128
FXUS61 KRNK 192259
AFDRNK

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Blacksburg VA
659 PM EDT Fri Jun 19 2026

.WHAT HAS CHANGED...
Skies have cleared and dry air has returned. Anticipating
temperatures to take a tumble tonight.

No change to the forecast. Expecting a dry weekend and
return to unsettled weather for next week.

&&

.KEY MESSAGES...
1) June or late September?

2) Dry weekend followed by unsettled conditions next week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
KEY MESSAGE 1: June or late September?

If you step outside, you might forget it`s almost the summer
solstice! A beautiful post-frontal breeze has swept through,
bringing sustained winds of 10 to 15 mph and some refreshing
gusts reaching 20 to 25 mph. These winds are expected to
diminish this evening leaving us with clear skies for the
overnight. When the sun sets this evening temperatures should
tumble quickly. Lows tonight are expected to dip into the 50s.
Places like Burkes Garden, VA, may dip into the upper 40s.
So, open the windows and enjoy!

FYI... The summer solstice is Sunday June 21 at 424 AM EDT.


KEY MESSAGE 2: Dry weekend followed by unsettled conditions next
week.

High pressure will pass overhead this weekend promoting mainly
dry conditions with low afternoon humidity. An upper level
trough will pass to our north Saturday, freshening up the winds
for the afternoon, and providing a few mid/high clouds. But not
expecting surface hydrometeors. Upper level instability may
result in some clouds with virga, but expecting a dry day.
Sunday should feature much of the same except dewpoints will
begin to creep back up. The weekend as a whole...dry.
Temperatures will also trend warmer with highs ranging from the
70s to lower 80s in the mountains to around 90 in the Blue Ridge
foothills and piedmont.

Models agree on a broad trough over the Great Lakes into the
mid-MS Valley next week with periodic shortwave troughs swinging
through during the week, Monday featuring the first in the
series. This will bring onset of daily chances for showers and
thunderstorms. Depending on the timing, may be dealing with some
strong to severe storms at times. As far as rainfall chances,
the fronts associated with these mid/upper level troughs will be
coming from the northwest which will favor the mountains (esp
western slopes) for rainfall and to a much lesser extent east of
the mountains.

&&

.AVIATION /00Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...

VFR conditions are expected to persist for much of the TAF
period. There is a chance that some river valley fog develops at
LWB and BCB during the early morning hours on Saturday; however,
with forecast winds expected to remain elevated, confidence is
not high in this river fog creating much more than brief MVFR
restrictions. While winds look to decrease to around 5 knots
early Saturday morning out of the northwest, gusts look to
remain elevated at around 10 knots during this time frame, which
should be enough to prevent widespread fog development. Winds
will remain out of the west/northwest through much of the
forecast period, with gusts increasing after 15 UTC at all
terminals into the 15-20 knot range.


EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...

Mainly VFR conditions are expected for the weekend. Shower and storm
chances increase on Monday, with associated sub-VFR conditions
probable as this activity passes over airports. Still some scattered
storm activity Tuesday but mainly VFR outside any storms.

Other sub-VFR possibilities may be some late night/early morning
mountain valley/river fog during the weekend.

&&

.RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
VA...None.
NC...None.
WV...None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...PM
AVIATION...EB/NF