


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wilmington, NC
Issued by NWS Wilmington, NC
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337 FXUS62 KILM 120128 AFDILM Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington NC 928 PM EDT Sat Oct 11 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Substantial rainfall, minor coastal flooding and hazardous surf and marine winds and seas will continue thru Sun as intensifying low pressure moves slowly NNE along the SC Coast tonight and the NC Coast Sun. Several inches of rain will fall, upwards of 5 inches possible from Cape Fear northward. Improving weather and marine conditions will develop Monday and Tuesday as dry high pressure builds in for the rest of the week. && .UPDATE... 1) High Surf Advisory extended to 8pm Sun for Pender and New Hanover Coasts. 2) High Rips again raised for Cape Fear Northward and from Little River Inlet Southward for Sun. Strong north to south longshore current also advertised. 3) Minor Coastal Flood Adv raised for the immediate NC Coastline with tides running up to 0.5 ft above the 6.0 ft MLLW thresholds. The daytime Sun high tide will be the hier of the 2 with levels possibly reaching 1.0 ft above thresholds. 4) Minor Coastal Flood Adv raised for the LCFR, Wilmington and southward, as forecast levels briefly rise above the 5.5 ft MLLW thresholds. The daytime Sun high tide will be the hier of the 2 with levels 0.5 to 1.0 ft above thresholds. 5) MWW for the Gale warning updated to account for the 40+ kt wind gusts. 995mb sfc low offshore from the Southeast NC Coast is progged to move slowly N-NNE, reaching just offshore from the Cape Fear Coast by daybreak Sun. It will resume a more NNE trajectory, following the remainder of the NC Coastline thru daybreak Mon. As a result, Gales for the local coastal waters will continue with wind gusts 40 to possibly 45+ kt, especially 20 nm and beyond, a good possibility. The Gale warning remains in effect thru 6am Sun. Wind profile in the lower levels continues to illustrate 50 kt winds at the 925mb level and even hier further aloft. Have extended 100 POPs across the majority of the FA overnight, accept far inland, although the entire FA will receive rainfall overnight. Additional rainfall amounts from this writing into Mon will run 1 to 2 inches with isolated hier amounts across Southeast NC, mainly across the coastal counties. Given the time duration this rainfall is occurring, still may expect the usual nuisance/minor type ponding and flooding across low lying and poorly drained areas. Not much change in temps with a diurnal range of generally 5 degrees. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/... Low pressure that will eventually blossom into becoming a nor`easter is still slowly developing, now east of Savannah. Last night`s guidance has shifted stronger and a tad closer to the coast. The main ramifications to the forecast has been slightly higher winds along the coast and higher QPF for inland locales. The upper trough that is driving the system is still digging, and this appears to giving guidance a hard time resolving whether the current incipient low remains dominant or a secondary forms on the system`s warm front. Locally this won`t matter too much, but the overall progression looks a little slow even in solutions lacking a secondary low. Sunday`s POPs will thus remain in the likely realm, though overall QPF trend remains downward starting at about 06Z tonight. The diurnal temperature range between tonight and tomorrow will be minimized by cloud cover and nighttime mixing whereas Sunday night may fall off a bit closer to climatology. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... Potent coastal low will be moving north from near Cape Hatteras to the Delmarva coast Sun night through late Monday with rain and gusty winds slowly diminishing. The H5 low will be located directly overhead and the best energy looks like it will be rotating around the low, mainly from northern tier counties from Pender to Robeson and then inland areas on Sunday. May see best chc of pcp from I-95 and west through the day on Sunday until the low lifts northward and pcp spreads eastward again into Sun night, before exiting off to the east as drying occurs from NW to SE through the area on Mon. The drier air will first arrive in the mid to upper levels with shallow moisture and clouds holding on into Mon morning. Should see increasing sunshine through Mon aftn. By late Mon the trough axis at low to mid levels will be off the coast with ridge building in from the SW aloft and sfc high building in from the Upper Midwest. Overnight lows dropping below 60 Sun night will be several degrees cooler by Mon night with widespread mid 50s. Highs on Mon should only reach into the 70s as sunshine increases into the afternoon. