RAH AFD mentioning the possibility of losing QPF due to a "gravity wave". Wikipedia essentially describes a gravity wave as any wave where gravity is the restorative force, which describes a lot of waves. There is a section on atmospheric examples but it's very broad. Anyone care to share on what gravity wave means in the context of NC weather?
Waves of moderate showers and storms will continue to be
directed across the Carolina Wed evening into Thurs morning
ahead of a back-door cold frontal passage slowly sagging south
across the southern Mid-Atlantic. Precip chances may be
negatively impacted by any gravity wave development during this
time, which can rapidly erode precip generation in this type of
pattern. By Thurs morning, the combination of frontogentical
forcing and an area of low pressure rippling along the front
will likely bring another round of widespread showers and
isolated storms before shifting east of the area by late Thurs
evening. Uncertainty in timing of the fropa is resulting in
lower confidence in the development of an unstable air mass
supportive of surface-based convection Thurs afternoon, which
will be needed to realize any severe potential. Strong and
increasing shear with height will be highly favorable for storm
organization, but conditional on development of deep convection
first.
Storm total rainfall through Thurs evening looks to bring much
needed rain to the area with the reasonable low-end from the
HREF still producing a swath of 0.75 to 1" somewhere over the
Carolinas. However, the experimental REFS paints a troubling
alternate scenario with reasonable low-end amounts closer 0.25
to 0.5". With the potential for gravity wave development and
more quickly eroding shields of precipitation, this scenario
can`t be ruled out.