Forecast Discussions mentioning any of "HRRR" "RAP" "RUC13" "RUC" "RR" received at GSD on 11/24/16


Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Albany NY
932 PM EST Wed Nov 23 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A weak low pressure system will slowly track eastward through the Great Lakes region overnight. This low pressure system will move through the area Thanksgiving Day through Friday, bringing mainly light snow and rain to the region. Cool and unsettled conditions will linger into the holiday weekend. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM THURSDAY MORNING/... As of 932 PM EST...Low pressure is approaching from the western Great Lakes Region...along with its associated warm front from the OH Valley. High clouds have increased this evening...and the clouds should continue to thicken and lower based on the upstream observations and the IR satellite picture. The 00Z KALY sounding exhibits a very dry low level air mass with the cloud deck around 20 kft AGL /cirrus/. PWAT is 0.25 inches with sfc dewpts around the fcst area in the teens to lower 20s. It will take some time to moisten the air mass. Upstream some light sleet or a mixture of light snow/sleet is occurring at KBUF and KDSV in wester NY. Much of the echoes further downstream over central NY is virga at this time. Some very light rain is occurring at KAVP in northeast PA. The only very light freezing rain report is at KBFD in the northwest PA. The onset of very light pcpn looks to be around 06Z/1 am west of the Hudson River Valley...as the very light snow or sleet is possible. The latest 00Z NAM and HIRES HRRR continues to show the leading edge of the pcpn drying up from the Hudson River Valley east prior to 12Z. We backed off the POPS until 12Z in these areas. Any light snow mixed with a little sleet west of the Hudson River Valley looks light prior to 12Z on the order of a tenth or two. Temps have fallen off into the teens over the southern Dacks with 20s across much of the region except some lower 30s in the mid Hudson Valley/NW CT. Expect lows in the teens to 20s, and temps to be steady overnight. Temps were retrended based on observations, and a Top Down approach was used for ptypes into the mid to late morning using the latest NAM data. Once again light snow with a little sleet were the dominate ptypes with a transition to rain by the late morning into the pm. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY/... The weather should remain dry through most of the overnight then pops will gradually increase close to dawn Thanksgiving morning as some modest isentropic lift/cyclonic vorticity advection develops ahead of the system`s warm front. Thermal profiles from forecast soundings continue to show snow as predominant ptype with entire column below freezing, with a gradual warming of the boundary layer by late morning into early afternoon, which will allow for snow to change and mix with rain in most valley locations. Snow will linger in the mountains through the day, with accumulations ranging from a dusting to around half an inch for most of the area. Snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches is possible across the higher terrain in the Western Adirondacks and Mohawk Valley regions. Dendritic growth zone still looks fairly high aloft around 15 kft, so snow to liquid ratios should not be large. Temps will remain cool with the clouds/precip around with mainly 30s for highs, except south of Albany where some temps could sneak into the lower 40s. Low level moisture lingers Thursday night as upper level ridging and drier air aloft moves in. This set up may result in spotty light snow grains or freezing drizzle in some areas. Probability for any accumulating freezing drizzle is low at this time, so will not mention in the HWO. Temps will cool to near or slightly below freezing across much of the area with cloudy skies persisting. A stronger and more progressive short wave trough will be moving eastward across the Great Lakes on Friday, bringing more light snow and/or rain showers to the region. Best chances for measurable precip will be for areas north of I-90. Thermal profiles indicate mainly snow or a snow/rain mix for the higher terrain and rain for the valleys. The precip could start out as some wet snow or light freezing drizzle in the valleys if it arrives earlier in the morning. The bulk of the precip should occur during the afternoon and evening as cyclonic vorticity advection increases ahead of the short wave trough. Temps should be closer to normal with a southerly flow developing in the boundary layer. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... This will be a period of near seasonable temperatures of highs ranging from around 30 degrees in the mid 40s Saturday through Monday. Then a warmup begins with highs Wednesday reaching into the mid 40s to upper 50s range. Broad low pressure moving through the forecast area will set off showers of rain and snow through Saturday. Then brief high pressure provides a period of dry weather...particularly from Sunday night through Monday night. Deep low pressure will head out of the northern plains to the Upper Great Lakes and southern Ontario by Tuesday night. This system will spread rain and possibly freezing rain across the forecast area... but strong overrunning will change the precipitation to all rain pretty quickly. Significant rainfall is possible...with a brief mix back to snow possible across the northern third of the forecast area before a pronounced warmup on Wednesday as a warm front tries to push north into Pennsylvania and New Jersey Wednesday night. Significant rainfall will still be quite probable. && .AVIATION /03Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... High pressure continues to move slowly north and east of the region tonight, as low pressure approaches from the Great Lakes Region with its associated warm front. A light mix of mainly snow and rain is expected during the morning and into the afternoon. VFR conditions will continue until the early to mid-morning as clouds thicken and lower ahead of the warm front and weak low pressure system. The better warm advection and light pcpn mainly in the form of snow initially based on the NAM and GFS thermal profiles will be btwn 09Z-14Z. The CIGS/VSBYS will lower into the MVFR range at KGFL/KALB/KPSF. The better forcing for light snowfall will be toward KGFL...and the pcpn should taper towards 17Z. KPOU may stay VFR prior to 21Z. As the weak wave gets closer...and the boundary layer continues to warm a batch of showers or light rain ahead of the wave will likely impact KPOU/KALB/KPSF between 21Z- 00Z/FRI. Widespread MVFR conditions are expected at this time. There may be lapses briefly to IFR levels. KGFL may see the better chance of some light rain after 00Z/FRI. The winds will be light and variable in direction at 5 kts or less or calm tonight. Light east to southeast winds around 5 kts are expected late tomorrow morning into the afternoon. Outlook... Thursday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of RA...SN...DZ. Friday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of DZ. Friday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Likely RA. Saturday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA. Saturday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA...SHSN. Sunday: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SHRA. Sunday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Monday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. && .FIRE WEATHER... High pressure will depart the area tonight as a weak low pressure system slowly tracks eastward through the Great Lakes region. This low pressure system will move through the area Thanksgiving Day through Friday, bringing mainly light snow and rain to the region. Cool and unsettled conditions will linger into the holiday weekend. && .HYDROLOGY... The next chance of precipitation arrives late tonight into Thanksgiving Day, with snow, rain and possibly a light wintry mix in some spots. The precipitation is expected to be light and will have no impact on rivers and streams. Continued chances for light snow/rain continue into the holiday weekend, with very little change in river/stream levels expected. A few inches to over a foot of snow depth has built up across many higher terrain locations from this past weekend into early this week. Only gradual melting is expected, as temperatures will continue to be below freezing each of the next several nights, with daytime highs mainly in the 30s. 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...JVM/Wasula NEAR TERM...Wasula SHORT TERM...JVM LONG TERM...ELH AVIATION...Wasula FIRE WEATHER...JVM HYDROLOGY...11/JPV/JVM
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
541 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 .SHORT TERM.../Tonight through Thursday/ Issued at 315 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 Satellite imagery and trends indicate that the large stratus shield covering the region is not breaking up at all this afternoon, and its back edge is only eroding very slowly over Nebraska. With impending sunset it is likely that the erosion will stall and the clouds will persist and thicken overnight. This is climatologically favored and also depicted by several of the high-resolution models such as the HRRR and RAP. Have increased cloud cover and bumped up low temperatures a bit overnight as a result. There is some question as to whether fog will develop late tonight, especially in the northeast where dewpoint depressions and ceilings will be lower, but given the light but organized winds and relative lack of radiational cooling, have held off on a mention for now. On Thanksgiving Day a surface ridge will cross Iowa bringing calm or variable winds and likely helping the clouds to persist for the most part. Late in the day the next storm system will approach from the west and spread light precipitation into our far west/northwest counties late in the afternoon. Forecast temperatures and soundings indicate light rain initially, changing over to light snow in the northwest by around sunset. Any impacts from this system will likely come on Thanksgiving night as discussed in the long term section below. .LONG TERM.../Thursday night through Wednesday/ Issued at 315 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 Will see relatively strong QG forcing across central and northern Iowa on Thursday night as shortwave crosses the state. Isentropic lift is also decent across northern Iowa where pressure deficits fall quickly during the evening. Anticipate precipitation to spread across the northern third/half of Iowa during the evening as max forcing crosses the state. May initially be a cold rain in many locations but should quickly transition to snow as sounding falls to freezing or below in the low levels. The precipitation will linger across the northeast for a few hours after midnight but precipitation should end rapidly in most areas during the early morning hours on Friday. Accumulating snowfall is expected along and north of Highway 20 with an inch or two north of state Highway 3. There is not much in the way of cold air on the backside of this small system and in fact, warm advection will quickly resume by Friday afternoon. This will persist into Saturday as upper ridging builds across the central United States. Next system approaches on Sunday with strong moisture advection into the state by Sunday afternoon. Showers are expected to push into Iowa by Sunday afternoon and persist into midday Monday as a strong system winds up across the northern Midwest. Conditions will be quite windy during this time with surface low central pressure dropping to around 980mb in western Minnesota. After the system passes, strong cold advection is expected by later Monday into the middle of next week with colder temperatures but not much in the way of precipitation as the airmass will be dry. && .AVIATION.../For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening/ Issued at 540 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 CIGS to remain low through the period, with MVFR expected to drop to IFR/LIFR overnight. Should see some rising CIGS to MVFR again during the day Thursday. Winds to remain out of the NW tonight, before beginning to switch back to the SE toward the end of the forecast period. Any precipitation looks to hold off until just beyond the current forecast period Thursday evening into early Friday. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && $$ SHORT TERM...Lee LONG TERM...Cogil AVIATION...Beerends