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Dry high pressure will build down into the Carolinas through the week. Gusty northerly winds will diminish. The dry and cool northerly flow will persist with a surge of much drier air by Thurs as backdoor cold front drops south with dewpoints down into the 40s. Temps will warm through Wed with near 80 readings inland by Wed aftn. By Thurs, cooler air behind the front will bring high temps down to the lower end of 70s. This dry air mass will lead to greater diurnal ranges and cool overnight lows with readings in the 50s, dropping into the 40s by Thurs night. && .AVIATION /00Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... With a slow moving nor`easter off the NE SC Coast attm, progged to move NNE to off the Southeast NC Coast Sun. IFR cigs and MVFR vsbys in light to moderate rain and fog to dominate across all terminals during the next 24 hr period. Periodically, cigs may climb just above 1k ft but for the most part expect <1k ft to dominate across all terminals. Have for the most part kept vsbys from -ra, ra and br across all terminals in the 2sm to 6sm range. Expect NNW-NNE 15kt g25 kt winds to dominate thru the period, becoming NW late in the 24 hr period. Some gusts to 30+ kt likely at the coastal terminals closer to the sfc low. With 50+ kt slated just off the deck, ie 925mb, have continued to advertise the LLWS for the overnight period. Extended outlook...Following the nor`easter, the probability of weather impacts will decrease Mon with generally VFR flight conditions late Mon thru Thu. && .MARINE... Through Sunday...Gales to continue through the period as low pressure still in a consolidating state east of Savannah, GA. No changes have been made to the timing of the gale warning. Reason being as there is uncertainty as to how the low moves and to a lesser extent whether or not it develops a secondary center, which could really slow the storm and necessitate a longer warning. Sunday night through Wednesday...Potent coastal low will move slowly up the coast with northerly winds around 20 to 25 kts Sun eve shifting to the NW up to 15 to 20 kts by Monday as the low lifts northward. Solid Small Craft Advisory conditions will Sun night will slowly diminish to below criteria by late Mon with seas dropping from 5 to 8 ft down to 3 to 5 ft. Northerly winds and seas will continue to diminish through midweek with long period easterly swells continuing. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... Other - Rip Currents: 10 second easterly swell will continue through Monday, creating a high risk for rip currents at east facing beaches. Strong northerly winds will also create a strong north to south longshore current for Pender and New Hanover beaches on Sunday. Winds will remain breezy on Monday, but winds will be more offshore, weakening the longshore current. High surf advisory for the New Hanover and Pender Coasts, has been extended to early Sun evening due to the much slower movement of the wind field north of the area, keeping the surf elevated at 6 ft or higher. Latest progged water levels for both JMPN7 and WLON7 breaks the minor coastal flood thresholds of 6.0 ft MLLW and 5.5 ft MLLW respectively during tonights high tide, the lower of the 2 per day. As a result, Minor Coastal Flood Advisories have been raised for the 3 to 4 hr window surrounding their respective high tides.` && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...High Surf Advisory until 8 PM EDT Sunday for NCZ106-108. Coastal Flood Advisory until 2 AM EDT Sunday for NCZ106-108- 110. High Risk for Rip Currents from 6 AM EDT Sunday through Sunday evening for NCZ106-108. Coastal Flood Advisory from 1 AM to 4 AM EDT Sunday for NCZ107. SC...High Risk for Rip Currents from 6 AM EDT Sunday through Sunday evening for SCZ054-056. MARINE...Gale Warning until 6 AM EDT Sunday for AMZ250-252-254-256. && $$ SYNOPSIS...DCH UPDATE...DCH NEAR TERM...MBB SHORT TERM...RGZ LONG TERM...RGZ AVIATION...DCH MARINE...MBB/RGZ TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...TRL/DCH