FNUS71 KRNK 181617 FWSRNK SPOT FORECAST FOR CC FIRE...USFS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 1117 AM EST FRI FEB 18 2011 FORECAST IS BASED ON REQUEST TIME OF 1106 EST ON FEBRUARY 18. IF CONDITIONS BECOME UNREPRESENTATIVE...CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. ...FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING... .DISCUSSION... SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL BECOMING INCREASINGLY GUSTY THROUGH LATE MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. THESE SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BRING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE AREA...WHICH WILL KEEP MINIMUM RH VALUES RANGING FROM 35 TO 40 PERCENT ACROSS THE PIEDMONT...AND FROM 40 TO 60 PERCENT FROM THE BLUE RIDGE WEST. THE MAIN FOCUS HOWEVER WILL BE ON THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT DURING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ONLY SPOTTY SHOWER ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO THE WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF SATURDAY... AND ANY WETTING RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO BE SPARSE. WINDS WILL BECOME NORTHWEST THIS EVENING...AND REMAIN GUSTY DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE AREA. WITH DRY AIR MOVING QUICKLY INTO THE AREA...RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES EXPECTED TO FALL BELOW 20 PERCENT DURING THE AFTERNOON ON SATURDAY. HIGH PRESSURE SLIDES EAST ON SUNDAY...ALLOWING WINDS TO RELAX AND BECOME LIGHT AND VARIABLE ON SUNDAY MORNING...THEN GRADUALLY BECOME SOUTHERLY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. WITH THAT...WE CAN EXPECT SUNDAY AFTERNOON RH VALUES TO REBOUND SLIGHTLY FROM SATURDAY AS MOIST AIR SLOWLY MAKES ITS WAY BACK INTO THE AREA. && .REST OF TODAY... SKY/WEATHER.........MOSTLY CLOUDY (65-75 PERCENT). A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. MAX TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 70. MIN HUMIDITY........43 PERCENT. WIND (20 FT)........WEST WINDS 7 TO 13 MPH. GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. CWR (0.01 IN).......20 PERCENT. MIXING HEIGHT.......4500 FT AGL...INCREASING TO 4800 FT AGL LATE. TRANSPORT WINDS.....WEST 26 TO 30 MPH. EYE LEVEL WINDS.....WEST WINDS 5 TO 13 MPH. TIME (EST) 11 AM 1 PM 3 PM 5 PM SKY (%).............78 81 70 60 WEATHER COV.........S CHC S CHC S CHC S CHC WEATHER TYPE........RNSHWR RNSHWR RNSHWR RNSHWR TEMP................67 69 69 65 RH..................54 48 46 47 20 FT WIND..........W 7 W 10 W 10 W 9 20 FT WIND GUST.....12 20 25 20 EYE LEVEL WIND......W 5 W 7 W 7 W 7 EYE LVL WND GST.....15 20 25 20 CWR.................20 20 20 20 .TONIGHT... SKY/WEATHER.........MOSTLY CLOUDY (50-60 PERCENT)...THEN BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY (20-30 PERCENT). A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS EARLY IN THE EVENING. MIN TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 39. MAX HUMIDITY........59 PERCENT. WIND (20 FT)........NORTHWEST WINDS 8 TO 12 MPH. CWR (0.01 IN).......20 PERCENT. MIXING HEIGHT.......2400 FT AGL. TRANSPORT WINDS.....NORTHWEST 28 TO 36 MPH...INCREASING TO 38 TO 41 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT. EYE LEVEL WINDS.....NORTHWEST WINDS 6 TO 12 MPH. TIME (EST) 6 PM 8 PM 10 PM MIDNGT 2 AM 4 AM SKY (%).............56 47 32 17 9 6 WEATHER COV.........S CHC WEATHER TYPE........RNSHWR NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE TEMP................62 57 53 51 49 47 RH..................52 57 59 57 54 50 20 FT WIND..........W 8 NW 8 NW 8 NW 9 NW 9 NW 10 20 FT WIND GUST.....20 15 20 20 20 20 EYE LEVEL WIND......W 6 NW 6 NW 6 NW 7 NW 7 NW 7 EYE LVL WND GST.....20 15 20 20 20 20 CWR.................20 10 10 0 0 0 .SATURDAY... SKY/WEATHER.........SUNNY (5-15 PERCENT). MAX TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 58. MIN HUMIDITY........16 PERCENT. WIND (20 FT)........NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 18 MPH. GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH...INCREASING TO 35 MPH EARLY IN THE MORNING...THEN INCREASING TO 40 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON...DECREASING TO 30 MPH LATE. CWR (0.01 IN).......10 PERCENT. MIXING HEIGHT.......4600 FT AGL...INCREASING TO 5100 FT AGL EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON. TRANSPORT WINDS.....NORTHWEST 39 TO 44 MPH. EYE LEVEL WINDS.....NORTHWEST WINDS 7 TO 18 MPH. TIME (EST) 6 AM 8 AM 10 AM NOON 2 PM 4 PM SKY (%).............7 14 8 4 3 7 WEATHER COV......... WEATHER TYPE........NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE TEMP................43 46 49 52 55 57 RH..................50 38 30 24 19 16 20 FT WIND..........W 10 NW 12 NW 14 NW 14 NW 14 NW 13 20 FT WIND GUST.....20 30 35 35 35 35 EYE LEVEL WIND......W 7 NW 9 NW 10 NW 11 NW 10 NW 10 EYE LVL WND GST.....20 30 35 35 35 35 CWR.................0 10 10 10 10 10 $$ FORECASTER...SILVERMAN REQUESTED BY...GEORGE ANNIS TYPE OF REQUEST...WILDFIRE .TAG 20110218.CCFIR.01/RNK