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service Kansas City/Pleasant Hill MO
529 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 .Discussion... Issued at 339 PM CST WED NOV 23 2016 The upper level pattern through the weekend is highly progressive with warm air advection resulting in above average temperatures. The sharp shortwave trough which brought scattered convection to the region last night and an extensive stratus deck in its wake has moved into the OH Valley. While visible satellite imagery has shown a slow but steady eastward shift of the clearing line over KS am expecting that to slow to a crawl once the sun goes down. Will hold onto the stratus for most of tonight with the only clearing occurring over the far southwestern counties. The clearing should accelerate on Thursday as the surface high retreats to the east and upper level ridging shifts east through the plains. The next shortwave trough is moving east into the Northern and Central Rockies with some lightning noted with the system. A weak surface low will form over the Central High Plains tomorrow morning in response to the approaching shortwave and track east. However, the best lift/rain chances will pass to the north of the CWA so will maintain the dry forecast. THe bulk of the cold air advection will occur Thursday night and with systems moving so quickly there is little time for any cold air to take up residence. Water vapor imagery shows the next system which the medium range models bring into the region by Sunday is currently pushing towards the Pacific Northwest. GFS and ECMWF solutions have been similar for the past few runs and generate a rather robust h8 southerly jet across KS/MO on Sunday. Favorable downward mixing suggests the model blend is too low with the winds so have significantly raised them. Degree of instability is questionable for thunderstorms as moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will be lacking. But believe dynamics and isentropic ascent will be sufficient to generate scattered showers. Cold air advection looks moderately strong once this system exits the region on Monday. Think the model blend may be underestimating the degree of cooling and won`t be surprised if later forecasts come in colder. && .Aviation...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday Evening) Issued at 529 PM CST WED NOV 23 2016 MVFR cigs prevailing over the region this evening and latest model trends suggest little hope for improvement during the overnight hours. In fact, latest RAP and HRRR forecast soundings, along with RH time sections reveal deteriorating conditions after the 06z time frame. As a result...have elected to offer an IFR mention at all sites with the exception of MKC...which will be further evaluated for the 06z issuance. After we get through tonight...VFR conditions to return areawide after 14z as high pressure builds into the area. && .EAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. MO...NONE. && $$ Discussion...MJ Aviation...32
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Hastings NE
952 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 910 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 Updated the forecast for tonight into Thanksgiving morning to hit fog wording a little harder as the clearing stratus line has stalled, and may possibly retrograde to the west soon. Therefore, as the HRRR indicates, I hit the fog a little harder with some patchy dense fog wording for a swath across the majority of our CWA. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday) Issued at 209 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 The story of today has been an expansive area of stratus encompassing a good portions of the plains states in between a surface ridge axis building south from the Dakotas and a surface trough axis across Missouri and Arkansas. The low clouds have held temps in the 30s and 40s this afternoon while to the west in good insolation, temperatures have reached the 50s. The stratus will gradually erode west to east this evening into the first part of the night. Have concerns for the potential for fog development on the edge of the low clouds and a couple of short term models suggest the fog may be dense. Have included patchy fog for our entire area tonight and later shifts will need to monitor conditions for stronger fog wording, depending on how things develop. During the day on Thanksgiving, another band of low clouds are again expected to develop ahead of an approaching cold frontal boundary. The cold front moves through during the afternoon with winds increasing from the northwest behind the boundary. Pressure rises average 3 to 6 mb behind the front and wind gusts near 30 mph are expected, with the strongest winds occurring across our western zones. Sprinkles or a brief rain shower is possible along the northern fringes of our cwa in proximity of the shortwave trough translating southeast from South Dakota into eastern Nebraska and Iowa. Just not looking for much in the way of accumulation with this light precipitation. Daytime temperatures for Thanksgiving are looking fairly seasonal in the 40 to 50 degree range for much of Nebraska and this will be dependent upon cloud cover again, with some warmer temps in the low/mid 50s forecast for north central Kansas. .LONG TERM...(Thursday night through Wednesday) Issued at 209 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 The winds decrease Thursday night as surface high pressure builds south along the high plains behind the departing cold front. Temperatures Thursday night will be cold again, averaging in the 20s in the drier airmass (cold for black Friday shoppers). For the end of the week into the first part of the weekend, the airmass moderates with rising heights and ridging across the interior CONUS. Conditions will remain dry with temperatures rising above normal into the 50s to near 60 degrees for highs. An upper trough moves inland over the weekend with flow transitioning southwest Sunday ahead of the approaching system. Extended models are in decent agreement that the upper low will lift out onto the plains Sunday afternoon, tracking northeast into South Dakota. Rain showers are possible Sunday in the warm air advection/warm sector, then currently have small chances for snow showers in the cold sector/back side of the system Sunday night. Even though there is some snow in the forecast, chances look minimal at this time for wintry precipitation for our area based on the current northern track of the system. A dry, cooler, troughy pattern settles in through middle of next week with temperatures turning colder and more seasonal for this time of year. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z KGRI/KEAR TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening) Issued at 559 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 Toughest issue will be sky cover and how much and fast stratus backs to the west, which will affect fog potential as well. Gave my best guess as models are not handling this well. && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...None. KS...None. && $$ UPDATE...Heinlein SHORT TERM...Fay LONG TERM...Fay AVIATION...Heinlein
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Lincoln IL
904 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 903 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 The cold front continues to make steady progress toward Indiana, already reaching I-57 as of 9 pm. The only precip still being detected on radar is patchy drizzle east of I-55. The apparent coverage of precip based on radar has been steadily decreasing over the last couple of hours. No additional measurable precip is expected the rest of the evening, so we reduced PoPs to below slight chance and went with patchy drizzle and fog for the eastern counties through 06z. The HRRR and RAP have been consistent in showing fog and drizzle progressing east into Indiana by 06z, which matched what we already had going in the forecast for after midnight. Forecast soundings continue to advertise enough moisture in the low levels to keep mostly cloudy to cloudy conditions the rest of tonight and most of tomorrow. Therefore, we increased cloud cover tomorrow across the board. Did not adjust high temps down tomorrow to due less potential for sunshine, but update later tonight could address that trend. Updated forecast info is already available. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday) ISSUED AT 229 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 Surface low has moved to just northwest of Jacksonville as of 2 pm, with a trailing cold front through the St. Louis metro into south central Missouri. Steadier rains have continued much of the day across the eastern CWA, but has been significantly diminishing west of I-57 as of late. High-resolution models have been consistent in shifting this area east of the Indiana border by 6 pm, and have limited PoP`s to the 30% vicinity this evening ahead of the front itself. Areas further west have only seen some drizzle the last few hours as visibilities have started to drop with the lighter winds. Have gone with areas of fog in the grids for this afternoon and evening, timing the decrease from west to east as the front passes and winds increase, although gridded guidance has been focusing on the areas from about Bloomington-Lawrenceville eastward as potentially being the lowest visibility. While the rain and fog move out by midnight, clouds will be much slower to erode, as the subsidence inversion hangs tight. The NAM model actually never really breaks out of the clouds the next couple days per forecast soundings, while the GFS is more optimistic and at least gets some peeks of sun by Thursday afternoon. Leaned more in that direction for sky grids for Thursday, trying to make them partly sunny. However, we are at that time of year where the sun angle does little to help erode the low clouds, and currently the cloud deck extends all the way back into central parts of Kansas and Nebraska. WRF simulated satellite imagery doesn`t really show any improvement in that regard as well. So, a more cloudy scenario would not be a great surprise at this point. .LONG TERM...