Forecast Discussions mentioning any of "HRRR" "RAP" "RUC13" "RUC" "RR" received at GSD on 10/18/16


Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service La Crosse WI
714 PM CDT Mon Oct 17 2016 ...Severe Weather Potential Quickly Diminishing... .UPDATE...This evening Issued at 714 PM CDT Mon Oct 17 2016 The threat for severe storms across north central Wisconsin is really starting to diminish this evening. The main threats are quickly turning to brief heavy rain, lightning and perhaps some wind gusts to 30 mph. 0-1 km shear is rather strong into Clark and Taylor Counties but now that we are really starting to lose surface bases CAPE and CIN is building thinking the tornado potential has passed. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday) Issued at 215 PM CDT Mon Oct 17 2016 The main concern in this period is with the rain chances tonight. Water vapor satellite this afternoon shows a short wave trough coming across Wyoming into Nebraska. This wave will continue to move east/northeast tonight and should reach northeast Wisconsin into the eastern part of the U.P. of Michigan by early Tuesday morning. The wave does come through with a bit of a positive tilt which will keep the best pv advection on the poleward side with just some weak pv advection in the 500-300 mb layer coming across the northern sections of the forecast area. A strong upper level jet will come through with the short wave trough, but both the 17.12Z NAM and several runs of the RAP today indicate that most of the area will be under the right exit region of this jet and the subsidence associated with it. At the surface, a low was over the Missouri River Valley near KSUX. A cold front extended northeast from the low into northern Wisconsin. This surface low will continue to deepen through the day and move rapidly northeast along the cold front reaching Lake Superior by 06Z. Visible satellite is showing an extensive low cloud shield out ahead of the surface low in the warm sector and even if this does start to break up at this point, there will not be enough hours of heating to significantly add to the CAPE. Despite this, with the unusually warm and moist airmass already in place, ML CAPES values are in the 1000-1500 J/kg range ahead of the cold front. Looking at the latest RAP soundings for KEAU and KRCX, the cap in place gets weakened but may not get totally eliminated. If this is the case, then the threat for getting surface based storms appears to be slim, pretty much ruling out a tornado threat. The MU CAPE does extend farther back to the northwest into the cool sector which could still be enough to support a large hail and damaging wind threat. The timing of any severe threat still looks to be from late this afternoon into early this evening before the surface low moves into the area and pushes the CAPE out of the area. The latest sets of hi- res meso scale models all seem to have a good handle on how things should develop through the afternoon into the evening with the best chances for storms generally remaining just to the northwest of the forecast area into Clark and Taylor Counties. Plan to show a 60 to 80 percent rain chance for Clark and Taylor and then quickly drop this down to less than a 15 percent south of Interstate 90. This should then lift out to the northeast through the night with the entire area expected to be rain free by late tonight. The rest of the period looks to be dry, although another positive tilt short wave trough looks to come across the region Wednesday night. This wave should go south of the local area which with the positive tilt, could bring some lift to the southern sections of the forecast area. The front that goes through the region tonight will be over the Ohio River Valley and there is concern whether there will be enough moisture behind this front for the short wave trough to work with. The 17.12Z NAM and GFS keep the area dry while the ECMWF and GEM do show some light rain. For now, will maintain forecast continuity and stay with a dry forecast. .LONG TERM...(Thursday night through Monday) Issued at 215 PM CDT Mon Oct 17 2016 Not many changes in this period as the GFS and ECMWF are still in agreement with a longwave trough moving through the area and bringing seasonable temperatures. Much of the period also looks dry, though the ECMWF has consistently hinted that a shortwave may move through Friday night into Saturday morning and bring a bit of precipitation. While the GFS does show a similar feature, it has it farther north and not nearly as amplified, therefore keeping all of the precipitation north. Beyond Saturday, northwest flow will dominate and temperatures will remain near normal. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Tuesday evening) Issued at 656 PM CDT Mon Oct 17 2016 IFR conditions are possible late tonight in low stratus and BR. Otherwise, a cold front will slide through the region tonight into Tuesday. The stratus will scatter out by mid morning Tuesday and cloud bases will rise to VFR by late morning into the afternoon. Look for skies to become mostly clear during the afternoon hours. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. IA...None. && $$ UPDATE...WETENKAMP SHORT TERM...04 LONG TERM...CA AVIATION...WETENKAMP
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Taunton MA
945 PM EDT Mon Oct 17 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A stalled front over Southern New England this evening moves north as a warm front Tuesday morning. This will bring unseasonably warm conditions with the potential for near record high temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday. Unsettled weather likely at times Thu and Fri. Not as warm late week but still mild for mid Oct. A drying and cooling trend likely next weekend. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM TUESDAY MORNING/... 945 PM update... Isolated showers which moved through N MA late afternoon and evening have shifted to Essex county and will be moving offshore. Meanwhile watching a weakening MCS moving east from northern NY. Weakening will continue as the complex outruns low level jet energy and what is left of the instability, but sct showers may clip northern MA overnight per the HRRR and RAP. Will increase PoPs north of the Mass Pike. A mild night by October standards with mins mostly 55-60 and even a tad humid. The other forecast consideration which may have a big impact on temps tomorrow is a backdoor front which is pushing south across southern ME and may get into NE MA by daybreak. Some of the hi-res guidance holds temps in the 60s across NE MA into the afternoon before pushing the front to the north, while other guidance keeps the front just north of SNE. Will have to examine this in more detail with 00Z guidance suite. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... Unseasonably warm weather is in store for the region. Southwest flow and increasing sunshine Tuesday will mix the column to at least 900 mb. Temps at 900 mb fully mixed would support max sfc temps around 80. If the mixing reaches 850 mb it would support mid 80s. Meanwhile winds in the mixed layer will be around 25 knots. Expect gusty southwest winds near 25 knots. Dew points will remain 55 to 60 Tuesday night. This will mean another mild night with readings in the upper 50s and low 60s. If winds diminish sufficiently overnight, this would allow patches of fog to form. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Highlights... * Unseasonably warm Wednesday, with near record high temperatures * Widespread showers possible Friday * Drying and cooling trend likely next weekend Wednesday... Southeast to west winds continue, providing a little downslope component across eastern MA. Plenty of sunshine will mean another summer-like day. High temperatures expected to approach the records, which are in the 81-84 degree range. See the climate section below for more information. A weak cold front should cross our region Wednesday night. This front could produce some showers. Thursday... A weak front along the the south coast of New England is anticipated to move back north as a warm front during the day. While this front is nearby, cannot rule out the possibility for some showers during the day. More clouds and easterly winds should mean seasonable high temperatures. Thursday night and Friday... Showers look to be most widespread during this period. The timing of various weather features will be crucial to the actual outcome. Latest run of the GFS has much more amplified mid level trough than the ECMWF. Thus, the GFS brings a potentially subtropical or tropical low much closer to our region than the ECMWF. In addition, a low pressure is forecast to move through the Great Lakes into Quebec. Just about all of the models try to establish some form of energy transfer, and develop a secondary low pressure somewhere of the Mid Atlantic coast. Were this to occur, our region would be more likely to get a soaking rain, if this secondary low pressure gets close enough. This is where the timing of all the major weather features will come into play. If the mid level trough is more like the ECMWF solution, then most of the moisture plume stays off to our east. A solution more like the GFS gets us some much-needed rain. At this time, only have moderate confidence in this portion of the forecast. We`re still a day or two away from getting better sampling of the shortwave energy which will ultimately amplify the mid level longwave trough over the eastern USA. Will just have to wait a bit more until this happens to have a better idea on the likely outcome. Saturday into Monday... Risk for showers may linger into a portion of Saturday. However, upper air pattern is progressive, so trend will be for drier and cooler weather later this weekend. Cooler weather persists into Monday, with below normal temperatures. && .AVIATION /01Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Forecaster Confidence Levels. Low - less than 30 percent. Moderate - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. Short Term /through Tuesday Night/... Tonight...Moderate confidence. Mainly VFR. Patchy MVFR cigs and sct showers possible across northern MA overnight. Patchy MVFR/IFR vsbys and cigs possible toward the south coast. Low confidence in IFR. Tuesday...Moderate to high confidence. VFR. Increasing SW winds with gusts 25 knots in the afternoon. Tuesday night...Moderate to high confidence. VFR. Diminishing wind. Areas of IFR cigs/vsbys in developing fog overnight. Outlook /Wednesday through Saturday/... Wednesday...Any lingering MVFR conditions in patchy fog lifts to a SCT-BKN VFR deck. Dry weather prevails. Thursday and Friday...VFR likely to start but then lowering to MVFR or IFR with a risk of rain. High confidence in trends, but low confidence in details. Saturday...Becoming drier. Mainly MVFR to IFR during the day, with slow improvement to VFR Saturday night. Low confidence in timing. && .MARINE... Forecaster Confidence Levels. Low - less than 30 percent. Moderate - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. Short Term /through Tuesday Night/...High confidence. Tonight... A cold front will likely stall across the waters and southern New England this evening. This front will slowly return north as a warm front late tonight. Winds will remain light much of the night. A 3-4 foot east swell will continue on the eastern waters. A Small Craft Advisory continues on these eastern waters for the combined seas. Tuesday... As the front moves to the north Tuesday, winds will pick up out of the southwest, with gusts 25 to 30 knots by Tuesday afternoon. These will slowly diminish in the evening. A 3-foot east swell will linger on the eastern waters through the day. A Small Craft Advisory will be in effect on most waters for both winds and seas. Tuesday night... Diminishing winds, but seas linger at 5-6 feet. Small Craft advisory may be needed for some of the waters. Outlook /Wednesday through Saturday/... Wed...winds diminish as a weakening cold front sags into the region during the night. Thus, seas will subside as well. Dry weather and good vsby, although risk of patchy fog toward Thu morning. Thu...onshore winds as a low pres enters PA and NY state. Low risk for showers and areas of fog. Friday into Saturday...This is a complicated period, which will be dominated by the exact track and strength of a potentially subtropical or tropical low off the East Coast of the USA. Expecting increasing E to SE winds Friday, which will start to build seas. Eventually, these winds turn N to NW Friday night into Saturday. Low confidence in the timing, but moderate confidence in the trend. While expecting rough seas to develop, mainly due to large southeast swell, we may be underforecasting them at this point. Should the aforementioned low off the East Coast get closer to our region than currently forecast, wind waves would also be increased, resulting in higher significant wave heights. Mariners should pay close attention to the forecast during the course of this week, and adjust their plans, as needed. && .CLIMATE... Record High Temperatures: Tuesday October 18th Wednesday October 19th Boston 82 in 1947 Boston 84 in 1945 Worcester 85 in 1908 Worcester 81 in 1963 Providence 85 in 1908 Providence 81 in 1945 Hartford 80 in 1968 Hartford 82 in 1963 && .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. MA...None. RI...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory from noon to 8 PM EDT Tuesday for ANZ232>237-255-256. Small Craft Advisory until 8 PM EDT Tuesday for ANZ250-254. && $$ SYNOPSIS...WTB/Belk NEAR TERM...KJC SHORT TERM...WTB LONG TERM...Belk AVIATION...WTB/Belk MARINE...WTB/Belk CLIMATE...
