FXUS64 KHUN 210200 AFDHUN Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Huntsville AL 900 PM CDT Fri Mar 20 2026 ...New NEAR TERM, SHORT TERM, LONG TERM... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 900 PM CDT Fri Mar 20 2026 - A low chance (10-20%) of showers and thunderstorms Saturday afternoon into the early evening across far NE AL and southern middle TN. No severe weather is forecast. - The warming trend will continue this weekend, with the potential for record breaking maximum temperatures on Sunday. && .NEAR TERM... (Rest of tonight and Saturday) Issued at 900 PM CDT Fri Mar 20 2026 Northerly flow continues aloft as evident by the southward cirrus currently seen on nighttime RGB satellite imagery. Closer to the sfc, high pressure over the Gulf will continue to keep warm tropical air flowing into the area and thus overnight lows will be much warmer tonight, only falling to the low to mid 50s. Current dewpoint depressions and trends show that patchy fog remains unlikely overnight, so kept fog out of the forecast during the evening update. As high pressure and upper ridging expands over the southeast coast, temps will continue to warm through Saturday as highs reach the low to mid 80s under mostly sunny skies. A weak upper wave progged to move over the area later this afternoon may result in a few showers/thunderstorms over far NE portions of the TN Valley but will keep PoPs capped at low chance (20%) with the most likely scenario being that this activity stays to our northeast. No severe weather is expected with any thunderstorms that are able to form. && .SHORT TERM... (Saturday night through Monday night) Issued at 900 PM CDT Fri Mar 20 2026 The remainder of the weekend will be dry and warm, and we will have to watch for potential record breaking temperatures on Sunday. Right now forecast highs are a few degrees below the records for both HSV (88, 1907) and MSL (89, 1907) but with mostly clear skies in the forecast temps may nudge closer to the upper 80s than currently forecast. Gradient flow will increase a bit on Sunday ahead of an approaching upper disturbance and southwest winds could gust as high as 15-20mph at times throughout the afternoon. A dry cold front will move through the area on Monday, and will cool temps down to the upper 60s/lower 70s by Monday afternoon. Lower dewpoints will make the air feel quite pleasant for early spring with northerly winds gusting near 15mph at times. Overnight lows will also be a bit cooler Monday night into Tuesday, dropping to the low to mid 40s. && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday through Friday) Issued at 900 PM CDT Fri Mar 20 2026 A west-northwest flow pattern will remain in place this week over the Plains into the eastern CONUS as a strong ridge holds a bit longer in the Desert Southwest. This will bring weak shortwave impulses east- southeast through the week, along with a growing thermal ridge at 850 mb in the southern Plains extending east into the MS and TN valleys as a west-southwesterly modest low level jet develops. This pattern resembles one more of summertime with theta-E advection at the nose of the LLJ generating MCSs that drop southeast. Low chances of showers and thunderstorms exist late Tuesday into early Wednesday. We will have to monitor trends, but the pattern looks favorable for another MCS sometime Thursday that may clip our northeast counties, follow by additional chances on Friday as a cold front sinks south into the area. But it's difficult to discern that at this early time. Temperatures will certainly warm into the 70s to lower 80s again by Thursday, cooling lower to middle 70s on Friday as the front arrives. && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 656 PM CDT Fri Mar 20 2026 VFR conditions will persist through the TAF period with the main impact being WSW wind shear of 35kts near 2kft beginning at 07z through the mid morning hours. Wind gusts should stay near or below 15kts through tomorrow. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...None. TN...None. && $$ NEAR TERM...25 SHORT TERM....25 LONG TERM....17 AVIATION...25