(Thursday night through Wednesday) ISSUED AT 229 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 A fast moving shortwave trough remains progged to reach the upper Midwest Friday morning...however precipitation with this feature should remain north of the central IL forecast area. After the feature progresses to the east over the weekend...an upper-level high pressure ridge will build over the central U.S. bringing fair weather through early in the weekend and a warming trend lasting into early next week. Highs Friday should range from the mid to upper 40s most areas to a few lower 50s from around Jacksonville to Lawrenceville. After warming slowly through the weekend...highs expected to range from the low to mid 50s across the area Sunday and mid and upper 50s Monday. Lows mainly upper 20s and lower 30s through the weekend...but up to lower 40s Monday. An active weather pattern looks to set up for late Sunday into early next week. Initially a deep closed low will lift into the upper Midwest late Sunday into Monday dragging a warm front northward across Illinois and setting up a strong warm advection pattern with a moist southerly flow into Illinois. Precipitable water values look to rise as high as 1.25 inches east of I-57 according to the 12Z GFS. This will result in potential for steady moderate to heavy rain until another low tracks northeastward into the area Tuesday. Cooler and drier weather should return for the middle of next week as the system moves off to the east. Potential rainfall amounts late Sunday to early Tuesday in the 1.5 to 2.5 inch range look to target areas east of I-55 in the latest forecast model runs...although considerable model differences remain to indicate continued forecast uncertainty in timing and track of the system. Afternoon forecast package will carry likely PoPs for the warm frontal passage Sunday night....and likely to categorical from the Illinois River eastward for at least a period Monday afternoon into Tuesday. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening) Issued at 546 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 IFR/LIFR conditions will continue for a few hours early this TAF period until the cold front pushes east of I-57. The cold front has passed Peoria at 23z and will pass SPI by 0030z, eventually reaching CMI around 04z. Prior to FROPA, drizzle and IFR/LIFR clouds and fog will prevail. The rain shield has already pushed east of I-57, so the terminal sites should mainly see trace amounts of drizzle this evening. As the front arrives at each terminal site, winds will diminish for a few hours, and with the extensive moisture in place, will likely bring ceilings down to a few hundred feet for a time. Have kept the dense fog limited to BMI for now, but can not rule out a brief period of dense fog at the other terminals east of PIA. Following the front, visibility will improve with the stronger northwest winds, but ceilings will be slower to respond. MVFR conditions should prevail late tonight into Thursday morning, with some improvement in ceilings coming from the southwest. The GFS advertises clearing Thursday afternoon, while the NAM remains pessimistic with overcast conditions through the end of this TAF period. There most likely will be a few breaks in the ceilings Thursday afternoon toward SPI and possibly PIA, but confidence in complete clearing to just cirrus per the GFS is low. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ UPDATE...Shimon SHORT TERM...Geelhart LONG TERM...Onton AVIATION...Shimon
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
National Weather Service Jackson KY
1040 PM EST Wed Nov 23 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 1040 PM EST WED NOV 23 2016 Showers have devolved to scattered at best out there. HRRR suggests a bit more activity during the late night hours, but for the most part not much more rain is expected. Have adjusted PoPs and Wx with this in mind and also tweaked the T/Td grids per the current obs and trends. These grids have been sent to the NDFD and web servers with an updated ZFP on its way mainly to remove evening wording. UPDATE Issued at 730 PM EST WED NOV 23 2016 23z sfc analysis shows a low pressure system rolling through the Great Lakes with a cold front working into the Ohio Valley. The front is pushing a band of mainly light rain into eastern Kentucky. This much welcomed moisture will come up short for the vast majority of the area, though, with general amounts of 0.15 inches or less expected. Temperatures vary across the area from the mid and upper 50s ahead of the rain through the eastern Cumberland Valley to the upper 40s to the northwest and some of the deeper valleys to the east. The arrival of the light rain and somewhat lower clouds will help to mix out those colder spots over the next few hours. Dewpoints vary from the low 20s in the far east to the low and mid 40s west as the higher humidity air starts to spread east. Have updated the grids mainly to fine tune the PoPs per the latest HRRR and radar trends into the rest of the night and also to capture the latest obs and trends for the T/Td grids. These have been updated and sent to the NDFD and web servers. An updated HWO will be issued shortly to remove earlier Fire Wx concerns. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday night) Issued at 303 PM EST WED NOV 23 2016 Lower layers of the atmosphere remain very dry across eastern Kentucky. Despite this rain showers will eventually move into the area tonight ahead of an advancing cold front. The initial rain falling out of mid level clouds will result in virga and will also go to moisten up the lower layers. As low layers moisten up more widespread rain will occur tonight. As has been the case with the past several weather systems, rain chances will be high, but rain amounts will be low. Most areas will see less then 0.20 inch of rain, with some spots in the far east likely seeing less than 0.10 inch. In addition to the lower atmosphere moistening up, an extensive area of low clouds near and behind the cold front will spread into the area early Thursday as the front presses across eastern Kentucky. Low clouds and possibly some very light rain or drizzle will persist into Thursday night. While there will not be much rain over the next 36 hours, minimum relative humidity on Thursday will be much higher than this afternoon, which will be helpful with the ongoing wildfires. Temperatures will be only slightly cooler behind the front on Thursday and Thursday night, remaining above normal. .LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 228 PM EST WED NOV 23 2016 Considerable low level moisture will remain trapped beneath a subsidence inversion Friday into Friday night. This will likely mean another cloudy day on Friday with patchy drizzle before clouds scatter out late Friday night into the day on Saturday. The rest of the weekend looks decent with fair to partly cloudy skies and highs warming from the chilly mid 40s to low 50s on Saturday well into the 50s on Sunday. As we begin the new work week, a deep trough will be carved out over the Rockies with ridging over the eastern CONUS. This trough will slowly migrate eastward through Wednesday sponsoring the development of at least a couple of surface low pressure systems which will track northeastward out of the Plains and into the Great Lakes and/or Ohio Valley. This will result in an increasing chance for rain beginning on Monday. However, from the looks of the 12z models, much of our area stays downsloped Monday through Tuesday afternoon and the blended guidance depicted this well with highest PoPs over our northwest counties and lowest over southeast Kentucky. I brought PoPs to a peak late Tuesday into Tuesday evening when a cold front should pass through bringing a very beneficial widespread wetting rainfall. As previous forecaster noted, this will be a fairly dynamic system but instability is lacking. I kept the thunderstorm mention in the Lake Cumberland region but did not expand that northeastward yet due to that lack of instability in the models. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening) ISSUED AT 710 PM EST WED NOV 23 2016 High to mid level clouds continue to increase across the area in advance of an approaching cold front. The air at the lower levels remains very dry and as showers move into the area tonight we expect ceilings to initially remain VFR, with little restriction to visibility from the showers. As the cold front works its way deeper into the area Thursday morning ceilings are forecast to lower to MVFR and then IFR. MVFR to IFR ceilings are the expected to persist into Thursday night. Winds will continue to be generally light from the south to southwest through the forecast period. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ UPDATE...GREIF SHORT TERM...SBH LONG TERM...ABE AVIATION...SBH/GREIF
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Mobile AL
550 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 .DISCUSSION...Updated for latest aviation discussion below. && .AVIATION... 