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Gray ME
932 PM EDT Mon Oct 17 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A warm front will lift northeast through the region tonight. Temperatures will be very warm south of the warm front on Tuesday, but north of the front it will be cooler with showers expected. As low pressure moves through Quebec, it will drag a cold front into New England Tuesday night. This front will linger offshore before lifting back north as a warm front Thursday into Thursday night with more showers possible. Low pressure tracking through the Great Lakes will bring another cold front toward the area Friday into Friday night, more showers possible ahead of it. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM TUESDAY MORNING/... 930 PM Update...Have adjusted PoPs a little bit for the overnight hours, mainly across southwestern NH. This due to a dying MCS that should bring some light measurable rain to that region in a few hours. There probably won`t be any thunder in the CWA with this, but cannot rule out an isolated rumble. Otherwise, WAA showers will be possible later on tonight across the rest of the region as the warm frontal boundary above the boundary layer lifts northward. Otherwise, backdoor cold front continues to push southward and has cleared maine and should move southward across southern NH over the next couple of hours. Have adjusted overnight temperatures based on latest trends in observational data, with temperatures already in the lower 40s in the western ME mountains. Temperatures across southern NH on Tuesday will be tricky and will hinge on how stubborn the SFC warm front is when it attempts to return northward. Haven`t changed current forecast temps for Tuesday, but there is considerable bust potential with 20 degree errors possible in some spots. 6 PM Update...Very minor adjustments to the going forecast based on latest trends in radar/satellite and other observational data. The pleasant evening will continue for most...with showers expected to arrive in the western zones around midnight. MCS over Lake Ontario as of 22z will most likely weaken significantly and perhaps fall apart before making it as far east as the CT river valley. A few showers may survive and if they do would affect western NH around midnight give or take an hour. Previously... For tonight will see increasing warm air advection bring mid to high clouds into the region this evening, with potential lower stratus developing closer to the coast as Tds and temps come together. Watching cluster of convection currently moving across Ontario, which is associated with 850mb speed max and tightening thermal gradient. Nam12 keeps bulk of precip N of the CWA, while 18Z HRRR is pushing convection further S into NH and ME, but weakening /although previous runs kept it stronger as it moved into NH. This will be the rain maker as it moves along the front late tonight into early Tuesday...if it holds together northern and western zones could see a quarter to half inch, and some possible thunder, if not, most areas will be limited to a quarter of an inch or less. lows should drop off enough early to bring the mountains down into the mid to upper 40s, and everywhere else into the 50s, but the temp fall will slow a great deal after midnight. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... Models have been fairly persistent with keeping the cooler in place in all but srn NH and Ct vly as pseudo cold air damming situation with SE flow holding back the warm air in all but York county ME through most of the day. So highs will vary quite a bit, reaching well into the 70s in the souther tier of NH counties and into the low to mid 70s in the CT valley, perhaps as far north as KHIE. These areas will break into partly to mostly skies in the afternoon. The question is how far on the coastal plain can the warm air make make it before sunset. Will hold the areas to highs around 60, with interior foothill and mountain areas in western ME limited to the mid-upper 50s. Any morning showers should end across all but FRanklin and somerset counties, where some dynamics could persist into the afternoon. Cold front will approach from the west Tue evening and will increase the chance of showers in the N and W, but will likely weaken as they head toward the coast, and should the htreat of any SHRA diminish after midnight. Lows will be balmy for the third week of October, generally in the mid 50s to low 60s. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... High pressure builds into the area from the west on Wednesday with another day of warm temperatures expected. Highs for most of the area will be in the 70s, with a few 80s possible in southern New Hampshire. Increased moisture will also keep nighttime lows much above normal. A large upper level trough sharpens over the western Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley on Thursday which will drive cyclogenesis over the eastern Great Lakes. Expect an onshore easterly flow over northern New England on Thursday and an increasing chance of showers as a warm front sharpens to our south. This warm front will lift north into Canada Thursday night into Friday morning while the surface low tracks through the Saint Lawrence Valley or upstate New York. Models disagree on how sharp the upper trough will be and as a result disagree on the resulting track of the surface low, but there is broad agreement that there will be a period of rain beginning on Thursday and lasting through at least Friday night. Both the GFS and ECMWF pull in moisture from a weak tropical low off the east coast as well, which could help produce heavy rain somewhere, but where that may be will depend on the track. The core of the upper trough moves into the Northeast on Saturday and lingers through the weekend. This will bring cooler temperatures and a good deal of cloud cover through the weekend. The GFS maintains a threat of showers through the whole weekend as its upper low drags through while the ECMWF is drier and colder. It is possible that the remaining areas which haven`t frozen yet could see their first freeze late this weekend or early next week. && .AVIATION /02Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Short Term...low clouds develop well after midnight, and IFR conditions expected toward daybreak and lingering through most of Tue morning. KMHT/KLEB/KHIE should improve to VFR in the afternoon, with MVFR lingering elsewhere through the evening. Could see improvement to VFR late Tuesday night after cold front passes. Long Term...Should see mostly VFR conditions Wednesday, but conditions deteriorate Thursday in an onshore flow with increasing clouds and showers. IFR or LIFR conditions are possible Thursday through Friday night. Could see an improvement to VFR this weekend. && .MARINE... Short Term...SCA issued for increasing SW flow ahead of a cold front Tuesday afternoon through Tue evening. Winds seas will diminish late Tue night. Long Term...A frontal boundary which moves into the Gulf of Maine late Tuesday night will linger just outside the Gulf of Maine before pushing back north as a warm front Thursday into Thursday night. It is possible that southerly flow behind the warm front and ahead of the advancing cold front could bring wind gusts to 25 KT over the waters on Friday. Winds behind the cold front may be a bit stronger Friday night into Saturday though the timing is still uncertain. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... We`re currently in the period of high astronomical tides. High tides of note are referenced to the Portland Harbor tide gage where flood stage is 12 ft mllw. It won`t take much onshore wind or wave action to cause issues along the coast and the situation will be watched closely through late this week. In particular...in the strengthening southeasterly flow on Tuesday could bring Portland to just above the 12 ft flood stage...so worth watching as some uncertainty exists with the wind forecast. 1251 AM Tue 11.0 ft mllw 108 PM Tue 11.7 ft mllw 200 PM Wed 11.5 ft mllw 256 PM Thu 11.1 ft mllw && .GYX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. NH...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory from 2 PM Tuesday to 8 AM EDT Wednesday for ANZ150>152-154. && $$ NEAR TERM UPDATE...Ekster
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Duluth MN
445 AM CDT TUE OCT 18 2016 .SHORT TERM...(Today through Wednesday) Issued at 340 AM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 A strong surface low was over far eastern Lake Superior this morning, with a cold front draped to it`s southwest across upper Michigan and Wisconsin to Iowa. Aloft, A shortwave was moving out of Minnesota and into Wisconsin, driving much of the convection currently over upper Michigan and northeast Wisconsin. These storms are also moving along a mid level trough axis/baroclinic zone which is draped from northern Iowa northeast through Wisconsin to upper Michigan. These features are keeping all the current convection to northeast Wisconsin and upper Michigan this morning, with only some showers over northwest Wisconsin. During the day today this low pressure system is going to continue to move east, with diminishing potential for precipitation across the forecast area this morning. Northwest flow and mostly cloudy skies in the upper level cyclonic flow aloft will keep our temperatures cool, with highs only in the 50s to around 60. A weak shortwave that is currently over northern Montana/southern Saskatchewan and producing some showers will slowly slide our direction today and tonight, and should bring a small chance of showers to the forecast area tonight. With the upper level flow remaining northwest and cyclonic in nature, expect partly to mostly cloudy skies to continue. This should also keep our temperatures from dropping too far tonight, and have lows in the 30s and low 40s. Some spots may get colder if they clear out. Wednesday will also be cool as the northwest flow continues, and with enough cold air aloft to keep even mixing from warming us up very much. Highs should only get into the mid-upper 40s and 50s. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday night through Monday) Issued at 340 AM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 The main concerns for the long term involve small chances of rain, possibly mixing with snow, associated with several subtle disturbances moving through the Northland through the middle of next week. A cutoff low is forecast over far northern Ontario and another trough of low pressure will be found over the Central Plains Wednesday evening. Quasi-zonal flow is expected in the mid-levels with northwesterly breezes and cold air advection near the surface. The southern stream trough and associated vort max will kick the cutoff low east into Quebec by Thursday afternoon. At the same time the shortwave trough will amplify the longwave pattern as it moves into the Mississippi River Valley. Clouds are expected to increase Wednesday night and Thursday as a ribbon of vorticity rotates southeastward on the back side of the cutoff low. A few scattered rain or snow showers are possible along the International Border late overnight and early Thursday morning. Northwest to northerly flow over western Lake Superior will raise the potential for lake effect rain or snow showers for northern Bayfield County Wednesday night and Thursday. With relatively warm air temperatures, there are some concerns regarding parcel residence time and the amount of moisture flux required to generate precipitation. A similar set of forecast conditions occurred last week with no precipitation. Wind speeds are somewhat light, as well. Should showers develop, they are not expected to move inland by more than a few miles. Consensus blends feature no precipitation, so added some low chance pops generally north of US-2 in Bayfield County. Beyond Thursday, confidence in the forecast diminishes. Significant differences emerge in the GEFS members and in the deterministic output from the GFS, ECMWF, and GEM. The GEM moves the trough eastward through Saturday and eventually evolves a cutoff low over Quebec Saturday night. Meanwhile, the GFS, GEFS members, and ECMWF all feature a slower eastward progression and an earlier transition into a cutoff low. Guidance also points to another shortwave trough moving into the Canadian Prairies on Friday. The intensity of this feature and timing are split between deterministic solutions, but GEFS members are similar in their handling. The shortwave is forecast to move through the Northland Friday night and Saturday morning. Moisture seems lacking with a persistent west to northwest flow ahead of the feature. Even so, there is a small chance of a band of rain developing along and ahead of a warm front lifting northward as the shortwave passes through. Opted to keep the consensus blend for POPs Friday night and Saturday. Model differences are much more pronounced Saturday night and Sunday. The GFS bringing another potent shortwave and associated vort max into the region, with a compact surface low advancing out of the Dakotas and into the Northland by Sunday morning. ECMWF and GEM show a more subtle feature and GEFS members are split with timing and amplitude of the feature. Consensus yields a slight chance of rain or snow showers in far northern Minnesota and a dry forecast elsewhere Sunday and Sunday night. With poor agreement and overall low confidence, saw no reason to deviate from consensus. Sunday night through Monday night should see a ridge building across the Rockies and into the Northern Plains. This should usher in a period of quiet weather with zonal flow in the mid-levels and southwest breezes near the surface. Temperatures will start out near to slightly below normal for Wednesday and Thursday, gradually warming to near to slightly above normal for the remainder of the period. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 1231 AM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 An area of low pressure had moved to the Upper Michigan between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior as of late evening. A cold front extended southwest out of this low all the way into Kansas. A shortwave and FGEN continued to cause showers and a few thunderstorms over northwest Wisconsin with just light rain further northwest. The showers/storms will diminish then end overnight as the FGEN, front, and low all move away from the region. Conditions varied widely across the Northland, from mainly VFR over northern Minnesota to IFR over parts of northern Wisconsin. As clouds have thinned over northern Minnesota, some fog has formed and we expect that to continue overnight. Fog was also occurring along portions of Lake Superior, especially the south shore. In addition to the fog, the RAP and HRRR both show MVFR ceilings moving in from the northwest out of Canada. A look at observations shows MVFR ceilings over southern Manitoba close to what the RAP/HRRR have been indicating. We bring those ceilings into KINL/KHIB/KDLH late tonight then improve conditions to VFR through the day Tuesday. Another shortwave trough will bring thickening clouds Tuesday night and will lower ceilings late in the period. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DLH 57 41 51 33 / 0 20 0 0 INL 51 35 43 32 / 0 0 0 10 BRD 59 40 51 33 / 0 20 0 0 HYR 60 43 56 35 / 0 0 0 0 ASX 60 43 54 36 / 10 10 0 0 && .DLH Watches/Warnings/Advisories... WI...None. MN...None. LS...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...LE LONG TERM...Huyck AVIATION...Melde
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Gray ME
