FXUS61 KRNK 200615 AFDRNK Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Blacksburg VA 215 AM EDT Wed May 20 2026 .WHAT HAS CHANGED... Storms will develop across the mountains by late afternoon and will persist into the evening. Lesser chances east of the mountains, which will still be under the influence of the ridge, limiting storm chances. Have lowered temperatures across the board on Friday given strong wedging signal in short range guidance. An Air Quality Alert has been issued for Caswell, Rockingham, and Stokes Counties in NC through 12AM Thursday due to code orange for ground level ozone. && .KEY MESSAGES... KEY MESSAGE 1: Multiple opportunities for precipitation through the weekend, beginning with a cold front today. && .DISCUSSION... KEY MESSAGE 1: Multiple opportunities for precipitation through the weekend, beginning with a cold front today. A cold front is will approach the region from the northwest later today as an upper level trough and associated surface low pressure system slide east through southern Quebec and Ontario. Shear remains modest, but return moisture flow, along with strong surface heating should result in CAPE exceeding 1000-1500 J/kg by early afternoon. This, along with increased forcing from the approaching front should provide a favorable environment for storms to develop across the mountains by later this afternoon/evening. Storms could produce localized damaging wind gusts and some hail. Lingering subsidence from high pressure ridging should keep much of the Piedmont free of rain/storms through the evening. By Thursday, the cold front looks to become quasi-stationary across Virginia and the Tennessee valley. As this occurs, high pressure pushes across the Great Lakes region leading to east/northeast flow across the forecast area. This will lead to some isentropic ascent across the area as warm moist air from the south rides up over this cool but shallow pocket of air at the surface. With stable air at the surface, the threat for severe weather looks to be minimal; however, shower activity looks very likely with rain forecast throughout the day areawide. A few rumbles of thunder can't be ruled out, especially across the VA/NC border region, where better instability overlap may occur closer to the stationary boundary. Wedging will strengthen on Friday as the surface high pressure over the Great Lakes moves northeast towards the Quebec/Ontario border. Given a more favorable high location and continued showers, temperatures will likely remain on the cooler side of guidance, so have trended Friday daytime highs lower. Repeated rounds of rain will occur throughout the weekend with continues southwest flow advecting moist air north over the wedging high pressure... While this may ruin outdoor holiday weekend plans, it will hopefully bring much needed rainfall to the region at a steady enough rate to provide some agricultural and drought relief to the area. Although repeated rainfall looks to occur into early next week, widespread convectively enhanced rainfall is not looking very likely, therefore flooding potential remains very localized. && .AVIATION /06Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... Area-wide VFR flight conditions continue as high pressure remains dominant. Isolated valley fog possible near day break...LWB being the most likely to see impacts if it does form. Between 20-21z, scattered storms will begin to develop along the Blue Ridge and points west, which would bring sub-VFR to any terminal they impact. Coverage increases near the end of the TAF period, though storms will remain scattered as a cold front pushes into the area. Any storm could be capable of producing large hail and damaging winds, though severe weather would be isolated to the strongest storms. DAN will remain well southeast of the convection, keeping VFR through the end of the TAF period. Showers and lower clouds could set in by late tonight and into early Thursday. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK... Rain showers and thunderstorm chances continue through the end of the week as the front slows down over the Mid Atlantic, which will lead to periods of sub- VFR at all terminals each day through the weekend. This typical summertime pattern with daily chances of afternoon showers/storms will persist into next week. Note: Bluefield (KBLF) ASOS is currently experiencing a technical outage due to a major power supply failure. Replacement parts have been ordered. ETA of repair is currently unknown. AMD NOT SKED is being appended to its TAF. && .CLIMATE... Record-breaking heat is possible this afternoon. Here are the current records and our current forecast. Wednesday, May 20, 2026 Station Hi Max T Hi Min T Forecast High Roanoke 98 in 1934 70 in 1998 94 Lynchburg 96 in 1941 68 in 1902 94 Danville 97 in 1996 68 in 2018 96 Bluefield 87 in 1996 66 in 1996 83 Blacksburg 90 in 1934 66 in 1893 89 && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...None. NC...Air Quality Alert until midnight EDT tonight for NCZ004>006. WV...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...BMG/EB AVIATION...AS/JCB CLIMATE...RCS