00Z issuance...VFR conditions through this evening followed by MVFR cigs and visibilities later tonight and early thu morning followed by vfr cigs through 25.00. Lower cloud bases and visibilities mostly ahead and along a weakening frontal boundary approaching from the northwest. Winds will be southeast to south at 5 to 8 kt through early this evening shifting southwest diminishing to 3 to 5 kts late this evening and overnight then shifting south to southwest at 5 to 8 knots during the day on thu. 32/ee && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 413 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016/ NEAR TERM /Now Through Thursday/...Upper air map analysis shows a sharp trof axis moving eastward around 25 knots across the Mississippi River Valley. Within the trof axis, a surface front was also positioned in the same areas mentioned above. A north to south zone of precipitable water values (above the mean) extends from the Upper Mid-West to the western Gulf. Within this zone, precipitable water values from 1.1 to 1.4 inches, moving into the Lower Mississippi River Valley, lies between 130 to 160% of normal. Satellite trends indicate that clouds will be on the increase and thicken in the near term as the frontal zone approaches from the west. Although there is moisture available, a rapid movement of the better dynamics across the local area and the high level energy dampening a bit, frontal ascent weakens through Thursday suggesting showers will be lowering to isolated coverages at best in the near term. This is already being observed in radar with returns moving eastward across southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana. These trends also noted in high resolution HRRR and 4KM NAM output. Precipitation amounts look light, mostly less than 5 hundredths of an inch. There is also a signal in the high resolution NAM12 and the SREF of showing increased probabilities of developing late night fog. Visibility could be reduced to less than a mile at times. Overnight lows in the mid 50s interior to lower 60s coast. Daytime highs on Thanksgiving Day mostly in the mid ranges of the 70s. /10 SHORT TERM /Thursday night Through Saturday night/...An upper level ridge of high pressure will gradually shift eastward over the southeastern U.S. and western Atlantic Ocean Thursday night into Friday as a weak shortwave trough translates toward the Ohio and Tennessee River Valley region. An associated weak cold front will push southeastward into our forecast area during the day Friday. Moisture and lift ahead of this boundary will be very limited, but there may be just enough available to aid in the development of a few isolated light rain showers early Friday morning. Lows Thursday night should range from the upper 40s to mid 50s over most interior areas, with upper 50s to lower 60s expected near the immediate coast. Highs Friday should warm into the 70s area wide. Surface high pressure will build from the Southern Plains to the Mississippi and Tennessee Valley region Friday night into Saturday, then across the southeastern states Saturday night. No precipitation is expected during this time frame as a deeply dry airmass settles into the region. Clearing skies and cooler temperatures are expected Friday night through Saturday night. Lows Friday night should range from the lower to mid 40s inland to the lower to mid 50s coast. Highs Saturday should range from the mid 60s to around 70. Lows Saturday night trend a little cooler in the mid 30s to around 40 over the interior to the mid 40s to around 50 near the immediate coast and beaches. /21 LONG TERM /Sunday Through Wednesday/...The operational 12Z runs of the GFS and ECMWF have come into fairly decent agreement in their solutions with the evolution of the upper air pattern late this weekend into early next week. Dry weather is expected to continue across the forecast area Sunday as shortwave ridging aloft builds from the western Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. Upper ridging is then forecast to shift eastward over the southeastern U.S. and into the western Atlantic Ocean early next week as a broad longwave trough deepens over much of the central CONUS Monday and Tuesday. Surface high pressure will also subsequently shift from the eastern U.S. into the western Atlantic early next week as surface low pressure deepens and lifts northeastward across the northern Plains and Great Lakes region. A surface cold front should subsequently advance eastward toward the Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast states Monday into Tuesday. The GFS and ECMWF both show an organized area of convection advancing eastward toward our forecast area along and ahead of the cold front sometime during the Tuesday-Tuesday night time frame as a fairly potent shortwave trough advances eastward toward the Mississippi and Tennessee Valley region. A low CAPE/high shear environment will likely be in place over our area ahead of these approaching features, with MLCAPE values between 250-500 J/KG per the latest GFS, a developing 45-60 kt low level jet, and increasing 0-1km helicity values between 200-400 m2/s2. It therefore looks like we will have to monitor for severe weather potential as convection rolls into the area Tuesday. Otherwise, this system is looking like it will bring the best chance of rain to our area in a good long while. We have POPs trending upward to 20-30% with potential for isolated to scattered warm advection showers Monday-Monday night, with 50-60% POPs on tap for Tuesday. Rain chances currently appear to decrease Tuesday night into Wednesday as the cold front moves east of the region. /21 MARINE...A weakening front approaches the lower Mississippi River Valley tonight and begins to slow across the central Gulf Coast region on Thursday. The front makes passage by Friday morning. A light onshore flow is forecast thru Thursday with winds shifting to westerly then northerly behind the front Friday. High pressure builds back into the Southeast US over the weekend, establishing a light return flow off the Gulf by later in the day Sunday. A more potent storm system moving across the plains on Monday, combined with high pressure over the southeast results in a strengthening onshore flow and building seas early next week. /10 CLIMATOLOGY...A lengthy period of abnormally dry conditions has resulted in worsening drought conditions over the central Gulf coast. Since September 27th, Mobile Regional Airport went through a bone-dry spell of 42 consecutive days with no measurable rain and 41 days at Pensacola before it finally rained again on November 8th. As it stands to this date since September 27th, 56 days at Evergreen straight, without measurable rain. Current annual rainfall deficits stand at between 6 and 9 inches below normal. Drought has worsened with severe to extreme drought conditions being experienced over the local area. A more potent storm system impacting the area early next week brings the most promising rain potential seen in quite some time, but this system looks to be progressing eastward rapidly enough as to do very little in placing a significant dent in the drought. Stay tuned. /10 && .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 Dodge City KS
301 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 254 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 We will need to watch the areas around Hays early this morning for the potential of fog or stratus development, as the latest fog channel imagery has been indicating this across Rooks county. The HRRR fields however suggest that will not occur at this time. Going foreword, a vigourous shortwave will drive a pacific surface cold front into the High Plains region later this morning. The short wave vort lobe will be moving across the area just behind the front, adding to subsidence and helping create strong northwest winds sustained to 30 mph and higher gusts. Surface winds weaken rapidly with the loss of insolation. Not alot of variance in the model lows tonight, however MOS products are generally cooler in the teens across the higher elevation far western counties. .LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 254 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 The large scale pattern will remain progressive in the medium range. Between the ECMWF and GFS there appears to be a general agreement on a large trough developing in the west, and a closed low most likely to move into the Northern Plains around the end of the weekend. This won`t rule out our area for seeing clouds and even a possibility for precipitation, however the main forcing mechanisms near the warm front would be too far north in the upper midwest with these model runs. As the low develops to the north, Sunday looks to be a particularly windy day with a strong surface pressure gradient and strong subsidence aloft. The region could remain in cyclonic flow aloft easily through mid week, supporting generally cold temperatures (cooler than climo highs). && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Thursday night) Issued at 1256 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 VFR conditions are expected through the entire TAF period. Outside of that, the main impact for aviation will be wind shear early this morning, then gusty surface winds in the afternoon. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DDC 59 27 58 31 / 0 0 0 0 GCK 57 23 58 27 / 0 0 0 0 EHA 58 26 58 30 / 0 0 0 0 LBL 60 24 58 29 / 0 0 0 0 HYS 56 28 58 30 / 0 0 0 0 P28 62 32 59 32 / 0 0 0 0 && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && $$ SHORT TERM...Russell LONG TERM...Russell AVIATION...Russell
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Hastings NE
1215 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 910 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 Updated the forecast for tonight into Thanksgiving morning to hit fog wording a little harder as the clearing stratus line has stalled, and may possibly retrograde to the west soon. Therefore, as the HRRR indicates, I hit the fog a little harder with some patchy dense fog wording for a swath across the majority of our CWA. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday) Issued at 209 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 The story of today has been an expansive area of stratus encompassing a good portions of the plains states in between a surface ridge axis building south from the Dakotas and a surface trough axis across Missouri and Arkansas. The low clouds have held temps in the 30s and 40s this afternoon while to the west in good insolation, temperatures have reached the 50s. The stratus will gradually erode west to east this evening into the first part of the night. Have concerns for the potential for fog development on the edge of the low clouds and a couple of short term models suggest the fog may be dense. Have included patchy fog for our entire area tonight and later shifts will need to monitor conditions for stronger fog wording, depending on how things develop. During the day on Thanksgiving, another band of low clouds are again expected to develop ahead of an approaching cold frontal boundary. The cold front moves through during the afternoon with winds increasing from the northwest behind the boundary. Pressure rises average 3 to 6 mb behind the front and wind gusts near 30 mph are expected, with the strongest winds occurring across our western zones. Sprinkles or a brief rain shower is possible along the northern fringes of our cwa in proximity of the shortwave trough translating southeast from South Dakota into eastern Nebraska and Iowa. Just not looking for much in the way of accumulation with this light precipitation. Daytime temperatures for Thanksgiving are looking fairly seasonal in the 40 to 50 degree range for much of Nebraska and this will be dependent upon cloud cover again, with some warmer temps in the low/mid 50s forecast for north central Kansas. .LONG TERM...(Thursday night through Wednesday) Issued at 209 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 The winds decrease Thursday night as surface high pressure builds south along the high plains behind the departing cold front. Temperatures Thursday night will be cold again, averaging in the 20s in the drier airmass (cold for black Friday shoppers). For the end of the week into the first part of the weekend, the airmass moderates with rising heights and ridging across the interior CONUS. Conditions will remain dry with temperatures rising above normal into the 50s to near 60 degrees for highs. An upper trough moves inland over the weekend with flow transitioning southwest Sunday ahead of the approaching system. Extended models are in decent agreement that the upper low will lift out onto the plains Sunday afternoon, tracking northeast into South Dakota. Rain showers are possible Sunday in the warm air advection/warm sector, then currently have small chances for snow showers in the cold sector/back side of the system Sunday night. Even though there is some snow in the forecast, chances look minimal at this time for wintry precipitation for our area based on the current northern track of the system. A dry, cooler, troughy pattern settles in through middle of next week with temperatures turning colder and more seasonal for this time of year. