


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Jacksonville, FL
Issued by NWS Jacksonville, FL
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328 FXUS62 KJAX 081142 AFDJAX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Jacksonville FL 742 AM EDT Wed Oct 8 2025 ...New UPDATE, AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... For the latest NE FL and SE GA Daily Key Messages please visit: https://www.weather.gov/media/jax/briefings/nws-jax-briefing.pdf - Minor Tidal Flooding Continues Through Wednesday evening. Coastal Flood Advisory: Minor Tidal Flooding along Northeast FL coast, ICWW, and the Rest of the St. Johns River Basin - High Rip Current Risk Continues at the Northeast FL Beaches - Long Duration Nor`easter Develops on Thursday. Strengthening Northeasterly Winds Thursday Bring Widespread Moderate Tidal Flooding. Coastal Flood Watches are Likely for the Atlantic Coast and St. Johns River Basin. Gale Watches Posted for the Atlantic Waters from Thursday Afternoon through Sat Night. High Surf & Wind Advisories Likely for Coastal Locations Thursday through Friday. Heavy Downpours and Isolated Thunderstorms Along the I-95 Corridor Thurs & Fri. Destructive Beach Erosion Possible at Area Beaches through the Weekend && .UPDATE... Issued at 728 AM EDT Wed Oct 8 2025 Forecast on track with fairly quiet conditions today ahead of strong cold frontal passage and local Nor`Easter conditions expected on Thursday. Expect the warmest day of the week today as Max temps reach into the upper 80s/near 90F over inland areas, while middle 80s expected along the I-95 corridor and Atlantic Coastal areas. NE flow and inland moving East Coast sea breeze may still be enough to trigger a slight chance of a shower during peak heating today, but overall rainfall chances remain 20 percent or less across NE FL and coastal SE GA, while a pre-frontal trough pushing into inland SE GA later this afternoon and evening may be enough to trigger scattered showers and an isolated storm, but overall storm threat remains low at this time. && .NEAR TERM... Issued at 328 AM EDT Wed Oct 8 2025 Near calm winds early this morning and lingering low-level moisture may be enough for patchy fog to develop over inland locations, with locally dense fog possible for locations in SE GA. Current satellite obs depicts PWAT values of 1.40"-1.65" over the area as dry air will continue to shift into the area. The drier air aloft will bring lower coverage of showers Today, though there could still be a few light showers as the onshore flow may bring in a few showers towards coastal locations near and south of St. Augustine. A cold front will begin to approach SE CONUS Today, nearing northern SE GA during the overnight hours into Thursday. Isolated to scattered showers may develop ahead of the front by the late afternoon to early evening hours. Showers are expected to persist through the overnight hours in Thursday morning as the front pushes into SE GA. Marine winds will begin to increase as the front begins to shift over the local waters. Otherwise, highs will once again be in the 80s area-wide with upper 80s for locations west of the I-95 corridor and in the lower 80s along the coast. Lows on Wednesday night in the upper 60s for locations across inland SE GA and the Suwannee Valley Region of NE FL, while lower 70s along the coast and the rest of inland NE FL. && .SHORT TERM... (Thursday through Friday night) Issued at 328 AM EDT Wed Oct 8 2025 A longwave trough will deepen over the eastern third of the nation on Thursday, driving a cold front southward across our region. Meanwhile, a potent shortwave trough digging east-southeastward from the Ozarks through the Tennessee Valley will deepen and cutoff over the southeastern states by Friday morning. Otherwise, a strengthening surface ridge (around 1035 millibars) will build over the eastern Great Lakes in the wake of this frontal passage, with this feature shifting eastward over New England by Thursday night and wedging down the southeastern seaboard as coastal troughing redevelops and sharpens over our local Atlantic waters. Coastal convergence will strengthen once the frontal boundary slips southward across north central FL on Thursday afternoon and evening, resulting in increasing shower coverage along the I-95 corridor. Cooling temperatures aloft may also support isolated, mainly elevated convective development over the Atlantic waters on Thursday, with this activity potentially moving onshore along the I-95 corridor by Thursday afternoon and evening. The big weather story on Thursday and Thursday night will be steadily increasing onshore winds, as our tightening local pressure gradient creates wind speeds of 20-30 mph by the early to mid afternoon hours at coastal locations, with breezy conditions spreading inland as the day progresses. Wind gusts of 35-45 mph at coastal locations will introduce potential