354 AM EDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A warm front will try to slowly lift northeast through the region today. Temperatures will be very warm south of the warm front today, but north of the front it will be cooler with showers expected. As low pressure moves through Quebec, it will drag a weak front into New England tonight and then move offshore. High pressure with dry and very mild temperatures are expected Wednesday. A trough of Low pressure will track across New England Thursday and Friday and will bring some much needed rain to the area. The system exits into the maritimes over the weekend with breezy conditions and much cooler temperatures in its wake. Along with the cool temperatures, clouds and even a few showers possible in the mountains over the weekend. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/... High Impact Weather Potential: Splashover/minor coastal flood potential /see Tides/Coastal Flood section below/. Current Pattern: A look at early morning water vapor imagery reveals decaying area of enhanced moisture associated with earlier MCS whose remnants are now exiting my southern zones. Shortwave ridging is now arriving from the west with next area of deep moisture associated with developing surface low pressure system over northern Michigan. Down at the surface...we can see a high pressure ridge axis aligned over eastern Maine with building SLPs in a cold air damming pattern setting up over coastal Maine into southern NH. South and west of this feature is a stationary boundary separating yesterday/s warmth from cooler air draining south with the high. With aforementioned low pressure system continuing to lift north and east...and shortwave ridging moving east of our longitude... developing deep layer southwesterly flow will begin to nudge the surface front north and east ahead of an approaching cold front that we/ll discuss in the tonight forecast. Thus...forecast concerns center around 1-precipitation potential in the strengthening WAA regime and 2-surface temperatures and how the surface front evolves. Through Daybreak: Backdoor front continues to push south and west...having cleared southern NH with surface pressures continuing to rise. Last remnants of decaying MCS will exit my southern NH zones through 5am...with nothing more than a few sprinkles noted north of this. Expect this trend to continue...with a few light showers/sprinkles along the leading edge of the moisture surge at H8 continuing over northern areas through 8am. Temperatures come down another few degrees under the light northeasterly flow...in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Today: Deep southwesterly flow overspreads the region today well ahead of deep low pressure that will reach near James Bay early this afternoon...continuing northeast into this evening. Warm front at H8 will depart my Maine zones this AM...taking any remaining light shower activity with it. With surface low pressure so far removed to our north and west...the surface boundary will struggle to make northward progress today...with most recent renditions of high resolution guidance continuing to bring the warm air to a smaller and smaller portion of our forecast area. Will not go all the way to the HRRR which indicates that the warm front does not arrive during the daylight hours...but will trend afternoon highs back some from inherited forecast. This brings Cheshire/Hillsborough/ Rockingham counties into the lower 70s...with 60s north and east of this except northern Oxford/Franklin/Somerset in Maine where mid 50s will likely be it. Certainly some bust potential vicinity LEB/CON/PSM/SFM...but growing confidence that the warm air fails to reach even southern Maine today. && .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH 6 PM WEDNESDAY/... High Impact Weather Potential: Minimal. Pattern: Broad southwesterly flow will remain over the area through the short term forecast period with just enough of an angle between this flow and upstream surface front to push it through the region tonight and offshore for Wednesday. Primary forecast concerns center around precipitation potential along the front. Tonight: Surface cold front will be just upstream of New England at 00Z...nearing the coastal plain by daybreak Wednesday. Llevel flow largely veered ahead of the boundary with mid level shortwave energy having bypassed the front to our north and east. Thus...while a +2- 3 sigma PWAT plume will pull overhead through the night...waning instability and llevel convergence suggests a decaying band of showers /embedded thunder?/ and forecast PoPs will follow this trend with measurable precipitation rather unlikely along the coastal plain. Clouds and warm airmass aloft will allow for another night of mild low temperatures...with consensus lows in the 50s/lower 60s looking good. Wednesday: Nice day expected on Wednesday with high pressure building in behind departing cold front. Deep moisture plume will be pushed offshore during the day...with very modest cold advection behind this feature. Could see some residual clouds in the mountains under modest northwesterly flow...but mostly sunny south south and east of this. T8s remain around +10C with T9s +12-17C north to south during the afternoon. Thus...expect highs to be well above normal...60s north of the mountains with mid/upper 70s in the foothills and points south. Enjoy it...as significant changes are in store in the long term period below! && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... A progressive digging upper trough will move across the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes region Thursday and in advance first spreading clouds and then the chance of rain in the afternoon from west to east. The upper trough will continue to develop over the eastern Great Lakes Thursday night and Friday becoming vertically stacked and spawning surface cyclogenesis across the St Lawrence Valley and upstate New York. A broad area of rain will gradually develop by Friday afternoon. The upper trough will continue to develop as it becomes negatively tilted and then becomes a closed low by Friday night. As the system develops, models are indicating a strong southeast flow will develop to its east and will likely pick up some tropical moisture from a system off the southeast coast of the U.S. This may bring some soaking rains to the area late Friday and Friday night. Models indicate the closed upper low is expected to move slowly north and east into the maritimes Saturday and Sunday possibly allowing some lingering showers mainly in the mountains due to the unstable cyclonic flow. Much cooler temperatures will arrive behind the system Saturday into Sunday. Cool and dry weather is expected Monday as Canadian high pressure builds across the region. && .AVIATION /07Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Short Term /through Wednesday/... Summary: A front draped across the region today will bring variable...but gradually deteriorating conditions...but will lift north Tuesday evening with a weakening cold front moving through the area tonight with high pressure and improving conditions building in for Wednesday. Restrictions: A few showers over southern NH as of this writing with a few sprinkles/light showers over northern NH and portions of western ME. Expect only isolated activity for the remainder of the overnight with increasing onshore flow causing MVFR/IFR restrictions to develop with ample llevel moisture fueling a developing MVFR deck inland. Conditions will very gradually improve to VFR on Tuesday afternoon...first over southern NH...then spreading north and east...likely reaching AUG/RKD last Tuesday night. Beyond this a decaying line of showers will arrive Tuesday night with isolated restrictions LEB/HIE. Also...expect additional fog development Tuesday night CON/HIE/LEB with VFR conditions expected for the day Wednesday. Winds: Calm/light-variable winds away from the coast...with northeasterly winds 5-10kts along the coast gradually veering to more southeasterly and southerly today 5-10kts. Winds will continue to veer southwesterly tonight 5-10kts before shifting northwest 10-15kts for the day on Wednesday. LLWS: GYX VAD wind profile suggest northeasterly winds just off the surface 30+kts at PWM/RKD and expect this to continue through daybreak. Southerly winds strengthen aloft by late this evening with 30-40kts in the 1-2kft layer with another period of LLWS expected this evening. Thunder: An isolated thunderstorm is possible overnight embedded within isolated shower activity. Embedded thunder is also possible with decaying line of showers that arrives tonight. No thunder Wednesday. Long Term...Conditions deteriorate Thursday in an onshore flow with increasing clouds and showers. IFR or LIFR conditions are possible Thursday through Friday night. Could see an improvement to VFR this weekend. && .MARINE... Short Term...Winds nearing SCA levels this morning...but bona-fide SCA conditions hold off until tonight with strengthening southerly winds/building seas. Winds/seas diminish behind departing cold front Wednesday. Long Term...An increasing south to southeast flow Friday and Friday night may develop SCA conditions. Winds behind the system over the weekend may be gusty from the west and northwest so SCA conditions may continue. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... Have issued coastal flood statement for this afternoon/s 1pm EDT high tide given surge forecast of up to one half foot...which would put both Portland and Fort Point right at FS early this afternoon. Wave action does not look that impactful...only 2-3 feet at the coast. Will monitor the surge/winds this morning and see if advisory is warranted. Tides remain high for the next few days...but winds look to remain light beyond today/s high tide. Will continue to monitor. Tides at Portland the next few days follow below: 108 PM Tue 11.7 ft mllw 200 PM Wed 11.5 ft mllw 256 PM Thu 11.1 ft mllw && .GYX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. NH...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory from 2 PM this afternoon to 8 AM EDT Wednesday for ANZ150>152-154. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Arnott/Marine NEAR TERM...Arnott SHORT TERM...Arnott LONG TERM...Marine AVIATION...Arnott MARINE...Arnott/Marine TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...Arnott
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service New Orleans LA
355 AM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SHORT TERM... Not much has changed across the region from yesterday. Upper level ridge that was centered west of the region is now nearly overhead this morning. At the surface, ridge of high pressure extends from the western Atlantic across the southeastern United States. Clockwise surface flow is maintaining upper 60 to 70 degree dewpoints along with slowly increasing column moisture from the bottom up as winds shift around to southward. Thus, precip water value now topping 1.5". The 00z sounding from Monday shows a fairly warm layer cap around 15kft, from upper ridge in place. This will likely keep convective development limited in spatial coverage as well as intensity. Latest radar imagery shows scattered showers in the coastal waters trying to spread inland. The HRRR indicates that this will take place in time, as daytime heating ensues. Temperatures will continue to be unusually hot with high pressure in place, so have kept forecast highs in the mid to upper 80s for the next couple days. Low end rain chances to continue to be in the forecast, but with a transition to more western portions of the forecast area by Wednesday as the upper ridge slides east. Light winds and increased moisture will aide in the development of fog for the next couple days. The main deciding factor on how dense the fog becomes will be low level cloud development. Should see a rapid improvement in visibilities as the surface heats up quickly. .LONG TERM... Models are still showing the next significant weather impact to be a cold front marching through the area Thursday afternoon and through the overnight period. The initial wind shift looks to begin early Thursday afternoon which is about 6 hours earlier than model runs from 24 hrs ago. The GFS still shows more qpf than the ECMWF with the frontal passage but has trended downward and closer to the more typical events for this time of year. A significant drop in temperatures is expected Friday through the weekend. 15-20 degree drop in highs and lows are likely if model solutions don`t change much between now and then. Meffer && .AVIATION... Conditions are not expected to change much for this taf cycle. Fog during the morning at most sites will dissipate by 9am and once again tonight, fog should set back in for several terminals. TEMPO groups should suffice for fog at the end of this 12z cycle. Low ceilings will set in first and lower to the sfc late tonight. && .MARINE... Models beginning to finally agree at least on timing of the cold front moving through Thursnight. The 12z model run today should have a better handle on temporal resolution and sensible weather. Will keep forecast relatively similar to the current ongoing package. Cold front slows as it approaches the coast but is not expected to stall. Stronger forcing moves in behind the front causing it to move rapidly through the coastal waters overnight and early Friday. Some thunderstorm activity could accompany the front mainly over the open gulf waters. Winds and seas will rise quickly behind the front and could stay elevated into the weekend. && DECISION SUPPORT... DSS code: Green. Deployed: None. Activation: None. Activities: None. Decision Support Services (DSS) Code Legend Green = No weather impacts that require action. Blue = Long-fused watch, warning, or advisory in effect or high visibility event. Yellow = Heightened impacts with short-fused watch, warning or advisory issuances; radar support. Orange = High Impacts; Slight to Moderate risk severe; nearby tropical events; HazMat or other large episodes. Red = Full engagement for Moderate risk of severe and/or direct tropical threats; Events of National Significance. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MCB 87 68 86 66 / 10 10 20 10 BTR 88 70 87 68 / 10 10 20 10 ASD 86 69 86 67 / 20 10 10 10 MSY 86 72 86 71 / 20 10 10 10 GPT 83 70 84 69 / 20 0 10 10 PQL 85 68 85 65 / 10 0 10 0 && .LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...Dense Fog Advisory until 9 AM CDT this morning for LAZ034>037- 039-040-046>050-071-072. GM...None. MS...Dense Fog Advisory until 9 AM CDT this morning for MSZ068>071. GM...None. && $$
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Marquette MI