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z KGRI/KEAR TAFS through 06Z Thursday night) Issued at 1215 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 If anything, this continues to look like a more challenging complex and largely sub-VFR period with at least the first half of the period largely dominated by MVFR/IFR (perhaps even some LIFR?) ceiling and the potential for at least a 3-6 hour stretch of MVFR/IFR (possibly worse?) visibility centered especially during the 09z-15z time frame as fog develops. The ultimate question is: How dense and persistent might fog be, as there are varying solutions in the latest models/guidance? Essentially, this latest issuance strikes a "middle ground" between the more optimistic previous forecast and the more pessimistic solution especially advertised by NAM/MET guidance, which suggests that at least MVFR ceiling could stick around through the entire period. In addition to the considerable ceiling/visibility challenges, at least one model (NAM) is more robust than others in developing light rain/drizzle especially during the 16-00z time frame. Probably cannot completely rule out a few wet snowflakes either, but for now will simply introduce -DZ as precip type as better chances for light snow should focus slightly north of the terminals. Last but not least, as usual confidence is a bit higher in wind trends, but even then there are some slight timing differences in the passage of a fairly well-defined cold front this afternoon. In general though, most of these first 12 hours will see a prevalent southeast breeze at-or-below 12kt, followed by a brief period of variable direction before a stronger/steadier northwest breeze arrives by mid-late afternoon behind the front. This northwest wind should be a bit stronger overall at KEAR than KGRI, with gust potential to 20+KT. By sunset and after, sustained speeds will gradually subside below 10kt. && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...None. KS...None. && $$ UPDATE...Heinlein SHORT TERM...Fay LONG TERM...Fay AVIATION...Pfannkuch
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Gray ME
327 AM EST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure will crest over the region early this morning before sliding offshore. A weakening area of low pressure will approach from the west later today and tonight before passing out to sea to our south. Another area of weak low pressure will approach from the west on Friday and will push into New England Friday night. A trough of low pressure will remain over the region on Saturday through Sunday. High pressure will build in from the west Sunday night and Monday. High pressure will crest over the region Monday night and will shift off to the east on Tuesday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TODAY/... At 07z...a 1029 millibar surface ridge was draped across New England. A 1012 millibar low was centered over the Great Lakes. GOES imagery showed lingering low cloud across the Connecticut valley northward through the international border area. Middle and high clouds were advancing rapidly eastward from the Great Lakes ahead of a shortwave impulse situated over the upper midwest and Great Lakes. For today...the surface ridge will slide offshore this morning. Thicker clouds will arrive from west to east later this morning in weak warm air advection ahead of the shortwave impulse. NWS doppler radar mosaic showed a band of mixed precipitation associated with this disturbance over the eastern Great Lakes at moment. This precipitation should arrive during the afternoon and evening hours with HRRR and other short term numericals placing the bulk of the QPF...albeit light over the northern half of New Hampshire into adjacent western Maine. Forecast soundings are cold enough for frozen precipitation today...with the exception of where the precipitation is extremely light and boundary layer temperatures are several degrees above freezing with some rain or a rain/wet snow mix possible. High temperatures today will be limited to the 30s by clouds and precipitation. Snow accumulations later today should be an inch or two for the higher terrain with less than an inch elsewhere. && .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH 6 PM FRIDAY/... For tonight...snow tapers to scattered flurries as the weakening shortwave impulse exits the area to our east overnight. With loss of ice crystals we may also see some patchy drizzle and freezing drizzle overnight depending on surface temperatures. On Friday...we have a quiet start as we are initially between disturbances with clouds and scattered flurries along with some patchy drizzle or freezing drizzle. By afternoon...the next weak disturbance will be approaching from the Great Lakes with the next batch of warm air advection precipitation arriving. High temperatures will range from 30s in the mountains to near 40 elsewhere. Any light accumulating snows should be limited to the higher terrain...while we`ll see a rain/snow mix elsewhere. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Low pressure will develop/strengthen near Nantucket Island Friday night and move northeastward on Saturday as potent short wave trough approaches from the west. As this occurs, at least light precipitation should develop across the CWA. At this time, the thermal profile across much of the CWA supports rainfall, with a mix and/or snow across the far interior. As secondary mid level low pressure develops further just to the east of the Maine coast on Saturday, colder air will filter in from the west and perhaps change the rain over to snow even on the coastal plain Saturday evening. At this time it appears as though the best forcing for ascent will be found to the northeast of our CWA at this time and this should preclude a major snow event in our CWA. However, it is worth noting that there is still a good amount of model spread in short wave trough strength and speed, and this still could have an effect on mesoscale features at this juncture. Therefore, we still cannot rule out the occurrence of a brief band accumulating snow moving across portions of the region between Saturday and Sunday morning. Low pressure will move away from the region on Sunday with weak high pressure building in on Monday. The fair weather will be short-lived however as there is strong model and ensemble agreement that that weather will quickly become active again Tue through Thurs. At this time, low pressure is expected to bring mainly rainfall then. && .AVIATION /07Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Short Term /Through Friday/...Areas of MVFR ceilings for the Connecticut valley...then conditions lowering to mvfr with lcl ifr in snow and rain btw 16 and 22z. Widespread mvfr and areas of ifr tonight in -shsn and areas of drizzle and fog...with patchy freezing drizzle. Long Term...MVFR to IFR conditions are expected Friday night through Saturday night as low pressure develops off the Maine coast. Improvement is foreseen on Sunday as low pressure moves away from the region...with VFR conditions prevailing into Monday. && .MARINE... Short Term /Through Friday/...Quiet on the waters with conditions remaining below small craft as high pressure crosses the waters today then weak low pressure passes well to the south of the waters early Friday. High pressure builds overhead tonight...allowing winds and seas to continue to diminish. Winds remain light thru Thu...with conditions expected to remain below SCA thresholds. Long Term...SCA conditions are expected Sat night through sun night as low pressure departs. && .GYX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. NH...None. MARINE...None. && $$ Schwibs/Ekster
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Lincoln IL
317 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) ISSUED AT 317 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Showers associated with a passing cold front have come to an end across central Illinois early this morning: however, cloud cover continues to blanket the area. 09z/3am IR satellite imagery shows low clouds from Illinois as far west as eastern Nebraska/Kansas. With surface ridge axis building into the region today, very light low-level flow will do little to push the clouds away. In addition, a strengthening subsidence inversion will only act to keep the clouds locked in place. As a result, have gone with a cloudy forecast today with chilly highs in the lower to middle 40s. A short-wave trough evident on latest water vapor imagery over eastern Utah will track E/NE into the southern Great Lakes by Friday morning. Any associated precip will remain well north of central Illinois across Wisconsin and far northern Illinois late tonight. Forecast soundings suggest low clouds will remain in place, so will continue the cloudy conditions through tonight with lows dropping into the middle 30s. && .LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday) ISSUED AT 317 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 A period of mild and dry weather will prevail through the weekend, before the next significant storm system comes into the picture early next week. A vigorous wave apparent on water vapor imagery near the Aleutian Islands will pivot S/SE around a deep upper low anchored off the coast of British Columbia. This feature is expected to come onshore across southern California on Saturday, creating pronounced upper ridging downstream across the central CONUS. Rising upper heights will mean rising temps across central Illinois, with highs climbing into the lower to middle 50s by Sunday. As the wave tracks across the Southern Rockies, then turns northeastward toward the Upper Midwest, it will eventually spread showers into the area by late in the weekend. Models continue to slow this process, with most solutions now suggesting a mostly dry day on Sunday, followed by showers arriving Sunday night. Will hold on to low chance PoPs west of I-55 for Sunday afternoon, but these will likely be removed by later shifts if current trends continue. Main rain event is still on track from Sunday night through Monday night, as deep-layer southwesterly flow establishes itself from the Southern Plains into the Ohio River Valley. After an initial push of showers associated with the first short-wave Sunday night, a lull in the precip is expected Monday morning before a more significant wave arrives later in the day. Models are still differing on this second feature, particularly where to place the heaviest rainfall axis. As was seen with previous model runs, the latest GFS prefers a more western solution across much of central Illinois...while the ECMWF is further east across southeast Illinois into Indiana. In addition, significant model differences arise concerning a potential third wave Monday night into Tuesday. The GFS brings another round of rain across the E/SE CWA during that time, while the ECMWF is more progressive and does not show another wave at all. At this time, will stick to the going forecast fairly closely...which features the highest PoPs and heaviest rainfall east of the I-55 corridor through Tuesday morning. Storm total rainfall could be significant, with the latest forecast suggesting 2-3 inches along/south of I-70. This of course is subject to change pending better model agreement. