Plaincast — the National Weather Service forecast, decoded into plain English

Plaincast decodes the National Weather Service's Area Forecast Discussion — the real forecast, written 3 to 4 times a day by the meteorologist on shift — into plain English. The discussion is where a forecaster explains their reasoning: which models disagree, what they are watching, and how confident they are. Below is the current edition for Charleston SC, with its shorthand expanded. The full experience — an AI plain-English summary beside the annotated original — loads with JavaScript, and every one of the 68 forecast offices has its own edition.

Area Forecast Discussion · National Weather Service Charleston SC (CHS) · issued Saturday, October 24 at 7:18 AM EDT.

What has changed

Updated aviation section to reflect the 12z aviation forecast.

Messages

1) Dry conditions and below normal temperatures will continue through early next week before gradually warming up by the end of the week.

2) A significant multi-day coastal flooding event is expected this weekend through at least the middle of next week.

3) Strong northeast flow this weekend and into early next week will result in several hazards including gusty lake winds, rip currents, high surf, and beach erosion.

This is the plain-text edition, decoded without AI so it loads anywhere. Read the whole Charleston SC discussion at /o/CHS/, see what changed since the last one, or open The National Desk for where the weather is today.