Wind Advisories along the I-95 corridor by Thursday afternoon and evening. Increasing cloud cover, rain chances, and onshore winds will keep highs in the upper 70s across southeast GA, lower 80s for northeast FL, and mid 80s for north central FL, where the front will likely not move through until later in the afternoon. Coverage of showers and a few embedded, mainly elevated thunderstorms is expected to increase along the I-95 corridor on Thursday afternoon and evening, with activity potentially persisting into the overnight hours as a sharpening coastal trough and strong onshore winds result in strong coastal convergence. Locally heavy rainfall will be possible, with training bands potentially setting up over portions of coastal northeast FL that may present a localized flood threat, particularly if heavy downpours coincide with high tide. Cool air advection in the wake of the front will drive lows on Thursday and Friday nights down to near 60 for inland portions of southeast GA, with 60s elsewhere, except around 70 for north central and coastal northeast FL. Troughing will continue to cutoff from the main flow over the southeastern states on Friday, yielding cyclogenesis along the frontal boundary east of Cape Canaveral by Friday evening. Meanwhile, strong high pressure centered over New England will gradually weaken and shift eastward by Friday night as this low pressure center takes shape over the Gulf Stream waters adjacent to our region. This weather pattern will maintain a very tight local pressure gradient across our area, and a drier air mass will advect across inland southeast GA and the Suwannee Valley by Friday afternoon. Strong coastal convergence will keep a threat for heavy rainfall in place along the I-95 corridor on Friday. Strong onshore winds will combine with lingering high astronomical tides from this week`s full "Harvest" Moon to produce significant, potentially widespread moderate to major coastal flooding along the Atlantic coast and within the St. Johns River basin (see "Hydrology" section below for details). Cloud cover and cool air advection will keep highs in the 70s on Friday, except around 80 for north central FL. && .LONG TERM... (Saturday through Tuesday) Issued at 328 AM EDT Wed Oct 8 2025 A deepening low pressure center will lift slowly northward along the Carolina Coast on Saturday, becoming stacked in tandem with the cutoff trough aloft near the Outer Banks on Saturday night. North-northeasterly winds will remain breezy at inland locations and windy at the coast, with wrap-around showers likely along the I-95 corridor through around noon on Saturday. A much drier air mass will then overspread our region on Saturday night and Sunday as winds shift to northerly with gradually decreasing speeds. Cloud cover and gusty winds will keep highs on Saturday in the upper 70s for locations along and east of U.S. Highway 301, with partial sunshine on Sunday afternoon allowing highs to reach near 80 further inland. Clearing skies on Saturday night will allow lows to fall to the mid and upper 50s at most inland locations, while a northerly breeze keeps coastal lows in the low to mid 60s. The non-tropical or hybrid gale center off the Carolina coast will likely become stationary late this weekend and early next week, keeping a funnel of seasonably cool and dry air over our region, compliments of deep northwesterly flow aloft. A dry air mass and plenty of sunshine will allow highs to climb to the lower 80s inland on Sunday, with coastal highs likely remaining in the upper 70s. Heights aloft will then rise by Tuesday and Wednesday as ridging aloft expands from Texas eastward along the northern Gulf coast, allowing for highs to slowly climb to the low to mid 80s inland, while breezy onshore winds keep coastal highs around 80. Nighttime lows will continue to fall to the 55-60 range inland, while an onshore breeze keeps lows in the mid 60s at coastal locations. && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 728 AM EDT Wed Oct 8 2025 LIFR conds at SSI in low stratus early this morning that should fade after 13Z, otherwise VFR conds at the NE FL terminals and while some brief MVFR CIGS are possible this morning in diurnal heating, rainfall chances remain low enough to leave out of all terminals as NE winds slowly increase close to 10 knots along with scattered fair weather Cu in the 3000-4000 ft range through the afternoon hours. Light winds to begin tonight, then slowly increase late in the TAF period, mainly at SSI as the frontal boundary approaches with potential MVFR CIGS and VCSH after 10Z, otherwise the usual patchy MVFR fog at VQQ from 06-10Z late tonight. && .MARINE... Issued at 328 AM EDT Wed Oct 8 2025 Seas will begin to subside to around 4-6ft with Small Craft Exercise Caution levels for most of the local waters by this morning as winds also dip to 10-15 knots. With an approaching frontal boundary