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Thursday night) Issued at 1139 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 LIFR conditions will continue for a couple of hours early this TAF period for BMI and CMI, with IFR at PIA. SPI and DEC have improved to MVFR and should remain there for a majority of this TAF period. The cold front has progressed into Indiana already, and westerly winds have increased at all TAF sites, with some gusts to 20kt. Drizzle has ended at all terminal sites, and CMI is the only site with IFR fog still in place. HRRR and RAP both continue to indicate that extensive low level moisture will remain across central Illinois the rest of tonight and most of tomorrow. That will mean cloudy skies with MVFR ceilings during the day tomorrow. Tomorrow evening, some improvement in ceilings is expected to arrive from the southwest. The GFS advertises clearing Thursday afternoon, while the NAM remains pessimistic with overcast conditions through the end of this TAF period. There most likely will be a few breaks in the ceilings late Thursday afternoon toward SPI and DEC, and possibly PIA, with VFR conditions possible for several hours Thurs evening. Confidence is low that clearing will be as strong as the GFS is indicating as early as Thursday early afternoon, but not quite as pessimistic as the NAM. Winds will diminish tomorrow morning, with speeds in the 6-10kt range from the W-NW. Winds will become light and variable around sunset, due to the arrival of the surface ridge axis across Illinois. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ SHORT TERM...Barnes LONG TERM...Barnes AVIATION...Shimon
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service North Platte NE
334 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 333 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Today and Tonight...a weak short wave moving through ncntl Colo this morning will collide with arctic drape across ncntl Neb producing scattered rain showers across ncntl Neb. The HRRR...RAP and NAM are in good agreement lifting a band of showers through Holt county this afternoon. A pacific cold front moving through cntl WY will sweep east into the Neb Panhandle this morning and scour out the arctic air and clouds across ncntl Neb this afternoon. A blend of bias corrected RAP and HRRR model temperatures produces highs in the 40s. Bias corrected guidance produces lows in the teens and 20s tonight under clear skies. The dense freezing fog this morning is forming mainly on the wrn fringe of the arctic drape. This hazard is short lived in most locations but could last several hours this morning according to the time lapsed HRRR model. Temperatures will gradually warm above freezing this morning reducing the hazard. The freezing fog advisory operates until 12z and will be reevaluated at that time for a possible extension or down-grade to a dense fog advisory. .LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 333 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Upper level ridging and surface high pressure remain over the region through Sunday. This ridge will result in dry conditions across central Nebraska through much of the weekend. In addition, temperatures will have a brief warm-up this weekend. Highs Friday start off in the low to mid 50s before rising up into the upper 50s on Saturday. Cooler temperatures begin to filter into the region on Sunday with highs only rising into the upper 40s across the north and into the low 50s across the south. The next weather system arrives on Sunday night bringing a potential of some wintry precipitation to central Nebraska. Current model runs show this system mostly missing the north central Nebraska forecast area. Just a chance of some rain mainly across Holt and Boyd counties in the afternoon Sunday. Precipitation will then switch over to snow, however, the system will be north of the area by then. Will keep just a slight chance of some snow across the Nebraska/South Dakota border as moisture wraps around this system on Sunday night. The low pressure system moves north and east of the area by Monday night allowing another weak high pressure system to build northward into the central Plains for the middle of next week. Temperatures remain cooler through mid-week with highs only rising into the mid to upper 30s each day. Lows remain steady from Friday night through Tuesday night in the mid 20s. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Thursday night) Issued at 1126 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 Low cloudiness will continue to push west overnight across western and north central Nebraska. The leading edge of this stratus is expected to make it as far west as a line from near KIML to 40 East of KCDR. Cigs below 1000 FT agl are likely east of this line overnight into mid day on Thursday. For the KLBF terminal, expect CIGS around 500 FT AGL through late morning Thursday. CIGS will then remain MVFR through late afternoon Thursday before lifting out mid evening Thursday. In addition to low cloudiness, fog is possible overnight with VISBYS around 2 SM. For the KVTN terminal, expect CIGS around 500 FT AGL overnight into Thursday morning. There is a threat for light snow Thursday morning with VISBYS temporarily dropping down to 2 to 5 SM. CIGS will continue to improve into the afternoon hours with scattered high clouds expected by Thursday evening. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Freezing Fog Advisory until 6 AM CST early this morning for NEZ037-038-059-071. && $$ SHORT TERM...CDC LONG TERM...Kulik AVIATION...Buttler
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Saint Louis MO
401 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM... (Through Late Tonight) Issued at 313 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 A weak RIDGE aloft prevails over our region early this morning, with a light northwest flow at the surface. A surface RIDGE axis extends from eastern Nebraska into far western Missouri. An expansive area of low cloudiness exists across much of the Midwest, with its backedge just to the west of the surface RIDGE axis. This backedge has not moved over the past several hours. Temperatures were in the upper 30s to mid 40s across our region. The 06/07z RAP runs as well as the updated 06z NAM seem to be handling the low clouds the best and were used as primary guidance. These models persist the low cloud field across our region into the afternoon hours with some clearing occurring for some sections south of Interstate 70 in central and southeast MO. With the low level RIDGE axis sliding thru late this morning and early afternoon, advection will be negligible in moving this cloud field and this being late November, it is unlikely the sun will be able to dissipate. A light southerly low level flow into central MO and southeast MO during the afternoon look like the best opportunity for limited clearing. Max temps will also be cool today for areas near and north of I-70 where the clouds will persist, with conditional climatology suggesting a mere 5 degree rise, and have strongly preferred the MET MOS values in these areas with peak readings in the 40s. Trended towards the MAV MOS in southern areas, with peak readings in the low 50s. Light winds becoming more northerly with time tonight will, if anything, allow the low cloud field near and north of I-70 to drop south again and recover lost ground. In addition, an upper level disturbance will drop thru our region. Models generally show a decently strong region of broadscale lift and some WAA that will also bring in thicker ice-containing clouds. The system is rather fast moving, however, and will work on a very dry column. The column will be too warm for anything but liquid pcpn, but unless the system can produce stronger lift than is currently being depicted, it will be tough to get any pcpn going with this when it moves thru tonight. Have continued the dry forecast. Went warm on min temps tonight with lots of clouds persisting. TES .LONG TERM... (Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 400 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Low level clouds will clear out from west to east on Friday due to increasing subsidence as a surface ridge builds into the area. Colder temperatures are expected Friday night due to good radiational cooling with a clear sky and light surface winds along surface ridge axis. Lows Friday night will be at or slightly below normal for late November. Warmer, above normal temperatures are expected for the weekend beginning Saturday afternoon as an upper level ridge shifts eastward into the central US, and the surface wind becomes southerly as the surface ridge shifts east of the region. Showers will spread into parts of northeast and central MO and west central IL Sunday afternoon as low level temperature and moisture advection increase over the area ahead of an upper level low and associated surface low pressure system moving east- northeastward into the northern Plains. Showers will shift through the rest of the forecast area Sunday night with the best coverage across west central IL as the storm system moves eastward through the northern Plains with low level moisture convergence across this area on the nose of a strong southwest low level jet. Showers will continue Monday and Monday night, particularly across southeast MO and southwest IL as a southern stream shortwave approaches from the southern Plains and induces a surface wave along a nearly stationary front across this area. Will continue pops on Tuesday, although the model solutions differ with the ECMWF model shifting the precipitation east of the forecast area by this time, while the GFS is stronger/deeper and slower with the surface low moving northeastward along the surface front and keeps precipitation going across the southeast half of our forecast area through Tuesday. A cooling trend is expected Tuesday through Wednesday as colder air continues to filter southeastward into our area as a deepening upper level trough shifts slowly eastward over the region. GKS && .AVIATION... (For the 06z TAFs through 06z Thursday Night) Issued at 1139 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 Expect MVFR flight conditions with ceilings between 1000-2000FT to continue to prevail through the night and into Thursday morning. Ceilings will clear from southwest to northeast during the afternoon as the low level flow turns to the south and warmer air filters into the area. SPECIFICS FOR KSTL: MVFR ceilings will continue to prevail at Lambert until at least early to mid afternoon. Ceilings will clear from southwest as the wind turns southerly and warmer air filters into the area. Carney && .LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. && $$ WFO LSX