448 AM EDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 446 AM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 00Z raobs/latest wv imagery and RAP analysis show the shrtwv responsible for the heavy ra/svr storms yday evng exiting to the ne along the most sgnft showers/TS. The associated cold fnt on the sw flank of deepening lo pres moving into se Ontario has sank to the s of all but the far scentral cwa. Despite some deep lyr qvector dvgc in the wake of this disturbance, some showers/a few TS linger along a line fm scentrl MN acrs nw WI into central Upr MI ahead of another shrtwv aprchg fm the wsw and under axis of h85-7 fgen behind the cold fnt and where mucapes up to 500j/kg and steeper mid lvl lapse rates up to 7C/km linger per spc mesoanalysis/00Z MPX raob. Farther to the nw, the 00Z INL raob shows a much drier sfc-h5 lyr, but a good deal of hier clds linger in the mstr aoa h5 shown on that raob and on the cyc side of the shrtwv supporting the lingering showers. Main fcst concerns in the short term wl be on pops today and then cld/temp trends as the drier llvl air shown on the 00Z INL raob grdly slides into the area. Today...Incrsg deep lyr h85-3 qvector dvgc in the wake of stronger shrtwv exiting to the ne with deeper convection is fcst to dominate Upr MI, so expect the line of showers stretching fm scentral MN into wcentrl Upr MI to diminish with time and probably by mid mrng as they shift to the ese under axis of h85-7 fgen in the wake of the departing sfc cold fnt. Plan to carry some sct showers thru mid mrng mainly over the scentral. There wl be some gusty nw winds mainly this mrng over the ne cwa in the wake of the departing/deepening sfc lo pres, but these winds should diminish during the aftn as the pres gradient weakens with the closer aprch of sfc hi pres toward the Upr MS River Valley. The arrival of the drier llvl air depicted on the 00Z INL roab/larger scale subsidence/more acyc llvl flow should result in clrg thru the day. Since h85 temps wl fall to only 6-8C by 00Z Wed, expect another relatively warm day with max temps in the 50s to as hi as the mid 60s over the se with the downslope NW flow. Tngt...While there are hints some clds wl move into at least the wrn cwa late as a weak shrtwv/lo pres trof aprch fm the w, lingering llvl dry air/acyc flow most of the ngt wl maintain dry wx thru 12Z Wed. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Monday) Issued at 443 AM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 Nam shows a 500 mb shortwave over WY and another over the Canadian prairies 12z Wed. Both of these shortwaves move east and help dig a deep trough over the central U.S. on Thu and Thu night. Looks pretty quiet for this forecast period, but could still see some lake effect pcpn starting on Thu as colder air comes into the area and across Lake Superior. 850 mb temperatures fall to -3C to -5C on Thu and with lake temperatures from 9C to 12C, this is enough lake-850 mb delta-t for lake effect pcpn. Did add in some pops for this with low chance pops in northwest and north lake effect pxpn belts for thu and thu night. Did not make too many changes to the going forecast. In the extended, GFS and ECMWF show a 500 mb ridge over the desert sw with a deep trough over the central U.S. 12z Fri. This trough is very deep with the GFS and broader with the ECMWF with 850 mb temperatures down to -4C to -7C 12z Fri and this cold air remains over Lake Superior through 12z Sat. A shortwave moves through Sat night into Sun morning. A broad 500 mb ridge moves into the Rockies with a trough over the ern U.S. 12z Mon. Temperatures look to be below normal for the start of this forecast and then get to near normal by the end of the forecast period. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 125 AM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 Lingering low level moisture along a warm front will keep lower ceilings and visibility in place through tonight. A stronger low pressure system will lift northeastward into the area and could bring around of showers into the TAF sites, although it looks like heaviest rain has moved east of the TAF sites. Conditions should remain in the IFR to LIFR range through late tonight at all the TAF sites although expect dry air to move on gusty w-nw winds late tonight into Tue morning allowing for conditions to quickly improve to VFR by late morning/early afternoon. && .MARINE...(For the 4 AM Lake Superior forecast issuance) Issued at 446 AM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 Cancelled previous gale warning in effect for the e half of Lake Superior as lo pres exiting to the ne is not intensifying as quickly as anticipated, resulting in weaker nw winds up to only 30 kts in this area. Then expect winds to diminish to under 25 kts by this aftn and remain at 20-25 kts or less through the rest of the week as a relatively weak pressure gradient dominates. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Upper Michigan... None. Lake Superior... None. Lake Michigan... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...KC LONG TERM...07 AVIATION...Voss MARINE...KC
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pueblo CO
1119 PM MDT Mon Oct 17 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday) Issued at 237 PM MDT Mon Oct 17 2016 ...Critical Fire Weather conditions continuing into this evening... Strong winds and critical fire weather conditions will continue across the district this evening until winds decouple and/or the arrival of a cold front brings slightly higher humidity levels into eastern portions of the area. The cold front is evident in latest radar loops across northeast El Paso county extending eastward across northern Kiowa county. HRRR seems to be a little slow with its progression westward and southward. Front should move through most of the southeast plains by 04z. This will shift winds out of the northeast to east across the plains with the front banking up along the east slopes of the southeast mountains overnight. Meanwhile...winds across the mountains have already started to decrease below high wind criteria as the mountain wave has broken down. Its will remain windy through 6 PM due to deep mixing though think the gusts in the 60 to 70 mph range will stay confined to the highest peaks. Gusts in the 40 to 50 mph will continue for the lower eastern slope regions until 6 PM...but should gradually decrease after that. Have taken down the high wind warning as damaging wind gusts in excess of 75 mph are no longer expected. Will leave the Red Flag warning up until 9 PM...though suspect that eastern portions of the area may be able to be cancelled earlier as humidities come up behind the front. For tomorrow...temperatures will be quite a bit cooler across the area...with readings down around climatological normals. Winds across the southeast plains and lower eastern slopes of the southeast mountains will be lighter tomorrow...though gusty winds will likely resurface across the mountains and interior valleys once again. However with the cooler temperatures expected...humidity levels should stay above the 15 percent critical threshold for Fire Weather concerns. -KT .LONG TERM...(Tuesday night through Monday) Issued at 237 PM MDT Mon Oct 17 2016 ...Very dry conditions continue... Extended forecast looks pretty quiet. Cooler conditions through mid week, followed by gradual warming as high pressure builds strongly over the W US. Any chance of precip for our area will come Tue night, as a trough moves through N CO. Precip will be confined to Mts of Lake and Chaffee County. Could see an inch or so over the Dvd by Wed morning before things rapidly clear out behind the system Wed morning. Cannot rule out some snowflakes over the Pikes Peak region, but probability is low so will keep POPs silent outside the Central Mts. Main impact will be continued cooling, with highs Wed closer to average, or in the 60s over the Plains and 50s high valleys. Beyond Wed, a broad ridge will strengthen and build from the west, resulting in decreasing winds and increasing temps across our area. Could see highs once again around 80 degrees for the Plains by the weekend, and this warm spell will persist through Monday. next chance of any precip for our area will not come until the day 8- 10 period, as a new W Coast trough begins to move into the Rockies. Rose && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 1119 PM MDT Mon Oct 17 2016 Other than some gusty winds...primarily during the afternoon hours as well as the possibility of some smoke at times from the Junkins wildfire located to the west-southwest of Pueblo...anticipate that VFR conditions will continue over the KALS...KCOS taf KPUB sites during the next 24 hours. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Raleigh NC
400 AM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure at the surface and ridging aloft will keep conditions warm and dry for the next few days, before a frontal system approaches for the end of the week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 300 AM Tuesday... Fog may be a problem this morning but compared to previous days forecast soundings look a little drier at the surface and dewpoint depressions are generally larger. If fog were to occur it would most likely be in the east. HRRR, SREF, and RAP solutions are not bullish on fog so have kept it out of the TAFs at this time and will adjust as needed. Another warm day is expected and persistence suggests temperatures climbing into the low to mid 80s by this afternoon as high pressure continues at the surface with ridging aloft. Southwesterly return flow around the back side of the surface high will help to bring a little warm air advection to the area. No precipitation is expected and clouds should be at a minimum, thus helping insolation bring those afternoon highs up. Low temperatures in the upper 50s. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... As of 300 AM Tuesday... Wednesday will most likely be the warmest day of the week as high pressure continues to dominate the surface pattern. Thicknesses suggest high temperatures topping out in the mid 80s which for GSO is near record levels but we could end up just below on the day. Light southerly flow will again prevail with little cloud cover. Low temperatures in the low 60s. && .LONG TERM /Thursday through Monday/... As of 355 AM Tuesday... Thu: Another warm day, falling a few degrees short of daily records. We`ll remain in a mild prefrontal air mass with a deep but narrowing and weakening high pressure ridge spanning the area SW to NE. Expect plenty of sunshine with a continued dry column, stable through a deep layer, and no opportunity for moisture return. Projected thicknesses get warmer with each set of model runs; a few days ago, thickness forecasts for Thu were 20-25 m above normal, and now they reach to around 35 m above normal, suggesting highs in the lower-mid 80s. Thu night-Sat night: The potential remains for tropical or subtropical low development between the Bahamas and Bermuda by mid week, although the consensus of model solutions keeps this low tracking roughly northward well off the Carolina coast Thu through Fri. The cold front is expected to be aligned along the central/ southern Appalachians at 12z Fri morning, although if the GEFS/ECMWF ensemble mean/SREF mean (a bit slower than op GFS/ECMWF) are correct, this could be a little fast. But with substantial energy diving into the trough base, it is apt to stay progressive, with the surface cold front sweeping through central NC during the day Fri. Moisture return remains scant along and ahead of the front, with moisture fairly shallow and fleeting. Best forcing for ascent including mid level DPVA and upper divergence will be focused to our W and N, over western NC into VA, and will stay with the best pops here, with lower chances across the south. QPF appears small given the modest PW and shallow moisture. Expect highs Fri from the upper 60s NW to mid 70s SE. Thicknesses take their deepest plunge late Fri into Fri night, bottoming out 30-35 m below normal. Will stay close to guidance with highs in the lower-mid 60s, although if thicknesses do indeed drop this low with a steady cool NW breeze, later forecasts may need to bump these highs down a category. Lows will be in the upper 40s west/lower 50s east Fri night, and solidly in the lower to mid 40s Sat night. Sun-Mon: Fair and cool but with moderating temps back near normal. the mid level trough axis will kick farther to our NE with rising heights aloft, while modified high pressure at the surface builds across the Gulf states and Southeast. Highs 65-70 Sun and 69-73 Mon with mostly sunny skies. -GIH && .AVIATION /06Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... As of 130 AM Tuesday... 24 Hour TAF period: Fog will once again be the primary concern this morning although less confidence in it happening this morning as compared to previous days. Short term models are not showing much in the way of fog development and forecast soundings are drier at the surface then they have been the last few days. Dewpoint depressions in the observations are also larger than they have been but if fog were to occur it would be at KRWI or KFAY. Otherwise another day of light southwesterly winds with no precipitation and mostly clear skies. Long term: VFR conditions are largely expected through Friday or so when the next frontal system will approach from the west and bring a chance for sub-VFR aviation conditions. && .RAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Ellis NEAR TERM...Ellis SHORT TERM...Ellis LONG TERM...Hartfield AVIATION...Ellis
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service State College PA
1031 AM EDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SYNOPSIS... Southwest flow ahead of a cold front will keep much above normal temperatures over the region right through midweek. Cooler air will follow the cold frontal passage Wednesday. Unsettled conditions will redevelop for the end of the week as a series of low pressure areas ripple up along the trailing cold front. Breezy and colder weather will move in for the weekend. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Another very warm day in progress with maxes topping 80F across much of central and southern PA. See the Climo section below for some of the records. A sfc cold front will be approaching the eastern Gr Lakes by nightfall which could threaten a shower into my NWRN zones before the day is over, but in most places it will be a very warm and dry day. HRRR suggests we should easily mix to at least 850 supporting highs exceeding 70 over the north, and reaching at least the mid 80s over southern areas. With dewpoints nudging 60, it will even feel a little humid. The cold front will sag south overnight. Near term guidance is in good agreement with the front washing and the area of showers dwindling as it moves out of NWRN Pa down toward the coastal plain. With the increase in cloudcover, lows will likely be even warmer than tonight ranging from the mid 50s to mid 60s north to south. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY/... Wednesday will still be very mild with almost no push of cooler air behind the diffuse-dying cold front. A blend of models support the potential for a stray shower over western and southern areas. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... The trailing cold front is made to become the center of weather attention for Thursday and Friday as a storm system or a series of waves along the front organize over the southern Ohio Valley and slide up through central Pa. The exact track of the low will determine where the best rain will fall with a steady moderate to heavy rain expected along and just behind the front, and a more showery precipitation expected in the warm sector east of the front. Right now the GEFS/GFS and ECMWF all show a track through central Pa which would favor the NWRN half or so of my forecast area for an inch or more of rain. The upper trough will sharpen markedly as it drops through the eastern Gr Lakes and closes off over NY before tracking into New England and eastern Canada. A cooler blustery NW flow will develop in its wake with scattered showers, especially over the higher elevations of the west and north, a pattern we will see many times over the upcoming cold weather months. By Saturday morning it could be cold enough over the far NW for some wet snowflakes to mix with the rain showers. Saturday night into Sunday morning will be cooler still with a better chance of rain or wet snow showers. No accumulations are expected. For the last part of the weekend into early next week we should see colder and mainly dry west/northwest flow. Deterministic GFS differs from the ECMWF by showing a weak clipper type shortwave bringing a chance of precip back into northern Pa by Sunday night. The GEFS doesn`t support this. I used the blended MOS to arrive at a very small chance of showers, but confidence is low. && .AVIATION /15Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... VFR conds will last through this afternoon as SW flow increases ahead of an approaching cold front. Winds will increase to around 10 mph (with gusts to 14-18 mph mainly across the west). A cold front nears this evening, showers and cig restrictions will work into the NW mtns. As front washes out over the central mtns heading into Wed, MVFR cig restrictions and a few stray showers will be poss - mainly the first half of the day. Unsettled weather will impact the area late week into the weekend. Outlook... Tonight...Reductions NW half with chance of showers. Wed...Reductions NW half and potentially into central mtns. Thu-Fri...Reductions likely areawide. Sct showers SE, period of rain elsewhere. Sat...Restrictions NW. Sct showers NW. Breezy. && .CLIMATE... Daily record maximum temperatures are in jeopardy for 10/18. Here are the current records: Harrisburg: 82 in 1908 Williamsport: 82 in 1964 Altoona: 81 in 1998 Bradford: 75 in 1963 State College: 83 in 1938* *10/18 high will be officially recorded on 10/19 (7am-7am COOP) report so used 10/19 for record purposes. && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...La Corte NEAR TERM...DeVoir/La Corte SHORT TERM...La Corte LONG TERM...La Corte AVIATION...DeVoir/RXR CLIMATE...
