onshore winds along the Mid-Atlantic coast. By Thursday, this system will begin to shift offshore into the Atlantic and high pressure will build behind it. Meanwhile, a strong low pressure system will move across the Intermountain West this morning and is expected to emerge in the northern Plains, strengthening in the lee of the Rockies later today. Strong, gusty winds and widespread showers and thunderstorms are forecast with this system in the vicinity of the low pressure center and along and ahead of the trailing cold front. Some thunderstorms may become severe this afternoon and evening in the northern and central High Plains, and the Storm Prediction Center has highlighted this area with a Slight Risk of severe thunderstorms (level 2/5) with an embedded Enhanced Risk (level 3/5) over the central High Plains. Severe storm hazards will include damaging winds and isolated large hail. The low pressure center of this system will be nearly stationary over Montana through Wednesday as it's forward motion is blocked by high pressure to the east. This will likely result in heavy rainfall totals that could cause scattered instances of flash flooding in portions of Montana. The trailing cold front will slowly push east across the Plains on Wednesday and Thursday, gradually losing steam, and the threat for severe weather will decrease. Another low pressure system will move south along the West Coast Wednesday and Thursday, which will bring another round of unsettled weather. Precipitation will spread from the Northwest to the Great Basin and Southwest by Thursday, mainly falling as rain, but some wintry precipitation will be possible in the higher elevations. Initially, temperatures will be well below normal in the West and Mid-Atlantic and well above normal in the Central U.S. and Northeast, but temperature anomalies will gradually moderate as we move through the rest of the week. Dolan Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php