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Mobile AL
1111 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 .DISCUSSION...Updated for latest aviation discussion below. && .AVIATION... 06Z issuance...VFR conditions through 25.06z. MVFR visibilities late tonight through early thu morning. Lower visibilities mostly ahead and along a weakening frontal boundary approaching from the northwest. Winds will be southwest diminishing to 3 to 5 kts late this evening and overnight then shifting south to southwest at 5 to 8 knots during the day on thu. 32/ee && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 550 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016/ DISCUSSION...Updated for latest aviation discussion below. AVIATION... 00Z issuance...VFR conditions through this evening followed by MVFR cigs and visibilities later tonight and early thu morning followed by vfr cigs through 25.00. Lower cloud bases and visibilities mostly ahead and along a weakening frontal boundary approaching from the northwest. Winds will be southeast to south at 5 to 8 kt through early this evening shifting southwest diminishing to 3 to 5 kts late this evening and overnight then shifting south to southwest at 5 to 8 knots during the day on thu. 32/ee PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 413 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016/ NEAR TERM /Now Through Thursday/...Upper air map analysis shows a sharp trof axis moving eastward around 25 knots across the Mississippi River Valley. Within the trof axis, a surface front was also positioned in the same areas mentioned above. A north to south zone of precipitable water values (above the mean) extends from the Upper Mid-West to the western Gulf. Within this zone, precipitable water values from 1.1 to 1.4 inches, moving into the Lower Mississippi River Valley, lies between 130 to 160% of normal. Satellite trends indicate that clouds will be on the increase and thicken in the near term as the frontal zone approaches from the west. Although there is moisture available, a rapid movement of the better dynamics across the local area and the high level energy dampening a bit, frontal ascent weakens through Thursday suggesting showers will be lowering to isolated coverages at best in the near term. This is already being observed in radar with returns moving eastward across southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana. These trends also noted in high resolution HRRR and 4KM NAM output. Precipitation amounts look light, mostly less than 5 hundredths of an inch. There is also a signal in the high resolution NAM12 and the SREF of showing increased probabilities of developing late night fog. Visibility could be reduced to less than a mile at times. Overnight lows in the mid 50s interior to lower 60s coast. Daytime highs on Thanksgiving Day mostly in the mid ranges of the 70s. /10 SHORT TERM /Thursday night Through Saturday night/...An upper level ridge of high pressure will gradually shift eastward over the southeastern U.S. and western Atlantic Ocean Thursday night into Friday as a weak shortwave trough translates toward the Ohio and Tennessee River Valley region. An associated weak cold front will push southeastward into our forecast area during the day Friday. Moisture and lift ahead of this boundary will be very limited, but there may be just enough available to aid in the development of a few isolated light rain showers early Friday morning. Lows Thursday night should range from the upper 40s to mid 50s over most interior areas, with upper 50s to lower 60s expected near the immediate coast. Highs Friday should warm into the 70s area wide. Surface high pressure will build from the Southern Plains to the Mississippi and Tennessee Valley region Friday night into Saturday, then across the southeastern states Saturday night. No precipitation is expected during this time frame as a deeply dry airmass settles into the region. Clearing skies and cooler temperatures are expected Friday night through Saturday night. Lows Friday night should range from the lower to mid 40s inland to the lower to mid 50s coast. Highs Saturday should range from the mid 60s to around 70. Lows Saturday night trend a little cooler in the mid 30s to around 40 over the interior to the mid 40s to around 50 near the immediate coast and beaches. /21 LONG TERM /Sunday Through Wednesday/...The operational 12Z runs of the GFS and ECMWF have come into fairly decent agreement in their solutions with the evolution of the upper air pattern late this weekend into early next week. Dry weather is expected to continue across the forecast area Sunday as shortwave ridging aloft builds from the western Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. Upper ridging is then forecast to shift eastward over the southeastern U.S. and into the western Atlantic Ocean early next week as a broad longwave trough deepens over much of the central CONUS Monday and Tuesday. Surface high pressure will also subsequently shift from the eastern U.S. into the western Atlantic early next week as surface low pressure deepens and lifts northeastward across the northern Plains and Great Lakes region. A surface cold front should subsequently advance eastward toward the Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast states Monday into Tuesday. The GFS and ECMWF both show an organized area of convection advancing eastward toward our forecast area along and ahead of the cold front sometime during the Tuesday-Tuesday night time frame as a fairly potent shortwave trough advances eastward toward the Mississippi and Tennessee Valley region. A low CAPE/high shear environment will likely be in place over our area ahead of these approaching features, with MLCAPE values between 250-500 J/KG per the latest GFS, a developing 45-60 kt low level jet, and increasing 0-1km helicity values between 200-400 m2/s2. It therefore looks like we will have to monitor for severe weather potential as convection rolls into the area Tuesday. Otherwise, this system is looking like it will bring the best chance of rain to our area in a good long while. We have POPs trending upward to 20-30% with potential for isolated to scattered warm advection showers Monday-Monday night, with 50-60% POPs on tap for Tuesday. Rain chances currently appear to decrease Tuesday night into Wednesday as the cold front moves east of the region. /21 MARINE...A weakening front approaches the lower Mississippi River Valley tonight and begins to slow across the central Gulf Coast region on Thursday. The front makes passage by Friday morning. A light onshore flow is forecast thru Thursday with winds shifting to westerly then northerly behind the front Friday. High pressure builds back into the Southeast US over the weekend, establishing a light return flow off the Gulf by later in the day Sunday. A more potent storm system moving across the plains on Monday, combined with high pressure over the southeast results in a strengthening onshore flow and building seas early next week. /10 CLIMATOLOGY...A lengthy period of abnormally dry conditions has resulted in worsening drought conditions over the central Gulf coast. Since September 27th, Mobile Regional Airport went through a bone-dry spell of 42 consecutive days with no measurable rain and 41 days at Pensacola before it finally rained again on November 8th. As it stands to this date since September 27th, 56 days at Evergreen straight, without measurable rain. Current annual rainfall deficits stand at between 6 and 9 inches below normal. Drought has worsened with severe to extreme drought conditions being experienced over the local area. A more potent storm system impacting the area early next week brings the most promising rain potential seen in quite some time, but this system looks to be progressing eastward rapidly enough as to do very little in placing a significant dent in the drought. Stay tuned. /10 && .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 Omaha/Valley NE
404 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM...(today through Saturday) Issued at 345 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Thanksgiving forecast concerns through the evening will be cloudcover, temperatures, and light precipitation/precip type through early evening. Water vapor satellite imagery showed some enhanced mid level moisture from north to south ahead of a longwave trough from MT/WY/CO/AZ. Earlier in the evening, there was some lightning ahead of the h5 shortwave over UT. WSR-88D reflectivities and obs are picking us some snow over southeast WY/northern CO. This is coincident with where the max omega and steepest lapse rates are. The 130kt h3 jet was a little stronger than progged yesterday. This jet will quickly work across Nebraska and into Iowa today advancing the trough. An extensive area of stratus was located across the forecast area. This was in an area of high pressure with weak low level flow, temperatures in the 30s and dewpoints in the 30s. Although not at the obs, while driving around in the evening and on the way to work, there was some light patchy drizzle. Surface low pressure extended from Wyoming through Colorado. Through today and early this evening lift increases with steepening lapse rates with the progress of the longwave trough and the short range models bring a local maximum of vorticity across the forecast area. The models vary in if there will be sufficient moisture for precipitation as well as the details of where the best chance is. The GFS is mostly dry while the the NAM has a quarter of an inch near the SD border. The EC is in between. The latest hi-res SPC HRRR has light precipitation by noon in northeast Neb in advance of the wave and continuing on a sct basis through the afternoon and spreading southward to south of Norfolk. The RAP/ESRL HRRR/SPC SREF are similar and have some light precip as farther south...as far as Falls City and northwest MO. Have increasing pops this morning in northeast Nebraska with a chance for rain or a rain/snow mix and continue this afternoon with light precip exiting the area by 02Z or 03Z. For now did not mention much for amounts and the short term forecaster will have to assess how this is going. Little temperature change today with highs in the 30s north and 40s south. Lowered highs due to extensive cloud cover. There may be some breaks in the clouds near the KS border and temperatures could be a little warmer there. Decreasing clouds tonight with northwest winds, drier dewpoints and subsidence behind the shortwave. Friday should be a bit warmer in the 40s and 50s with more sunshine and Saturday warmer still with the mid level ridge over the area. .LONG TERM...(Saturday night through Wednesday) Issued at 345 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 The mid tropospheric ridge will give way to lowering heights as the Interior West trough moves into the Rockies. The low level jet is forecast to strengthen from 20kts to Sunday at 12Z to 45kts by 00Z, transporting 7-9deg C h85 dewpoints northward into the forecast area. Temperatures will be mild, however there will be increasing clouds and some showers and possibly a rumble of thunder. The track of the h5 low is well to the west...somewhere over SD/ND with surface low pressure over CO tracking across Kansas into central Neb by 00z Sunday evening to a 980/988MB low over southeast SD by 06z. Colder air does get pulled in and depending on how far north the system has shifted, some light snow may try to work into northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa Monday, or it may be north of the area. Sunday highs should be in the 50s with breezy to windy south winds at 15 to 30 mph and gusty. Preliminary rain amounts would be a trace to a quarter of an inch. Cooler for Monday with highs in the 40s and 50s. Reinforcing cold air will build in for Tuesday/Wednesday with highs in the 30s and 40s. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Thursday night) Issued at 1055 PM CST Wed Nov 23 2016 Expect clouds to hold at all three TAF sites overnight with ceilings mainly from 800 to 1500 feet. Some fog will likely form on the edge of the clearing farther west...but probably not drop to IFR at KOFK or KLNK. Added mention of precipitation in a tempo group for KOFK and have a prob group for KOMA. Chances at KLNK seemed too low to mention for now. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...None. IA...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Zapotocny LONG TERM...Zapotocny AVIATION...Miller