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Gray ME
1025 AM EDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A warm front will try to slowly lift northeast through the region today. Temperatures will be very warm south of the warm front today, but north of the front it will be cooler with showers expected. As low pressure moves through Quebec, it will drag a weak front into New England tonight and then move offshore. High pressure with dry and very mild temperatures are expected Wednesday. A trough of Low pressure will track across New England Thursday and Friday and will bring some much needed rain to the area. The system exits into the maritimes over the weekend with breezy conditions and much cooler temperatures in its wake. Along with the cool temperatures, clouds and even a few showers possible in the mountains over the weekend. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/... 1020 AM...Winds have been more NE than SE this morning and this allowing for stronger cold air damming to hold. Have adjusted sky and temps to hold onto the clouds and cooler air longer across the southern zones, and tweak maxes down in this areas as well. Meso models do want to break the inversion in southern NH, the CT valley and SW ME, but it will likely not happen until early to mid afternoon, so highs will be limited to the mid to upper 60s in many spots, with a few spots in the CT valley and maybe the Merrimack valley making it to 70 or so. Also added patchy FG/DZ to the coastal zones and the coastal plain of ME as the will see more in the way of warm moisture advection above the inversion here. 630 AM Update: Only minor changes needed this hour with shower activity essentially over as we find ourselves in a void between activity north of the international border and more showers off the Massachusetts coast...with H8 warm front moving overhead with just a sprinkle or two. Adjusted to current temperatures/dewpoints with very minor PoP tweaks...primarily to lower them in the near term. Previous discussion below... High Impact Weather Potential: Splashover/minor coastal flood potential /see Tides/Coastal Flood section below/. Current Pattern: A look at early morning water vapor imagery reveals decaying area of enhanced moisture associated with earlier MCS whose remnants are now exiting my southern zones. Shortwave ridging is now arriving from the west with next area of deep moisture associated with developing surface low pressure system over northern Michigan. Down at the surface...we can see a high pressure ridge axis aligned over eastern Maine with building SLPs in a cold air damming pattern setting up over coastal Maine into southern NH. South and west of this feature is a stationary boundary separating yesterday/s warmth from cooler air draining south with the high. With aforementioned low pressure system continuing to lift north and east...and shortwave ridging moving east of our longitude... developing deep layer southwesterly flow will begin to nudge the surface front north and east ahead of an approaching cold front that we/ll discuss in the tonight forecast. Thus...forecast concerns center around 1-precipitation potential in the strengthening WAA regime and 2-surface temperatures and how the surface front evolves. Through Daybreak: Backdoor front continues to push south and west...having cleared southern NH with surface pressures continuing to rise. Last remnants of decaying MCS will exit my southern NH zones through 5am...with nothing more than a few sprinkles noted north of this. Expect this trend to continue...with a few light showers/sprinkles along the leading edge of the moisture surge at H8 continuing over northern areas through 8am. Temperatures come down another few degrees under the light northeasterly flow...in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Today: Deep southwesterly flow overspreads the region today well ahead of deep low pressure that will reach near James Bay early this afternoon...continuing northeast into this evening. Warm front at H8 will depart my Maine zones this AM...taking any remaining light shower activity with it. With surface low pressure so far removed to our north and west...the surface boundary will struggle to make northward progress today...with most recent renditions of high resolution guidance continuing to bring the warm air to a smaller and smaller portion of our forecast area. Will not go all the way to the HRRR which indicates that the warm front does not arrive during the daylight hours...but will trend afternoon highs back some from inherited forecast. This brings Cheshire/Hillsborough/ Rockingham counties into the lower 70s...with 60s north and east of this except northern Oxford/Franklin/Somerset in Maine where mid 50s will likely be it. Certainly some bust potential vicinity LEB/CON/PSM/SFM...but growing confidence that the warm air fails to reach even southern Maine today. && .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH 6 PM WEDNESDAY/... High Impact Weather Potential: Minimal. Pattern: Broad southwesterly flow will remain over the area through the short term forecast period with just enough of an angle between this flow and upstream surface front to push it through the region tonight and offshore for Wednesday. Primary forecast concerns center around precipitation potential along the front. Tonight: Surface cold front will be just upstream of New England at 00Z...nearing the coastal plain by daybreak Wednesday. Llevel flow largely veered ahead of the boundary with mid level shortwave energy having bypassed the front to our north and east. Thus...while a +2- 3 sigma PWAT plume will pull overhead through the night...waning instability and llevel convergence suggests a decaying band of showers /embedded thunder?/ and forecast PoPs will follow this trend with measurable precipitation rather unlikely along the coastal plain. Clouds and warm airmass aloft will allow for another night of mild low temperatures...with consensus lows in the 50s/lower 60s looking good. Wednesday: Nice day expected on Wednesday with high pressure building in behind departing cold front. Deep moisture plume will be pushed offshore during the day...with very modest cold advection behind this feature. Could see some residual clouds in the mountains under modest northwesterly flow...but mostly sunny south south and east of this. T8s remain around +10C with T9s +12-17C north to south during the afternoon. Thus...expect highs to be well above normal...60s north of the mountains with mid/upper 70s in the foothills and points south. Enjoy it...as significant changes are in store in the long term period below! && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... A progressive digging upper trough will move across the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes region Thursday and in advance first spreading clouds and then the chance of rain in the afternoon from west to east. The upper trough will continue to develop over the eastern Great Lakes Thursday night and Friday becoming vertically stacked and spawning surface cyclogenesis across the St Lawrence Valley and upstate New York. A broad area of rain will gradually develop by Friday afternoon. The upper trough will continue to develop as it becomes negatively tilted and then becomes a closed low by Friday night. As the system develops, models are indicating a strong southeast flow will develop to its east and will likely pick up some tropical moisture from a system off the southeast coast of the U.S. This may bring some soaking rains to the area late Friday and Friday night. Models indicate the closed upper low is expected to move slowly north and east into the maritimes Saturday and Sunday possibly allowing some lingering showers mainly in the mountains due to the unstable cyclonic flow. Much cooler temperatures will arrive behind the system Saturday into Sunday. Cool and dry weather is expected Monday as Canadian high pressure builds across the region. && .AVIATION /14Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Short Term /through Wednesday/... Summary: A warm front will slowly lift north through the area today before a cold front moves in from the northwest tonight with high pressure arriving for the day on Wednesday. Restrictions: Conditions deteriorating attm with MVFR /and some IFR/ cigs developing north of warm front. This trend will continue through the morning before gradual improvement this afternoon and evening. A few isolated showers are possible for ME terminals this morning with dry conditions this afternoon. Tonight...a band of showers will impact HIE/LEB before falling apart as it moves south and east. Conditions overnight generally VFR except fog development HIE/LEB and potentially CON/AUG. VFR for the day Wednesday. Winds: Generally from the northeast 5-10kts today...shifting south 10 kts this afternoon into this evening as the warm front moves north. Southwesterly winds shift northwesterly for the day on Wednesday 10-15kts. LLWS: Impressive LLWS setup this evening as southwesterly flow strengthens atop strong llevel inversion. Expecting 30-40kt winds at 1-2kft all sites through the overnight. Thunder: Very remote chance of a rumble this evening HIE/LEB...otherwise no threat. Long Term...Conditions deteriorate Thursday in an onshore flow with increasing clouds and showers. IFR or LIFR conditions are possible Thursday through Friday night. Could see an improvement to VFR this weekend. && .MARINE... Short Term...Winds nearing SCA levels this morning...but bona-fide SCA conditions hold off until tonight with strengthening southerly winds/building seas. Winds/seas diminish behind departing cold front Wednesday. Long Term...An increasing south to southeast flow Friday and Friday night may develop SCA conditions. Winds behind the system over the weekend may be gusty from the west and northwest so SCA conditions may continue. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... Have issued coastal flood statement for this afternoon/s 1pm EDT high tide given surge forecast of up to one half foot...which would put both Portland and Fort Point right at FS early this afternoon. Wave action does not look that impactful...only 2-3 feet at the coast. Will monitor the surge/winds this morning and see if advisory is warranted. Tides remain high for the next few days...but winds look to remain light beyond today/s high tide. Will continue to monitor. Tides at Portland the next few days follow below: 108 PM Tue 11.7 ft mllw 200 PM Wed 11.5 ft mllw 256 PM Thu 11.1 ft mllw && .GYX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. NH...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 8 AM EDT Wednesday for ANZ150>152- 154. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Arnott/Marine NEAR TERM...Arnott/Cempa SHORT TERM...Arnott LONG TERM...Marine AVIATION...Arnott MARINE...Arnott/Marine TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service New Orleans LA
951 AM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .UPDATE... Sending a new zfp package to remove dense fog advisory headlines. no other changes at this time. convergence banded showers in a narrow line from Barataria Bay through Slidell may persist for better part of the day, but should remain limited in areal impacts, primarily fast moving showers, and handled with ongoing PoPs. 24/RR && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 747 AM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016/ ..SOUNDING DISCUSSION... The profile is saturated this morning at low levels with a tropical airmass in place. That is enough for PW to be above average at 1.6 inches. Spot showers are in the 15 kt southerly onshore flow to 780 mb. From there winds switch to easterly in a broad elevated subsidence inversion centered near 700 mb and the air is much drier aloft. The strong inversion will prevent storms today though isolated showers are likely to continue near coastal areas given the ample moisture below the cap. Krautmann PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 355 AM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016/ SHORT TERM... Not much has changed across the region from yesterday. Upper level ridge that was centered west of the region is now nearly overhead this morning. At the surface, ridge of high pressure extends from the western Atlantic across the southeastern United States. Clockwise surface flow is maintaining upper 60 to 70 degree dewpoints along with slowly increasing column moisture from the bottom up as winds shift around to southward. Thus, precip water value now topping 1.5". The 00z sounding from Monday shows a fairly warm layer cap around 15kft, from upper ridge in place. This will likely keep convective development limited in spatial coverage as well as intensity. Latest radar imagery shows scattered showers in the coastal waters trying to spread inland. The HRRR indicates that this will take place in time, as daytime heating ensues. Temperatures will continue to be unusually hot with high pressure in place, so have kept forecast highs in the mid to upper 80s for the next couple days. Low end rain chances to continue to be in the forecast, but with a transition to more western portions of the forecast area by Wednesday as the upper ridge slides east. Light winds and increased moisture will aide in the development of fog for the next couple days. The main deciding factor on how dense the fog becomes will be low level cloud development. Should see a rapid improvement in visibilities as the surface heats up quickly. LONG TERM... Models are still showing the next significant weather impact to be a cold front marching through the area Thursday afternoon and through the overnight period. The initial wind shift looks to begin early Thursday afternoon which is about 6 hours earlier than model runs from 24 hrs ago. The GFS still shows more qpf than the ECMWF with the frontal passage but has trended downward and closer to the more typical events for this time of year. A significant drop in temperatures is expected Friday through the weekend. 15-20 degree drop in highs and lows are likely if model solutions don`t change much between now and then. Meffer AVIATION... Conditions are not expected to change much for this taf cycle. Fog during the morning at most sites will dissipate by 9am and once again tonight, fog should set back in for several terminals. TEMPO groups should suffice for fog at the end of this 12z cycle. Low ceilings will set in first and lower to the sfc late tonight. MARINE... Models beginning to finally agree at least on timing of the cold front moving through Thursnight. The 12z model run today should have a better handle on temporal resolution and sensible weather. Will keep forecast relatively similar to the current ongoing package. Cold front slows as it approaches the coast but is not expected to stall. Stronger forcing moves in behind the front causing it to move rapidly through the coastal waters overnight and early Friday. Some thunderstorm activity could accompany the front mainly over the open gulf waters. Winds and seas will rise quickly behind the front and could stay elevated into the weekend. DECISION SUPPORT... DSS code: Green. Deployed: None. Activation: None. Activities: None. Decision Support Services (DSS) Code Legend Green = No weather impacts that require action. Blue = Long-fused watch, warning, or advisory in effect or high visibility event. Yellow = Heightened impacts with short-fused watch, warning or advisory issuances; radar support. Orange = High Impacts; Slight to Moderate risk severe; nearby tropical events; HazMat or other large episodes. Red = Full engagement for Moderate risk of severe and/or direct tropical threats; Events of National Significance. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MCB 87 68 86 66 / 10 10 20 10 BTR 88 70 87 68 / 10 10 20 10 ASD 86 69 86 67 / 20 10 10 10 MSY 86 72 86 71 / 20 10 10 10 GPT 83 70 84 69 / 20 0 10 10 PQL 85 68 85 65 / 10 0 10 0 && .LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...None. GM...None. MS...None. GM...None. && $$
