Issued: 12am on Thursday, January 1st 1970
Technical Forecast Discussion
Short term (Sunday 2/17 through Tuesday 2/19)
A negatively tilted trough lies over the Southwest United States. From there to the Mid-Atlantic there lies a large jet streak downstream of the trough. This will give any left over moisture on Sunday a chance to fall as precipitation, but with drier air moving in Saturday, chances seem slim. Still, some cloud cover will likely be generated on Sunday. A system will also be present to the south on Sunday.Models situate the Athens in or around the northwest sector of the storm Sunday night and Monday morning. Moisture from this system could also spark precipitation as both rain and snow during that time period. Dry, cold air gains influence again mid-Monday. Clouds will still linger due to the jet streak and upper level divergence. On Tuesday, some slight ridging building is visible on the GFS and Euro models which promotes some cloud clearing and WAA. This also brings up a developing system on the downstream of a trough to the east that will likely bring clouds and a chance for precip.
Long term (Wednesday 2/20 through Saturday 2/23)
A shortwave trough is visible over Eastern Mid-West. This will allow for the similar scenario from past weeks of a ridge/trough pattern that allows for upper level air to pull up moisture from and around the gulf that creates precipitation potential. Rain showers will be likely on Wednesday as a low pressure system moves into the region in the morning providing substantial lift for precipitation to fall. As the shortwave moves through the long wave pattern, it appears there will be a return of long wave ridging. Models still show precipitation possible for Thursday and Friday due to moisture becoming trapped under the ridge and the presence of a jet streak in the region. High pressure will be in the area late Friday into early Saturday. This will break up some cloud cover and moisture as WAA from upper level ridging occurs with highs in the 50s Friday through Saturday
