Ridge city disco from Mount Holly-
Looks like the ridge-city pattern will continue right through the medium range. However, the ridge appears to retreat far enough westward to allow for a series of weak vorticity maxima to dig southeastward through the Northeast this weekend. There are some benefits and drawbacks to this subtle shift in the pattern. The main benefit is that chances for precipitation will be higher as these weak vorticity maxima combine with diurnal heating to initiate some isolated/scattered convection. Models appear to be converging on timing these vorticity maxima favorably for our region Saturday and Sunday afternoon/evening, so I did increase/expand PoPs slightly for these periods in particular. However, the relatively weak large- scale lift and smaller-scale forcing mechanisms do not spell for widespread soaking precipitation. The main drawback is that low-level flow will veer to a more offshore direction, and this will allow for temperatures to increase during the weekend. Highs near 90 are probable, especially on Sunday. The second drawback is that high pressure will likely build in quickly behind the weekend systems. As the midlevel shortwave trough races southeast into the western Atlantic, the midlevel ridge to the west will progress right back toward our region. The result appears to be drier (and continued warm) conditions.