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Medford OR
548 AM PDT TUE OCT 18 2016 Updated Marine and Aviation sections: .DISCUSSION...Near to the tail end of the recent snow event is moving inland this morning with lightning accompanying the heavier cells in the coastal water and on the coast. The HRRR is handling this system well and is indicating yet another round that will move through the cascades with snow ending a bit after 16-17Z. With this in mind have extended to advisory out past 17Z to account for this and the morning commute traffic. The 500 MB cold pool of -26C is roughly over the Cascades at 15Z with warmer air moving in rapidly behind aloft as the system exits to the east. Showers continue to taper off in onshore flow as the warmer air aloft decreases lapse rates with an upper level ridge building into the region. A warm front brushes the northern fringes of the forecast area Wednesday, and with the upper ridge weakening shifting east another cold front moves into the region Thursday bringing another round of light to moderate rain, mostly from the cascades westward in Oregon, as the front washes out over the region. On the horizon the ECMWF is showing a moderate wind event, with strong gales in the waters, moving in Monday. Sven && .AVIATION...18/12Z TAF CYCLE... Showers this morning will be locally intense, capable of dropping visibilities to between 2 and 5 nautical miles in moderate rainfall across the valleys. Outside of the showers expect a mix of MVFR and VFR ceilings. There is a possibility of isolated thunderstorms along and near the coast until 11 AM PDT. Snow levels will be in the 5kft to 6kft foot range, with partial to near total terrain obscurations this morning. Showers this afternoon will be mostly from Josephine County westward, north of the Umpqua Divide, and from the Sprague River Basin eastward. Expect VFR to prevail this afternoon for the valleys, with partial mountain obscurations. Mid-level clouds are expected to greatly limit low cloud and fog formation to the east side and Northern California tonight into Wednesday morning. BTL Note: The ceilometer at FAA site KOTH is out of service, so there will be no ceiling observations available generally between the hours of 04Z and 14Z. && .MARINE...Updated 215 AM PDT Tuesday, October 18, 2016... Steep west swell will continue to bring conditions hazardous to small craft through early Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, the upper level trough over the area will lift northeastward with the jet stream this morning. West winds become southerly tonight through Wednesday as the southern portion of a frontal system is expected to stall over the area on Thursday before moving onto the coast Thursday night. A stronger front is expected to arrive Sunday or Monday. BTL && .MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...Winter Weather Advisory until 10 AM PDT this morning for ORZ027-028. CA...None. Pacific Coastal Waters... - Small Craft Advisory for hazardous seas until 5 AM PDT Wednesday for PZZ350-356-370-376. $$
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Marquette MI
729 AM EDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 446 AM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 00Z raobs/latest wv imagery and RAP analysis show the shrtwv responsible for the heavy ra/svr storms yday evng exiting to the ne along the most sgnft showers/TS. The associated cold fnt on the sw flank of deepening lo pres moving into se Ontario has sank to the s of all but the far scentral cwa. Despite some deep lyr qvector dvgc in the wake of this disturbance, some showers/a few TS linger along a line fm scentrl MN acrs nw WI into central Upr MI ahead of another shrtwv aprchg fm the wsw and under axis of h85-7 fgen behind the cold fnt and where mucapes up to 500j/kg and steeper mid lvl lapse rates up to 7C/km linger per spc mesoanalysis/00Z MPX raob. Farther to the nw, the 00Z INL raob shows a much drier sfc-h5 lyr, but a good deal of hier clds linger in the mstr aoa h5 shown on that raob and on the cyc side of the shrtwv supporting the lingering showers. Main fcst concerns in the short term wl be on pops today and then cld/temp trends as the drier llvl air shown on the 00Z INL raob grdly slides into the area. Today...Incrsg deep lyr h85-3 qvector dvgc in the wake of stronger shrtwv exiting to the ne with deeper convection is fcst to dominate Upr MI, so expect the line of showers stretching fm scentral MN into wcentrl Upr MI to diminish with time and probably by mid mrng as they shift to the ese under axis of h85-7 fgen in the wake of the departing sfc cold fnt. Plan to carry some sct showers thru mid mrng mainly over the scentral. There wl be some gusty nw winds mainly this mrng over the ne cwa in the wake of the departing/deepening sfc lo pres, but these winds should diminish during the aftn as the pres gradient weakens with the closer aprch of sfc hi pres toward the Upr MS River Valley. The arrival of the drier llvl air depicted on the 00Z INL roab/larger scale subsidence/more acyc llvl flow should result in clrg thru the day. Since h85 temps wl fall to only 6-8C by 00Z Wed, expect another relatively warm day with max temps in the 50s to as hi as the mid 60s over the se with the downslope NW flow. Tngt...While there are hints some clds wl move into at least the wrn cwa late as a weak shrtwv/lo pres trof aprch fm the w, lingering llvl dry air/acyc flow most of the ngt wl maintain dry wx thru 12Z Wed. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Monday) Issued at 443 AM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 Nam shows a 500 mb shortwave over WY and another over the Canadian prairies 12z Wed. Both of these shortwaves move east and help dig a deep trough over the central U.S. on Thu and Thu night. Looks pretty quiet for this forecast period, but could still see some lake effect pcpn starting on Thu as colder air comes into the area and across Lake Superior. 850 mb temperatures fall to -3C to -5C on Thu and with lake temperatures from 9C to 12C, this is enough lake-850 mb delta-t for lake effect pcpn. Did add in some pops for this with low chance pops in northwest and north lake effect pxpn belts for thu and thu night. Did not make too many changes to the going forecast. In the extended, GFS and ECMWF show a 500 mb ridge over the desert sw with a deep trough over the central U.S. 12z Fri. This trough is very deep with the GFS and broader with the ECMWF with 850 mb temperatures down to -4C to -7C 12z Fri and this cold air remains over Lake Superior through 12z Sat. A shortwave moves through Sat night into Sun morning. A broad 500 mb ridge moves into the Rockies with a trough over the ern U.S. 12z Mon. Temperatures look to be below normal for the start of this forecast and then get to near normal by the end of the forecast period. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Wednesday morning) Issued at 728 AM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 As the wnw flow ahead of hi pres bldg toward the wrn Great Lks today advects drier air shown on the 00Z INL raob into the Upr Lks, expect lingering lo clds to clr out and give way to VFR conditions by early aftn. There wl be some gusty winds much of the day at the more exposed CMX location. These winds wl tend to diminish tngt with the closer aprch of the sfc hi pres/loss of daytime heating. && .MARINE...(For the 4 AM Lake Superior forecast issuance) Issued at 446 AM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 Cancelled previous gale warning in effect for the e half of Lake Superior as lo pres exiting to the ne is not intensifying as quickly as anticipated, resulting in weaker nw winds up to only 30 kts in this area. Then expect winds to diminish to under 25 kts by this aftn and remain at 20-25 kts or less through the rest of the week as a relatively weak pressure gradient dominates. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Upper Michigan... None. Lake Superior... None. Lake Michigan... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...KC LONG TERM...07 AVIATION...KC MARINE...KC
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Albany NY
444 PM EDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SYNOPSIS... After a day of record-breaking warmth across the region, a cold front approaching from the Great Lakes will cross the area tonight into early Wednesday morning. Mainly isolated to scattered showers will accompany the front. High pressure will build in on Wednesday, with continued above normal temperatures. Low pressure is then expected to develop and track northeastward from the Ohio Valley region into the Northeast Thursday into Friday, bringing much needed rainfall to much of the area. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING/... As of 400 PM EDT...High temperature records have been broken at our three climate sites this afternoon...Albany (83), Poughkeepsie (84) and Glens Falls (83). Gusty south-southwest winds of 10-20+ mph and abundant sunshine continuing late this afternoon across the region. Clouds and some showers have developed around and just north of Lake Ontario ahead of the cold front. Despite significant warming today, instability profiles look rather meager, so generally expecting showers with perhaps isolated thunder limited to the western Adirondacks for a short time this evening. Coverage based on HRRR and NSSL WRF output looks to be mainly isolated to scattered, with the better coverage north and west of Albany. At least a few separate rounds of showers may cross the western Adirondacks, so have opted to mention likely pops there. The showers and cold front should reach the Capital District around or shortly after midnight, with coverage becoming more sparse farther south and east with limited moisture. It will be a mild night with temperatures only dropping into the 60-65 degree range from around the Hudson Valley eastward, with slightly cooler mid to upper 50s farther west behind the cold front. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY/... High pressure will build into the region on Wednesday, providing dry conditions. After some early clouds, increasing sunshine is expected through the rest of the day. Temperatures will be cooler than Tuesday, but still well above normal for this time of year with no significant change in air mass behind the "cold" front. Temperatures should top out 10-15 degrees above normal with a light W-NW breeze. Dry conditions will persist Wednesday night, as high pressure gradually shifts eastward to Maine by sunrise Thursday. Temps will be cooler than recent nights, although still close to 10 degrees above normal with increasing clouds. Conditions should become more unsettled on Thursday, as an inverted trough associated with developing low pressure across the Ohio Valley moves into western/central NY. The main focus for low level convergence will be the surface trough, so based on its forecast position, areas mainly north and west of east central NY will experience steady/heavy rainfall. However, there should be enough forcing for at least some measurable rainfall for much of the area. Axis of steadier/heavier rain could set up across far NW portions of Herkimer/Hamilton counties, but there are some differences in forecast models regarding the exact position. It will be mostly cloudy and cooler with the clouds and showers around. A more widespread and steadier rainfall could move into more of the region Thursday night into Friday, as the low pressure system is forecast to track NE across Upstate NY. Again there are some slight model differences in the track, which would have an impact on what areas receive more rainfall. However, even if the low tracks slightly farther north, the upper level trough is expected to deepen upstream, with good moisture transport into our area courtesy of a strengthening 850 mb southerly jet. GEFS indicating both PWAT and wind anomalies approaching +2 to +3 std dev. by Friday, with the potential for a narrow cold frontal rainband possibly providing a period of downpours. We will have to see how this system evolves over the next few days, but there at least the potential for some decent rainfall. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... The period will be marked by persistent troughing across the eastern U.S. This means some precipitation likely and temperatures trending cooler/colder. An upper level low cuts off near the forecast area Friday night and pulls north through the weekend. A surface low will be pulling north into eastern Canada by Saturday. Moist cool/cold cyclonic flow around the upper low and surface system will yield likely POPS across the area on Friday night, tapering to chance into the weekend. There is the chance for some snow or rain snow mix across the higher elevations of the Adirondacks Saturday night through Sunday night. Not expecting any significant accumulation. Some differences in the models appear Sunday night with the ECMWF scooting a clipper system across PA and NYC. While the CWA would be on the north side of this system, 925mb temps look too warm for any snow. The current forecast, from the SuperBlend, does not account for this system keeping POPS dry on Sunday night. While there are timing differences between the GFS and ECMWF on when the core of the coldest air resides over the CWA, it is clear that temperatures through the period will average 5-10 degrees below normal. Look for high temperatures to struggle to get out of the 30s across the Adirondacks Saturday-Tuesday. The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center on the system east of the Bahamas calls for an 80 percent chance of development over the next 5 days. The NHC forecast has the system heading northeastward out to sea by the end of the week. && .AVIATION /21Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... A cold front will slowly approach from the west tonight with isolated to scattered showers especially north and west of the Interstate 90 corridor. The front will move south of the region by tomorrow afternoon with high pressure building in. VFR conditions are expected prior to 04Z/WED. Mid and high clouds will increase towards 00Z especially north and west of KALB. The clouds will continue to thicken and lower shortly before or just after midnight with bases in the 4-6 KFT AGL range. The best chance of showers will be from KALB-KPSF north and west. VCSH groups were used at 03Z-05Z with a brief period of showers between 06Z-11Z at KGFL/KALB. The skies may clear between 09Z-12Z with residual moisture in the boundary layer before the wind shifts and the cold advection kicks in especially for KGFL/KPSF so a brief window of IFR mist is included...as well as MVFR conditions. Our confidence is not high at KALB/KPOU and brief MVFR conditions in terms of CIGS/VSBYS were used. VFR conditions should return quickly between 12Z-15Z/WED with clearing skies and strong subsidence with the frontal passage. The winds will be southerly at 8-15 kts with gusts close to 20-25 kts at KALB/KPSF prior to 00Z/WED. The winds will continue from the south to southwest ahead of the front at 5-10 kts tonight...but may decouple at KGFL/KPSF/KPOU to 5 kts or less. The winds will increase in the wake of the front from the west at 5-10 kts after 12Z/WED. Outlook... Wednesday Night: Low Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Thursday: High Operational Impact. Likely SHRA...RA. Thursday Night: High Operational Impact. Likely RA. Friday: High Operational Impact. Likely RA. Friday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Likely