Winston-Salem, North Carolina 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

311
FXUS62 KRAH 201845
AFDRAH

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Raleigh NC
245 PM EDT Wed May 20 2026

.WHAT HAS CHANGED...

* Made a downward adjustment to high temperatures on Friday and
  Saturday.

&&

.KEY MESSAGES...
As of 243 PM Wednesday...

1) Continued hot this afternoon. Patchy fog possible overnight.

2) Rain chances return Thursday, with chances persisting into early
next week. Low confidence in high temps Friday and Saturday with a
CAD wedge in place.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
As of 243 PM Wednesday...

KEY MESSAGE 1... Continued hot this afternoon. Patchy fog possible
overnight.

Satellite and sfc analysis this afternoon depicted an upstream cold
front moving across the Ohio Valley and into the Mid-Atlantic.
Further offshore, a sfc low was evident just off the Carolina
coastline. Here locally, light wswly sfc flow continues this
afternoon as temps have largely pushed into the upper 80s/lower 90s.
Expect a few more degrees to squeeze out the next few hours. Winds
should subside some this evening, but a little stirring may persist
overnight. Where winds go calm, patchy fog may be possible. Best
chances would  be down in the southeast.

KEY MESSAGE 2... Rain chances return Thursday, with chances
persisting into early next week. Low confidence in high temps Friday
and Saturday with a CAD wedge in place.

Aloft, after the passage of a weak s/w disturbance Wed night/Thu and
with a low lingering near the Caribbean, the sub-tropical ridge may
once again strengthen and lift newd across the region Thu night
through Fri night, with several s/w disturbances tracking across the
Plains and MS Valley. One of the shortwaves will lift newd across
the region Sat/Sat night, with high pressure strengthening again off
the Southeast US coast through early next week, a s/w or two
clipping the area in the meantime. At the surface, cold front
approaching from the north will slide southward across central NC
Thu aft/eve. A CAD air mass should set up Thu night and remain in
place through at least Fri night/early Sat as high pressure tracking
across the Northeast US and offshore ridges swd into the area,with
warm, moist air overrunning the cool, stable boundary layer
resulting in overcast skies and rain. Still expect the wedge to
erode sometime Sat or Sat night, with the front lifting nnwwd back
across the area. However, the GFS keeps the wedge locked in over the
far northwest Piedmont into Sun. The spread in available guidance
increases beyond Sat, with significant differences and forecast
implications for central NC.

Precipitation: The best chances for showers/storms will be Thu along
and ahead of the backdoor cold front as it moves into and across the
area. In the wake of the front, warm air advecting in above the
cooler, stable boundary layer should result in some rain through at
least Sat over central NC. Regardless of what happens with the
wedge, expect daily chances for precipitation (character may vary
across the area) Sat-Mon, with temperatures and instability the
primary factors driving the precip uncertainty. Where/when the wedge
erodes and a warm front lifts nwd across the area, there will be the
chance for additional diurnally driven convection on the warm side
of the boundary, while rain will be favored north of it. Do not
expect a washout for Sun-Tue and the precipitation probabilities may
be overdone given the uncertainty and model spread, but there will
be the chance for showers/storms at some time/location each day.

Temperatures: Highs Thu will be impacted by the timing of the front
and the convection ahead/along it. For now, expect the rain to
arrive in the late aft/eve, so highs should range from mid/upper 80s
north to low/mid 90s south. The caveat is that if the cloud cover,
showers, and front arrive earlier those highs could be a bit
overdone, especially across the north. There is a large bust
potential wrt highs on Fri and Sat given the potential for CAD to
set up linger, especially if there is continued rain into it. For
now have highs ranging from mid/upper 60s north to low/mid 80s
south, but with below average confidence. It is possible highs could
be off by 5-10 degrees in some spots. The operational 12Z runs of
the NAM and GFS both have highs in the mid/upper 50s over the NW
Piedmont and low/mid 60s over the Triangle on Fri. On Sat, with the
wedge lingering, highs currently forecast to range from low 70s NW
to mid 80s south. Lows Thu and Fri nights expected to range from mid
50s north to mid 60s south. Generally expect temperatures to
moderate back to near or slightly above normal by early next week,
but timing of that will depend on when the wedge erodes.

&&

.AVIATION /17Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
As of 1248 PM Wednesday...

VFR conditions persist this afternoon under generally sunny skies. A
few light gusts of up to 15 kts or so have been observed across
northern locations. Some stirring is possible overnight, but winds
should be generally light. Some guidance hints at marginal LLWS, but
think the threat should be quite limited, if at all.

There`s a bit of a mixed bag as far as possible overnight fog and or
stratus early Thursday morning. Went ahead and added a few TEMPO
groups at KRDU/KFAY/KRWI to account for possible lower ceilings and
mist/reduced visbys. Confidence isn`t high though.

Convection is expected to blossom across central NC Thursday
afternoon via a short-wave aloft and an advancing backdoor cold
front. However, high-res guidance generally holds off on
precipitation at all terminals till near or just after 18Z. Will
hold off on introducing any restrictions till the next TAF package.

Outlook: Showers and storms will persist Thursday afternoon and
evening along with gusty nely sfc winds.  Sub-VFR ceilings also look
to persist into Friday in the Triad and potentially RDU as a CAD
regime looks to set up over the region. Daily shower/storm chances
will also be possible through early next week.

&&

.CLIMATE...

Record High Temperatures:

May 20:
KGSO: 95/1917
KRDU: 96/2022
KFAY: 99/2022

May 21:
KRDU: 96/1941
KFAY: 99/1941


Record High Minimum Temperatures:

May 20:
KGSO: 68/2022
KRDU: 69/2019
KFAY: 71/2022

May 21:
KGSO: 67/2022
KRDU: 71/1898
KFAY: 71/2025

May 22:
KFAY: 73/2004

May 23:
KFAY: 72/2011

May 24:
KRDU: 70/2011
KFAY: 72/2000

May 25:
KGSO: 70/2019
KRDU: 71/2019
KFAY: 71/2019

May 26:
KGSO: 70/2019
KRDU: 73/2011
KFAY: 75/2004

&&

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

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...Luchetti/10
AVIATION...Luchetti/Helock
CLIMATE...RAH