Area forecast discussion National Weather Service Mount Holly New Jersey 343 am EDT Thursday Jun 20 2013 Synopsis... high pressure in place across the northeast and Middle Atlantic States will slowly progress east and offshore through today. This high pressure will remain nearby through Friday providing more pleasant weather. Over the weekend, an increasing southwesterly flow will develop across our region, bringing increasing heat and humidity into the middle of next week. && Near term /until 6 PM this evening/... early this morning...fair weather...patchy high based SC. Patchy fog possible in the Countryside. Light wind. Today...a beautiful day with high based scattered SC... 6000-7000 feet. Cooling sea breezes. 50/50 blended 00z/20 NCEP GFS-NAM MOS guidance should verify maximum temperatures in the interior of the lower 80s. Dewpoints were primarily the warmer GFS MOS. Winds..Max g this afternoon 15 knots out of the south-southwest except southeast along the coast where sea breezes begin by late morning. && Short term /6 PM this evening through 6 am Friday/... fair very nice weather continues with radiational cooling again. Low temperatures a tad milder than those of this early Thursday morning. Patchy fog possible toward dawn in the Countryside. 50/50 blended 00z/20 NAM/GFS MOS guidance except mostly the warmer GFS dewpoints. Light south wind. && Long term /Friday through Wednesday/... the start of the long term will feature quiet and dry weather as an area of high pressure is forecast to shift southeastward from Canada into our region during Friday, with a continued relatively zonal flow aloft. This set-up will keep ample sunshine in place for another day, with near average late June maximum temperatures and comfortable humidity levels, as dewpoints hold in the 50s. The trend, however, through the remainder of the long term will be for increasing warmth and humidity day-by-day across the middle Atlantic as surface high pressure gradually shifts southeast and offshore during Saturday, with middle-level ridging also taking shape. While Saturday will still be a fairly pleasant day overall, remaining precipitation-free with maximum temperatures still holding to the lower to middle 80s for much of the area, the return southwesterly flow around the periphery of the high pressure increases Sunday, as does the middle-level ridging. This will bring increasing low level moisture across the region, with dewpoints back into the middle and even upper 60s from Sunday through early next week. In addition, model guidance also shows several shortwaves progressing through the middle level flow aloft through this period which will yield a daily chance for a few scattered shwrs/T-storms. We have kept the precipitation potential at this point in the slight chance to low chance range, as the convective activity looks to be diurnal in nature and widely scattered at best. With regards to temperatures in the latter portion of the extended, we took a blend of wpc guidance with continuity, with above average temperatures expected Sunday through Wednesday. The warmest days at this time look to be Monday through Wednesday, with temperatures peaking from the upper 80s to low 90s for much of the region with a noticeable rise in humidity. While we do not anticipate reaching criteria for heat related headlines at this time, this will be a noticeable change in airmass by early next week across the region, and we have made a mention in our hazardous weather outlook. && Aviation /08z Thursday through Monday/... the following discussion is for kphl, kpne, kttn, kabe, krdg, kilg, kmiv, kacy and surrounding areas. Through 12z...VFR patchy clouds near 7000 feet. Patchy fog in the Countryside near 10z New Jersey/de/E Maryland. Light wind. After 12z...VFR scattered clouds at or above 6000 feet. SW wind with any gusts under 15kt except southeast sea-Bay breezes developing kacy-kmiv-kilg by afternoon. Tonight...VFR clear. Light south wind. Patchy fog possible in the Countryside after 06z/21. Outlook... Friday and Saturday...early morning MVFR possible in fog/haze, otherwise VFR conditions expected. Sunday and Monday...mostly VFR conditions; although, MVFR or lower is possible in early fog/haze or afternoon/evening shwrs/T-storms. && Marine... no headlines through tonight. A persistent 2 feet southeast swell of 8 to 10 second on the ocean waters. Mainly south wind g under 15kt. Outlook... surface high pressure remaining nearby from Friday into early next week will yield sub-Small Craft Advisory conditions for our coastal waters and Delaware Bay. Winds will mainly be southerly through the weekend, becoming more southwesterly by Monday. Seas are expected to be in the 2 to 3 foot range for our coastal waters, with 1 to 2 foot seas into Delaware Bay. && Rip currents... water temperatures along our New Jersey and Delaware coasts are near or a bit above normal as of June 19. Risk rip current formation projection the next several days is generally low. If the swell increases to 3 feet on Friday as modeled by the 00z/20 GFS ww3...then we would see a moderate risk for the formation of rip currents. There is doubt whether the 2 feet southeast swell can build to a 3 feet swell. Even if we assign a low risk...that doesn't mean no risk. It just means that odds favor less than usual formation of dangerous rip currents. We still need to be wary and alert and have a safety plan in mind should a problem develop. Data into the projections at 430 am Thursday. && Climate... it appears June temperatures will average above normal...departures increasing maybe a few tenths of a degree from where they were through June 18. This assessment was based only in the GFS statistical data from 12z/29 and 00z/20. We'll have a bit more information for Philadelphia at 5am. So while the excesses of Spring 2012 were not repeatable...we are still running a slightly warmer than normal April-June 2013. && Equipment... tphl is ots and its rts will probably not occur prior to 12z/20. && Phi watches/warnings/advisories... PA...none. New Jersey...none. Delaware...none. Maryland...none. Marine...none. && $$ Synopsis...Kline near term...drag short term...drag long term...Kline aviation...drag/Kline marine...drag/Kline rip currents...drag climate...drag equipment...drag