SHRA. Saturday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA. Saturday Night: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SHRA. Sunday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. && .FIRE WEATHER... After a day of record-breaking warmth across the region, a cold front approaching from the Great Lakes will cross the area tonight into early Wednesday morning. Mainly isolated to scattered showers will accompany the front. High pressure will build in on Wednesday, with continued above normal temperatures. Low pressure is then expected to develop and track northeastward from the Ohio Valley region into the Northeast Thursday into Friday, bringing much needed rainfall to much of the area. Relative humidity values will increase to around 90 to 100 percent tonight, then drop to minimum values of between 45 and 60 percent Wednesday afternoon. RH values will increase to around 90 to 100 percent Wednesday night. Winds tonight will be south-southwest around 10 to 20 mph with some higher gusts this evening. Winds will shift to the west-northwest on Wednesday around 5 to 10 mph. Winds will be light and variable Wednesday night. && .HYDROLOGY... A cold front move southeast across the region tonight into early Wednesday, bringing mainly isolated to scattered showers. Overall, rainfall amounts through will be light, generally less than one tenth of an inch, but up to two tenths of an inch across portions of the western Adirondacks. Dry weather expected Wednesday into early Thursday morning, before a developing low pressure system tracks northeast from the Ohio Valley region, which should bring much needed soaking rainfall to at least parts of the region Thursday through Friday. Best chance for appreciable rainfall looks to be for areas north and west of the Capital District. The latest US Drought Monitor continues to show drought conditions have worsen across portion of the area. Precipitation departures this calendar year are 5 to 15 inches below normal, with the greatest departures across southeastern parts of the HSA. As a result, streamflow and ground water levels have been running well below normal. For details on specific area rivers and lakes, including observed and forecast river stages and lake elevations, please visit the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service /AHPS/ graphs on our website. && .ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. MA...None. VT...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...JPV NEAR TERM...JPV SHORT TERM...JPV LONG TERM...OKeefe AVIATION...Wasula FIRE WEATHER...JPV HYDROLOGY...11/JPV
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Columbia SC
634 PM EDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SYNOPSIS... An upper-level ridge across the area will weaken allowing an upper level trough to cross the region Friday through Saturday. Surface high pressure will be in control of the region through Wednesday night. A cold front with will move across the area Thursday night and Friday morning. Cooler and drier air will move in behind the front for the weekend. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING/... Surface and upper level ridging will continue over the region tonight. Atmospheric moisture is limited and shallow, favoring the eastern Midlands. Patchy fog may develop with strong radiational cooling overnight but a 15 to 20 knot low level jet may keep the boundary layer mixed at times. HRRR indicating some possible stratus clouds may develop across the far eastern Midlands but confidence is low. Lows will be in the upper 50s to lower 60s. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY/... Dry weather along with well above normal temperatures are forecast to continue Wednesday and Thursday. An upper-level ridge entrenched over the Deep South and Southeastern states will begin to weaken Thursday as a deep trough digs into the Mississippi Valley. Surface high pressure will also weaken Thursday as a cold front approaches from the west. With strong insolation and subsidence...model consensus indicated maximum temperatures above normal in the mid to upper 80s. Despite strong radiational cooling at night overnight temperatures above normal in the mid 50s to lower 60s. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... Models are in good agreement with approaching upper level trough crossing the region Thursday night into Friday night. This progressive trough is forecast to amplify and become negatively tilted Friday. Models are consistent with subtropical low moving well offshore to the northeast as the upper trough approaches. A cold front should move through the region early Friday with cold advection developing during the day. Moisture appears limited along the front and mos pop consensus continues to decrease. Have indicated only a slight chance for showers late Thursday night into Friday associated with frontal passage and upper trough. The front may come through dry. Saturday appears dry across the region with downslope flow. Dry and much cooler...more seasonable weather is forecast behind the front through early next week as surface high pressure returns to the region. && .AVIATION /22Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... Mostly clear skies and SW winds less than 7 knots through the rest of the day. Light and variable winds return around sunset. A 15 to 20 kt LLJ, similar to the previous night, will help keep lower levels marginally mixed. Moisture looks more shallow tonight so may see OGB only lower to MVFR, possibly IFR, conditions rather then the periods of LIFR vis/cigs seen this morning. AGS will likely see IFR/LIFR conditions given similar conditions to the previous night and a nearby moisture source. All other sites are expected to remain VFR during the period. Wednesday, another dry, warm day expected with mostly clear skies. Winds will be light and mainly out of the SW but may become variable at times. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...MVFR or IFR stratus and fog possible each morning through Thursday. Restrictions possible in scattered showers Friday. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...None. SC...None. && $$ NEAR TERM...HC
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
248 PM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Wednesday) Issued at 248 PM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 How to handle spotty showers tonight will be the main issue for the period. Upper flow is nearly zonal, with several weak shortwaves moving through. One shortwave was seen on water vapor loop right along the ND/SD/MN border area, while there is another one evident further west in central ND. Light showers have continued to develop and then fizzle out as they move east today, but there is now an upward trend in Barnes/Cass counties. The RAP and HRRR develop more shower activity further to the north in the next few hours as the shortwave over central ND approaches. Will expand the POPs mention for this evening, but most of the showers should be done before midnight as the shortwave exits off to the east. Tomorrow will be quiet with a weak surface high over the region. As for temperatures, a surge of cold air will begin to move in from the north overnight, with 925mb temps dropping back below zero. The northwestern counties will see the brunt of the cold air advection but also will have some clouds for much of night, so kept lows near the 30 mark. The southern counties should be a bit higher in the upper 30s with less clouds but with some mixing winds and a warmer start. The cool air mass will continue through Wednesday with highs ranging from the low 40s north to low 50s south. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday night through Tuesday) Issued at 248 PM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 Thursday through Friday...This time frame should be mainly dry with a cool Thu followed by a milder Fri as mid level ridging builds this way. A low POP for some mixed pcpn is included vicinity of LOW for Thu morning as trough axis swings through that area near time of min temps. Both the GFS and ECMWF agree on timing and placement of this feature. The next hint of any more precip would occur by Fri afternoon owing to weak WAA over mainly northwest CWA. Saturday through Tuesday...Still not a whole lot of activity as we head through the weekend and into early next week. ECMWF brings a reasonably robust short wave over northern forecast area later Saturday into early Sunday; GFS solution is more of a slight flattening of the ridge with much less QPF. Above freezing min temps and a mild Sunday would make this an all liquid affair. The ridging still seems to want to hang around into early next week keeping temps on the mild side of normal, with a more southwesterly flow leading to a possible showery period at the end of our time frame. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Wednesday afternoon) Issued at 1234 PM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 MVFR conditions continue at KDVL, KTVF, and KBJI sites, although there should be some improvement to VFR later this afternoon. Much of the mid cloud has been to the north, but there has been some patchy stratus and mid cloud across the central and southern forecast area also. Think that the stratus tonight will stay mostly to the north of the TAF sites, but may have to re-evaluate as the night goes on. Some scattered light rain showers are possible but they will be isolated enough to not include in the TAFs. Winds will remain from the northwest. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...None. MN...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...JR LONG TERM...WJB AVIATION...JR
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville, IL
219 PM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SHORT TERM... 140 PM CDT Through Wednesday... A cold front continues to push across the region this afternoon, and stretches from roughly Gary through Pontiac at 18Z. Out ahead of the front, temperatures in the upper 70s with dewpoints in the mid 60s will contribute to close to 1000 J/kg MLCAPE by mid afternoon, so cannot rule out a shower or isolated thunderstorm developing but better chances will be off to our east where there is very modest upper support associated a sheared shortwave pushing across the Great Lakes. Behind the front, winds are turning northwest and easing while skies are clearing out. Latest runs of the RAP and HRRR continue to suggest a lake breeze will form and push inland across NW Indiana and a little into Cook County mid to late this afternoon which will hasten temperatures dropping back through the 60s for those areas. Otherwise, expect quiet weather this evening and overnight as high pressure builds towards the mid/upper Mississippi Valley. High pressure will continue to dominate most of the day Wednesday providing light northeast flow and primarily dry conditions. Despite the cold frontal passage, we will continue to experience above normal temperatures Wednesday with mid to upper 60s north of I-80 and low 70s along and south of I-80. An upper level disturbance currently digging across the Inter-mountain West is progged to lift across the central plains Wednesday. Weak mid level height falls will begin to overspread the local area by mid to late in the afternoon with increasing mid and high clouds. Models do generate some QPF up through roughly the I-80 corridor by 00Z tomorrow evening, though soundings show dry air persisting below 700mb. Could be some high-based light showers or sprinkles moving up from the south into the local CWA, but better chances for showers will be closer to the baroclinic zone stretching from downstate Illinois into southern/central Indiana. Deubelbeiss && .LONG TERM... 210 PM CDT Wednesday night through Monday... A transition back to more seasonal weather is on tap for the extended period. NAM/GFS both depict fairly strong frontogenesis with the cold front Wednesday night in the clash between our anomalously warm airmass of late and the colder continental air arriving from the northwest. This will be coupled with strengthening low pressure from the left rear quadrant of an upper level jet stream and should result in an increasing precipitation shield across the region Wednesday night. At this point the better co-location of forcing and moisture will remain draped south and east of our area, but there should be enough for some bands of lighter to even moderate rain across the I-55 corridor southeastward and possibly even extending farther into northeast IL. This forcing continues through the day Thursday with the jet in the region, an approaching pacific shortwave trough axis and a strengthening surface low continuing the deformation precipitation across much of Indiana with some lower chances across Northwest Indiana. Expect more clouds than sun. While colder air slowly bleeds in during the day Thursday, a secondary surge of colder air will be shoved southeastward by a portion of the Canadian upper trough will reinforce the changing airmass. Models depict this will be a largely dry frontal passage, but do portray some lake effect rain showers across northwest Indiana. The convergence signal is somewhat weak and progressive and moisture is but the thermodynamic signal is robust to suggest there will be some lake effect showers with fairly high confidence, but lowered confidence on how widespread and how long lasting. Areas away from the lake will have sunshine but cool conditions and area wide highs in the 50s, some low 50s north. High pressure returns Friday night and Saturday which look dry, in spite of the EC painting some light precip along an elevated warm frontal boundary as the high approaches. An upper wave will pass by to our north on Sunday which will initially lead to slightly warmer conditions, though there are better indications of a backdoor cold front sometime later Sunday into Monday. The front holds off till after sunset on the GFS, midday/afternoon on the EC/GFS. This will setup a frontal zone across the local area which may serve as a focus for increased precipitation chances Tuesday or into the middle of next week. KMD && .AVIATION... For the 18Z TAFs... A cold front is pushing across the region this afternoon with winds turning NW and becoming less breezy behind. MVFR cigs have mostly dropped southeast of the terminals this afternoon and expect VFR to prevail through the remainder of the period. As winds continue to diminish this evening, a lake breeze is expected to form and push inland across GYY and likely MDW where winds will shift to NNE or NE respectively. Winds will become light and variable after sunset and overnight, then expect a light N or NE wind during the day Wednesday. BMD && .MARINE... 210 PM CDT Today`s cold front has cleared the lake as low pressure across northern Quebec exits the region. High pressure across the Canadian Rockies will creep southeastward into the upper Midwest and plains region over the next few days. Meanwhile, and area of low pressure currently stretched across the Ohio valley and into the southern Plains will lift northeast toward the latter half of the week. In between these two systems a cold front will pass south across the lake Wednesday night with a tightening pressure gradient resulting in gusty north winds Thursday. With the persistent north winds behind the front, expect waves to build on the south end of Lake Michigan and result in dangerous conditions for small craft Thursday into Friday. The high will weaken some Friday as the low continues to strengthen across the northeastern United States Friday. The high pressure ridge will move east of Lake Michigan Sunday and will result in a shift to southerly winds briefly before a backdoor cold front results in a shift back to northeast winds. KMD && .LOT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. IN...NONE. LM...NONE. && $$ VISIT US AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/CHICAGO (ALL LOWERCASE) FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...AND YOUTUBE AT: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/NWSCHICAGO WWW.TWITTER.COM/NWSCHICAGO WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/NWSCHICAGO
