.SHORT TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/...
As of 215 pm Wednesday: Gusty easterly winds will steadily increase
early in the short term, as the
gradient tightens between 1030+
mb
surface high over the Northeast, and T.
C. Ian, which is expected to
be making a brief excursion over the
coastal waters off Jacksonville
at the start of the period. Gusts in the 20-35 mph range appear
likely from Fri morning into Fri afternoon, with the initial
surge
of tropical
moisture/outer bands expected to overspread our
CWA
during the afternoon. Guidance remains in good agreement in turning
Ian toward the N/NW Thu night/Friday, with a second
landfall (most
likely as a strong
tropical storm) expected in the vicinity of
Hilton
Head Fri afternoon...with continued weakening to a
depression
expected as the center tracks into the western Carolinas Fri
night/Saturday. Moderate to heavy rain is expected to remain
widespread over our area from that through at least Saturday
morning, with attendant ramping up of the excessive
rainfall/
localized
flash flooding threat. This threat is expected to be most
pronounced across the eastern Blue
Ridge escarpment, where strong
easterly
flow will augment
rainfall rates, and in a somewhat narrow
axis along/just east of the
cyclone track (generally just east of
the I-26 corridor) where strong/deep
convergence is expected to
focus as the system takes on increasingly extra-tropical
characteristics.
In terms of the wind...gusts are expected to increase late Fri
afternoon into Fri evening, as 60+
kt E/NE
LLJ shifts across the
area...with increasing chances for tropical rain bands to mix higher
momentum air to the surface, despite expected surface-based
stable
layer/cold air damming (as an aside, this
stability is expected to
preclude a threat for tornadoes, despite at least a portion of the
CWA being in a favorable quadrant of the
cyclone). With that in
mind, it does appear that occasional
tropical storm-force gusts are
a good bet, especially across the SC Piedmont later Fri afternoon
into Fri evening. Pending continued coordination with neighboring
WFOs, a
Tropical Storm Watch MAY be issued for part of our area to
coincide with the 5pm Advisory from
NHC.
A general consensus of guidance suggests that the remnant
depression
will more or less stall somewhere in the vicinity of the foothills
on Saturday, as the quickly weakening
cyclone begins to lose its
battle against the sprawling
ridge of high pressure covering much of
the East. As this occurs, the suggestion is that much of the eastern
half or so of the area will become dry slotted
Sat afternoon through
Sat night, while heavy
rainfall will remain possible within
deformation zone region...mainly across portions of the central
Appalachians, with continued enhancement of
rainfall rates possible
in these areas due to persistent...but weakening E/SE
flow.
Rainfall
totals of 4 to 6 inches (the bulk of which should fall through
Sat
night) are expected across the much of the eastern 2/3 of the
CWA,
with more like 2-4 inches across the west. The highest amounts are
still expected across the eastern Blue
Ridge escarpment, where 6 to
8 inches are forecast.
&&
.LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
As of 245 pm Wednesday: The remnants of Ian are expected to continue
to spin down across the
CWA early in the
medium range, before
finally kicking out to the east in the Mon/Tue time frame in
response to a region of
height falls diving southeast from the
northern Great Plains. While the widespread heavy
rainfall is
expected to be more or less done at the start of the period, ample
moisture will remain in place to support some degree of showers and
locally heavy/excessive
rainfall, especially across western
NC.
PoPs
therefore slowly trend downward through the period, with complete
drying not expected until Tue/Wed. Temps will remain below
normal
through the period.
GSP's take on it this afternoon.