Winston-Salem, North Carolina 7 Day Weather Forecast

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FXUS62 KRAH 032338
AFDRAH

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Raleigh NC
740 PM EDT Thu Sep 3 2026

.WHAT HAS CHANGED...

* Another Air Quality Alert has been issued for the Triad counties,
  including Forsyth, Guilford, Alamance, Davidson and Randolph
  counties, for Friday, from 10 AM until 8 PM, after collaboration
  with the Forsyth County Office of Environmental Assistance and
  Protection in Winston-Salem.

* Another Heat Advisory has been issued for Friday from 11 AM
  until 8 PM.

* Increasing chances for post-frontal showers on Sunday, mainly
  across the west.

&&

.KEY MESSAGES...
As of 215 PM Thursday...

1) A Heat Advisory has been issued for Friday 11 AM until 8 PM.
Anomalously hot temperatures are expected to persist into Sat
at least for a portion of central NC.

2) Storm chances will increase on Friday and peak on Saturday
ahead of a cold front. This will be followed by drier weather
and a return to more seasonal temperatures early next week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
As of 215 PM Thursday...

KEY MESSAGE 1... A Heat Advisory has been issued for Friday 11
AM until 8 PM. Anomalously hot temperatures are expected to
persist into Sat at least for a portion of central NC.

A lower mid-latitude/sub-tropical ridge centered over the srn
Appalachians, observed around 595 dam and 324 dam in the 500-700
mb layer this morning, will persist in a favorable location for
excessive heat in cntl NC for the next couple of days.

Persistence surface temperatures, to 1-2 F hotter ones
especially over the nrn Piedmont, will likely result today and
combine with mixed/afternoon dewpoints in the upr 60s to lwr
70s. Related heat index values will range between 100-105 F over
the nw Piedmont to mostly 105-108 F in the Advisory area. Any
convective chances continue to decrease throughout mid-afteroon
to provide any relief from dangerous heat.

Mean mixing ratios and surface dewpoints are forecast to
increase slightly on Fri, when mixed/afternoon dewpoints are
likely to be in the lwr 70s. That uptick in dewpoints will
likely yield the highest heat index values of this stretch on
Fri, when values near 110 F will be possible from the nrn
Sandhills to the ne Piedmont and Coastal Plain. As such, a Heat
Advisory has been issued for Fri (11 AM until 8 PM). The Heat
Advisory for today, Thurs, remains in effect until 8 PM this
evening. Additional Heat Advisories will likely be needed, but
perhaps over a smaller area, on Sat.


KEY MESSAGE 2... Storm chances will increase on Friday and peak
on Saturday ahead of a cold front. This will be followed by
drier weather and a return to more seasonal temperatures early
next week.

Mid to upper-level northwest flow will increase Friday and peak
on Saturday. The anomalous ridge will gradually be shunted
westward by Saturday as an East Coast trough becomes more
dominant. This pattern shift will increasingly favor showers and
thunderstorms through the first half of the weekend.

Friday: The dangerous heat dome will remain in place. Model
guidance indicates a morning disturbance tracking across the
Great Lakes and northern Mid-Atlantic, which may sustain ongoing
early-day convection. By the afternoon and evening, several 12z
HREF members initiate new storms along the southern Virginia
border, spreading into northern portions of central and eastern
North Carolina. Organization may be enhanced by an upstream
disturbance, a surface trough, or lingering outflow boundaries.
These storms could grow upscale as they track east-southeast
into the Piedmont and Coastal Plain through the mid-to-late
evening. Damaging winds and large hail are the primary hazards.
A Slight Risk for severe weather remains in place for much of
the northern Piedmont, the Triangle, and the central/northern
Coastal Plain, with a Marginal Risk covering the remaining
southwestern and western areas.

Saturday: The greatest coverage of showers and thunderstorms is
expected on Saturday. A well-defined, convectively-induced mid-
level disturbance over the lower Ohio Valley will interact with
a backdoor cold front sliding south through the Mid-Atlantic.
Deep-layer shear will increase compared to Friday as the East
Coast trough digs further west, supporting multicell storms
capable of producing damaging wind gusts and large hail. A
Slight Risk remains in place for all of central North Carolina.
Ahead of this convective activity, expect another day of
dangerous heat.

Sunday & beyond: The cold front is expected to push through by
Sunday morning. While post-frontal stratus, lingering moisture, and
upslope flow could support isolated to scattered showers across the
western Piedmont, the severe threat will have greatly diminished.
Drier air and more seasonal temperatures will arrive in time for
Labor Day and persist into Tuesday. Unfortunately, this reprieve
from the heat will be brief, with high temperatures expected to
rebound into the low-to-mid 90s by Wednesday and Thursday. While
some ensemble guidance hints at another frontal passage and a
renewed chance for precipitation late next week, confidence remains
low at this range.

&&

.AVIATION /00Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
As of 740 PM Thursday...

VFR conditions are expected to dominate over central NC terminals
over the next 24 hours. A stray shower or storm can`t be ruled out
at any TAF site up to 03z this evening, however due to the extremely
low coverage, the chances of a storm passing near/over a TAF site is
very small, so will not include this mention in the TAFs. There is a
good chance for MVFR or IFR vsbys and/or IFR cigs at/near FAY (and
especially to the S and SE of FAY) early Fri morning 09z-13z. But
otherwise, clouds will be very few in number across central NC
through much of Fri. We`ll see slightly higher coverage of
showers/storms Fri, but still scattered, mainly mid afternoon
through mid evening (starting around 19z) and primarily at northern
terminals (INT/GSO/RDU/RWI), and have included a couple of hours of
PROB30 in these TAFs to account for this. Some of these storms could
be strong to severe, with potential damaging surface gusts in/near
storms. Surface winds will stay light/variable through 17z Fri, then
from the SW or SSW 7-12 kts Fri afternoon.

Looking beyond 00z Sat, the risk of scattered showers and storms
will linger through much of Fri evening, mainly in the N. An even
higher chance of storms, some of them possibly strong to severe, is
expected Sat afternoon into the evening areawide. Areas of sub-VFR
vsbys in fog are possible late Sat night into early Sun morning,
followed by a higher chance of sub-VFR cigs/vsbys Sun evening into
early Mon morning as a backdoor front settles into and S of the area.

&&

.CLIMATE...
Records within reach this forecast period:

Record High Temperatures:

September 4: KRDU: 100/1925 KFAY: 100/1944
September 5: KGSO:  97/1954 KRDU:  98/2023 KFAY: 99/1932


Record High Minimum Temperatures:

September 3: KGSO: 73/2020
September 4: KGSO: 72/2018 KRDU: 74/1921 KFAY: 75/2020
September 5: KGSO: 73/2018 KRDU: 74/2012 KFAY: 74/1935

&&

.RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Heat Advisory from 11 AM to 8 PM EDT Friday for NCZ011-024>028-
040>043-074>078-083>086-088-089.
Air Quality Alert from 10 AM to 8 PM EDT Friday for NCZ021>023-038-
039.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...MWS/AS/AK
AVIATION...Hartfield