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Mobile AL
352 PM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .NEAR TERM /Now Through Wednesday/...An upper level ridge of high pressure remains the dominant feature across much of the Gulf Coast region this afternoon, while a surface ridge of high pressure continues to extend from the Western Atlantic through the Southeastern U.S. Large scale subsidence and deep layer dry air is generally keeping the region rain-free this afternoon, with the exception of a couple of very isolated small and brief showers near the immediate coast. Visible satellite imagery otherwise shows a decent cumulus field across the region this afternoon and surface observations continue to indicate above normal temperatures with readings in the mid 80s near the coast and in the upper 80s to around 90 inland. The upper level ridge of high pressure will continue to build eastward over the Central Gulf Coast region tonight and eventually over the Southeastern U.S. Wednesday. Though a very isolated shower cannot be entirely ruled out mainly over far western portions of the forecast area late tonight and Wednesday, deep layer subsidence and low precipitable water values will preclude mentionable rain chances in the forecast through Wednesday. Forecast soundings indicate a very shallow moist airmass in place across much of our area tonight, which will be a favorable setup for fog formation late. High resolution and probabilistic data, including the HRRR, RAP and SREF all indicate the potential for patchy to areas of fog to develop late tonight and early Wednesday morning, particularly over interior portions of the region. Fog could at least become locally dense, and later shifts will need to monitor trends for a potential Dense Fog Advisory. We added fog mention to the weather grids for a few hours late tonight into early Wednesday morning. Otherwise, an unseasonably warm and humid airmass will remain in place across our region through Wednesday. Lows tonight are forecast to range from the lower to mid 60s inland, and in the upper 60s to around 70 near the immediate coast and beaches. Highs Wednesday will once again range from the mid 80s near the beaches to the upper 80s to around 90 inland. /21 .SHORT TERM /Wednesday night Through Friday night/...Wednesday through Thursday night, shortwave energy just east of the US Rockies digs south over the Plains, then swings east, pushing a weakening front across the fa Thursday night. At this point, guidance is advertising the wind shift portion of the front staring across the fa around 00z Fri and just southeast of the marine portion of the fa by around 09z. Any chance for severe weather will be very low, with instability being lost as the fa heads into the night time hours. Enough instability may be present in the early to mid afternoon (1000-1500j/kg) for a strong to severe storm, mainly along and west of the Alabama/Mississippi state line with a bit better low level southerly flow. Wind shear will be generally on the weak side, though, with 0-3km helicities at 20 m^2/s^2 or less during the late afternoon close to the front. Also, any decent upper support remains well north of the fa, over central and northern Alabama. All in all, am not going to raise the severe weather with this fropa, just a keep an eye on the weather over Mississippi. For the numbers for Wednesday through Thursday night, with the continued southerly flow and an upper high slowly slowly shifting east over the Southeast, temps well above seasonal, ranging from mid 60s inland to around 70 along the coast. Do not see shra lasting much into the evening hours, if at all. With moisture levels on the high side, overnight fog development is again likely, with a few localities dipping into the dense category closer to sunrise. Temps Friday remain well above seasonal levels as the upper high brings enough subsidence when combined with the southerly flow to being temps well above seasonal. Highs in the low to mid 80s expected with a chance of shra/tsra. Thursday night, as the front crosses the fa, temps drop closer to seasonal levels as the front and its rain moves southeast of the fa and skies clear. Friday through Friday night, cooler air overspreads the fa, bringing temps around to a bit below seasonal to the area. /16 .LONG TERM /Saturday Through Tuesday/...As the Thursday/Thursday night weather making upper trough moves off the Eastern Seaboard through the weekend, An upper ridge builds east over the Gulf of Mexico and associated coastal areas. A ridge shifts east over the Plains, pushing a surface high that settles over the Southeast behind the front eastward a bit, but the moisture returning onshore flow remains well west of the fa. Subsidence from the upper level high pressure building/shifting over the fa will bring temps rising back to well above seasonal levels, mainly during the day, but with a dry airmass remaining over the fa, overnight lows around to a bit below seasonal remain. /16 && .MARINE...Surface high pressure will continue to ridge across the Western Atlantic and Southeast States through Wednesday night, before weakening Thursday in advance of an approaching cold front. The front is forecast to push across the marine area late Thursday evening into Thursday night, and will be followed by building high pressure into the Northern Gulf and Southeast States through the weekend. A generally light to occasionally moderate southerly to southeasterly flow this evening will gradually become southeasterly to easterly by Wednesday. A moderate to strong offshore flow will spread across the marine area Thursday night into Friday following frontal passage. Wind speeds may reach advisory criteria Thursday night, potentially lasting into Friday night over the offshore waters, and possibly some of the bays and sounds. Winds should veer northeasterly to easterly and slacken late Saturday night into Sunday as high pressure shifts east and the gradient weakens. /21 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Mobile 67 87 65 86 / 10 10 10 10 Pensacola 69 86 67 86 / 0 0 10 0 Destin 70 85 70 82 / 0 0 10 0 Evergreen 63 90 61 87 / 0 0 10 10 Waynesboro 65 89 65 86 / 10 10 10 30 Camden 64 89 62 88 / 10 0 10 10 Crestview 61 90 59 87 / 0 0 10 0 && .MOB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...None. FL...None. MS...None. GM...None. && $$ This product is also available on the web at: http://weather.gov/mob
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
342 PM CDT TUE OCT 18 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Wednesday) Issued at 341 PM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 Most exciting thing happening during the short term is a weak cold front currently up across central NODAK into northern MN will work across the area tonight, exiting off to our southeast Wednesday morning. Atmosphere is pretty dry in the wake of Mondays front (which is now stretching from around St. Louis up into western Quebec), so rainfall and even cloud cover will be lacking with this front. However, a pocket of weak instability has developed ahead of the front over central ND, with a few showers noted on regional radar between Bismark and Fargo. RAP MUCAPE forecast shows this pocket of instability weakening considerably as it works toward MN, which means those showers in ND will be quickly running out of steam as they cross into MN. As a result, have kept the forecast dry, though a stray sprinkle or two can not be ruled out up by Alexandria between 6pm and 10pm. The passage of the cold front tonight will continue to chip away at temperatures/dewpoints, with h85 temps dropping from around +6C today to around +2C tomorrow. This will result in highs about 5 degrees colder than what we are seeing this afternoon. Did not stray to far from SuperBlend temperatures tonight, with highs tomorrow lowered slightly from SuperBlend values, closer to what you get when mixing down from 900mb. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday night through Tuesday) Issued at 341 PM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 The Wednesday night through Tuesday forecast remains on track. Dry weather is expected for nearly the entire period. Temperatures on Thursday will be in the mid 40s to near 50, which is around 5 degrees below the seasonal average for mid-October. Temperatures on Friday will rebound slightly, with above normal temperatures expected Saturday through Tuesday. Precipitation chances are near zero the entire period. A weak wave will bring showers over the Missouri River Valley Wednesday night, but these should stay south and west of the forecast period so removed pops during this time frame. On Friday warm air advection will bring a band of light rain across northern MN, but not anticipating much if any rainfall in the Twin Cities forecast area. Continued with a 15 to 20 percent chance, but nothing more. Finally, the 18.12Z ECMWF has changed considerably from its 00Z counterpart. It is much more amplified and slower with the precip at the end of the period keeping Tuesday dry. The GFS is trending this way as well. For now have a 30 to 50 percent chance of rain. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Wednesday afternoon) Issued at 1229 PM CDT Tue Oct 18 2016 A VFR period is forthcoming with only issue with the TAFs is the timing of a cold front across the area tonight. This front is currently up in northern MN and will slip through AXN first around 6z and EAU last shortly after 12z. This is what results in the wind trends seen in the TAFs from west today, to WSW this evening, and back to the NW for tomorrow. Lack of moisture behind the front that clear through here last night will keep the front both dry and clouds above 10k ft. KMSP...frontal timing for MSP looks to be between 10z and 14z. Winds will remain on the light side though and generally stay below 8kts. /OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/ Thu...VFR. Wind NW 5-10 kts. Fri...VFR. Wind SE 5 kts. Sat...VFR. Wind S 5 kts. && .MPX Watches/Warnings/Advisories... WI...None. MN...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...MPG LONG TERM...JRB AVIATION...MPG
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Marquette MI
349 PM EDT Tue Oct 18 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Wednesday) Issued at 349 PM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 Water vapor imagery and RAP analysis show wsw flow extending from the Great Basin to western Quebec. Pair of strong shortwaves that brought the shra/tsra and heavy rainfall to parts of Upper Michigan last night are over Quebec, powered ene by 120kt upper jet. Shallow moisture behind these systems and the low sun angle at this time of year allowed low clouds to persist over much of the area this morning. Even this aftn, it`s been a slow process clearing the clouds with only the sw portion of the area now seeing mostly sunny skies. A few -shra have even developed recently in Delta and sw Schoolcraft counties where some sunshine has resulted in a little instability. During the short term, broad shortwave trof moving across the western CONUS will begin to sharpen up as it moves out over the western Plains on Wed. Meanwhile, a separate trof over Manitoba will shift over northern Ontario on Wed as well. As these changes occur at the mid levels, very gradual caa will drop 850mb temps that are currently 6-7C down to around 0C over the Keweenaw to 4C over the se fcst area by 00z Thu. With western Lake Superior water temps roughly down to around 10c, lake effect pcpn won`t be a concern during the short term. Couple of weak shortwaves and an associated sfc trof may generate a few -shra or sprinkles. Given the overall weak forcing and lack of deep moisture will leave pcpn out of the fcst. However, there are some -shra in ND this aftn, so it`s certainly not out of the question that there could be some -shra/sprinkles late tonight and Wed. Temps on Wed will still be above normal over the e half of the fcst area with highs in the upper 50s/lwr 60s. Over the far w, highs will be around 50F into the lwr 50s. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday night through Tuesday) Issued at 343 PM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 Upper trough is forecast to deepen late this week from the middle conus to the Great Lakes. Conditions will turn cooler across Upper Michigan with daytime temperatures falling a little below normal in the 40s Thu-Sat. Normal highs are upper 40s to lower 50s. Temps at about 5kft or h85 should be around -4c to -6c. Those h85 temps with Lk Superior water temps 8-13c will result in delta t/s 12-19c which is sufficient for some lake effect precipitation. Best chance for precip will be Thu night into Fri morning as deeper moisture arrives and inversions rise up to 7-8kft. Additional support for precip will be from at least weaker shortwave energy moving through and uptick in low-level convergence as sfc trough works across Lk Superior and northern Upper Michigan. Low-level flow looks more cyclonic than it did 24 hr ago, so overall the setup will be favorable for light to perhaps moderate lake effect. Location of strongest, persistent convergence is subject to change but attm looks like would affect north central Upper Michigan on Fri morning. Ptype in this area should remain rain with close proximity to warmer Lk Superior waters and as 1000-850mb thickness remain above 1300m and sfc temps stay aoa 38-39F. Farther inland west, wbzero heights blo 1000agl and sfc temps aob 35F would support some snow mixing in with the rain, but attm the overall coverage and intensity of precip for these areas looks minimal. Mean trough then deepens further over Quebec and the northeast conus through the weekend while nw flow aloft continues across the Great Lakes. Still uncertainty on how weekend works out. Even though axis of mean trough will be well to the east and heights will try to rise some, there may be additional shortwaves digging across area serving to keep at least weak troughing in place. Any upper level system working through will be moisture starved though as deep moisture will be wrapped up in strong low spinning over Quebec. Just slight chance pops for the weekend into early next week with temps around normal. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Wednesday afternoon) Issued at 144 PM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 Drier air has been slower to reach KCMX than expected today. Back edge of lower clouds is currently near the western shoreline of the Keweenaw, but is being held up by the upslope westerly flow. Should see low MVFR conditions break out to VFR there around 20z. May see a period of MVFR cigs at KSAW over the next hr or two before shallow moisture is pushed/mixed out. Other than these initial lower conditions, drier air mass settling into the area will lead to VFR conditions being the rule at KIWD/KCMX/KSAW. && .MARINE...(For the 4 PM Lake Superior forecast issuance) Issued at 343 PM EDT TUE OCT 18 2016 Expect winds to remain 20-25 kts or less through the rest of the week and into the weekend as a relatively weak pressure gradient dominates. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Upper Michigan... None. Lake Superior... None. Lake Michigan... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Rolfson LONG TERM...JLA AVIATION...Rolfson MARINE...JLA