to the local waters, winds and seas are expected to rise once again to Small Craft Advisory conditions by Thursday Morning. Gale force gusts will develop by mid to late Thursday afternoon as the local gradient strengthens as the front moves across the local waters. Gale Watches have been posted beginning on Thursday afternoon both near shore and offshore, and strong northeasterly winds overspread our region. Hazardous boating conditions are expected to continue into the weekend as an area of low pressure develops offshore of the FL peninsula and shifts northward towards the Carolina Coast. Rip current: Moderate to high rip current risk continues today with the highest risk more over the northeast FL beaches with rough surf and deadly rip currents. Increasingly dangerous, rough surf conditions developing on Thursday will expand the high risk to all area beaches that will persist this weekend and possibly into next week. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 328 AM EDT Wed Oct 8 2025 Northeasterly surface and transport winds will prevail area-wide today. Breezy transport speeds are expected for locations south of I-10 this afternoon, with breezy surface speeds developing at coastal locations. These winds and elevated mixing heights at inland locations will yield fair to good daytime dispersion values area-wide today. Northeasterly surface and transport winds will then steadily strengthen shortly after sunrise on Thursday, with strong and gusty surface speeds developing by the late morning or early afternoon hours at coastal locations. These strong winds will counter increasing cloud cover and rain chances, creating good daytime dispersion values for coastal southeast GA and northeast FL, with marginally high values possible across north central FL. Fair values are forecast across inland southeast GA. Strong northeasterly surface and transport winds will persist at coastal locations on Thursday night and Friday nights, creating elevated nighttime dispersion values along the I-95 corridor. A drier air mass will begin to filter into inland southeast GA and the northern Suwannee Valley on Friday, where only isolated showers are forecast. Breezy northeasterly surface and transport winds will result in fair daytime dispersion values. Strong northeasterly surface and transport winds will prevail elsewhere, again yielding good daytime dispersion values. && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 328 AM EDT Wed Oct 8 2025 Water levels continue to meet minor flood levels along the Atlantic coast from Duval county southward and within the Intracoastal Waterway (ICWW), and the St Johns River Basin so a coastal flood advisory remains in effect. Water levels are peaking at about 1.5 to 2 feet above Mean Higher High Water during times of high tide. A significant, long duration coastal and tidal flood event will unfold from Thursday afternoon through the weekend as a surge of strong northeasterly winds overspreads our area. This event has the potential to bring the highest tidal levels that we have seen along the Atlantic coast and within the St. Johns River basin thus far this Fall, and a Coastal Flood Watch will likely be issued later today in anticipation of widespread moderate tidal flooding that should begin during high tide cycles from Thursday afternoon through the upcoming weekend. Latest Probabilistic Extra-tropical Storm Surge (PETSS) guidance indicates that water levels may peak in the 2.5 - 3.5 foot range above MHHW along the Atlantic Coast during the high tide cycle around noon on Friday and during the early afternoon on Saturday`s high tide cycle, which would approach Major flood thresholds. Moderate flooding appears to be likely within the St. Johns River basin, where water levels will likely peak in the 2-3 foot range above MHHW during times of high tide this weekend. Strong onshore winds will likely bring High Surf Advisories and the potential for destructive beach erosion all along the Atlantic coast by Friday and the upcoming weekend. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AMG 89 67 77 59 / 40 50 20 10 SSI 83 71 78 65 / 20 50 50 50 JAX 87 70 81 66 / 20 30 60 50 SGJ 85 72 82 70 / 40 20 60 70 GNV 90 69 85 67 / 20 20 30 30 OCF 89 69 85 70 / 20 10 30 20 && .JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...Coastal Flood Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for FLZ038- 125-132-137-138-225-233-325-333-633. High Rip Current Risk through late tonight for FLZ124-125-138- 233-333. GA...None. AM...Small Craft Advisory from 8 AM to 2 PM EDT Thursday for AMZ450- 470. Gale Watch from Thursday afternoon through Saturday evening for AMZ450. Small Craft Advisory from 11 AM to 5 PM EDT Thursday for AMZ452- 454-472-474. Gale Watch from Thursday afternoon through late Saturday night for AMZ452-454-472-474. Gale Watch from Thursday afternoon through late Saturday night for AMZ470. && $$