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Portland Oregon
932 PM PST Wed Nov 23 2016 .SYNOPSIS...An active weather pattern will bring periods of valley rain, mountain snow and windy conditions at the coast for the next several days. && .SHORT TERM...Tonight through Friday...Water vapor satellite imagery reveals an impressive shortwave trough encompassing much of the Gulf of Alaska this evening. Infrared satellite imagery shows plenty of cooling cloud tops off the Pacific Northwest coast due to large scale lift ahead of the shortwave trough and an advancing low level front. A strong jet on the backside of the trough is beginning to result in the shortwave trough digging. This will result in the approaching front to become more oriented from southwest to northeast as it drops southeastward across the area late tonight and Thursday. A conditionally unstable airmass has led to numerous showers this evening across the region. 3 hourly QPF has been relatively light with just a couple hundredths of an inch in the Willamette Valley and upwards of a quarter inch in the wettest spots near the coast and in the Cascades. Snow levels continue to hover around 3500-4000` per surface observations in the Cascades. It should be noted that temperatures have fallen across the upper Hood River valley and we could see precipitation begin to mix with snow above 2000-2500 ft later tonight and Thursday morning. The NAM & WRF-ARW wet bulb zero heights support this idea as cold air banks up against the Cascades. Do not foresee major accumulations at these elevations, but still something worth monitoring. Relatively mild ocean temperatures have resulted in convection continuing off the coast this evening. Given the high shear environment, a few of these cells have shown some modest rotation a couple thousand feet AGL so will continue to monitor radar the next few hours. Mid level warm advection should diminish this threat fairly quickly later this evening. Gale force winds have spread across the waters in advance of an approaching cold front. This cold front is beginning to make an appearance on the KLGX radar in the form of a disorganized band of higher echoes ~50 miles off the WA coast. Expect winds to strengthen across the waters in advance of this front and then spread onto our beaches and headlands towards midnight, particularly along the Oregon coast. Pressure gradients remain oriented pretty offshore during this event so it will be difficult for the strongest winds to reach the coastline, but we should still see a few gusts around 60 mph in our more exposed locations along the central & north Oregon coastline. The current high wind warning covers this well. Convergence along the front will continue to be quite strong. This will likely produce a narrow band of locally heavy rain that will slowly drop southeastward across the region on Thursday morning. Interestingly, this atmospheric river event is not all that unusual for this time of year in terms of return intervals for PW and IVT values so it will likely take the front sitting over a basin or area to produce higher rain totals. With that said, the NCAR Ensemble puts greater than a 50% chance of seeing 1-hourly rainfall rates in excess of 0.50" along portions of the coast Thursday afternoon. Even the raw 1 hourly GFS output suggests rainfall rates will likely peak out between 0.30"-0.50" along the coast. While our river basins can handle an hour or two of these rainfall rates, if these rates persist over any basin for more than a couple hours, the odds of a river or two reaching minor flood stage increase dramatically. And this is where the uncertainty lies... Models have varied considerably on how fast this front will drop southeastward across the area, which has led to considerable uncertainty in the QPF and river forecasts. The GEM, EC & WRF-ARW models hold the heaviest QPF over the Nehalem, Wilson, Nestucca & Siletz River Basins on Thursday while the latest GFS & HRRR runs suggest the front will likely drop southward through Thursday morning and end up over the Alsea and Siuslaw River drainages by midday. The GFS & HRRR runs would be less likely to produce river flooding as the heaviest rainfall would likely not sit over any given drainage too long. However, it`s hard to ignore the EC & GEM solutions so will keep the current flood watch as is for now. An embedded shortwave currently out near 150W will race towards the region Thursday afternoon and evening. The EC and the GEM to some degree insist this will remain an open wave while the GFS and its followers such as the NAM, suggest a surface low pressure will deepen to around 995mb and move northeastward towards the Washington coast Thursday night. This latter scenario would likely bring a secondary bout of high winds to our coastal zones Thursday evening while the former scenario will increase winds along our coast during this time, but not likely to high wind levels. Given the position of this shortwave relative to the jet, a weaker and more open wave seem more plausible, but confidence is certainly not high this will be the case. As a result, will keep the high wind watch intact for our coastal zones for Thursday evening. Meanwhile, all this rain will fall in the form of snow across the higher elevations Thursday and Thursday night. However, snow levels will vary quite a bit across the Cascades during this time. Cold air will likely be stubborn to scour out across the south Washington Cascades especially near Mt Adams where 10-20" of snow appear likely to fall above 3500` and somewhere between 15-30" above 4500`. Farther south, warm air streaming northeastward ahead of the front should result in snow levels rising to ~4500` Thursday afternoon and evening across the Oregon Cascades. This process will be slowest to occur near Mt Hood so the current Winter Wx Advisory looks on track. The good news is that this should bring a period of improved travel conditions for those traveling across the Cascade passes on Thursday. Cool, but substantially quieter weather will likely follow on Friday before more showers produce valley rain and mountain snow showers above 3500-4000 feet Saturday and Saturday night. /Neuman .LONG TERM...(Saturday night through Wednesday)...No Changes... Previous Discussion from Wednesday afternoon follows...The active weather pattern looks to continue through much of the long term forecast as a series of storm systems move across the Pac NW. Models continue to show an upper level trough moving across the forecast area Saturday night and Sunday which will maintain showers over the region. Snow levels look to lower to around 2500 ft on Sunday, with an additional 3 to 6 inches possible at the Cascade passes. If you are planning on traveling over the Cascades, prepare for hazardous road conditions. Models then show a weak upper level shortwave dropping southeastward Sunday night and Monday. This system looks to bring another round of rain to the area late Sunday/early Monday, with cool northwesterly flow keeping showers going on Monday. High pressure looks to build across the area Monday night and Tuesday bring with it a period of quieter weather and raising snow levels to around 4500 ft. However, this bring will be short as models show another upper level trough dropping south out of the Gulf of Alaska Tuesday night and Wednesday which could bring another round of heavy rain and Cascade snow, with locally windy conditions. /64 && .AVIATION...Little change over the last several hours where mainly VFR conditions prevail this evening with occasional dips to MVFR both inland and at the coast. By later this evening most terminals will drop to MVFR as the next slug of moisture moves towards the area. Probably not much change to the MVFR Cigs for much of Thursday. Cigs may rise back to VFR for several hours Later Thursday afternoon and early evening. Prefrontal winds have been underwhelming thus far but should increase as the cold front approaches. Expect strongest southerly frontal wind gusts along the coast near KONP around 40 knots and around 30 knots at KAST. Should see 25 to maybe brief 30 knots for the inland terminals peaking around 12Z with 20 to 25 knot gusts the norm for the several hours around that. South winds appear to increase again with gusts 30 to 40 knots Thursday afternoon and evening but there is significant model uncertainty regarding the track of a potential surface low and even it`s possible existence versus on open surface trough. KPDX AND APPROACHES...Conditions will bounce between MVFR and VFR this evening before settling to VFR for most of the overnight period. Lower cigs are not expected until Thursday afternoon as the front approaches. Winds will increase overnight and peak 20g30 knots around 12Z Thu plus another possible similar peak after 25/04z. JBonk/Bentley && .MARINE...Gale gusts are underway at the inner buoys and am eagerly waiting on an evening ASCAT pass to confirm the potential for the outer waters. Offshore flow still dominates the near shore waters where small craft advisory winds appear to be the norm for now. Have seen sporadic gusts 35-40 kt under convective showers embedded within the rain bands. This is still covered by the ongoing gale warning. The cold front is sitting just outside of the coastal waters at this hour and will move east- southeast over the next 5-7 hours reaching the Columbia mouth somewhere around 3-5 am PST. Do expect the strongest winds will occur for a couple hour period with the frontal passage. Latest hi- resolution models hint there may be occasional gusts 45-50 knots with the frontal passage. Given the brief and marginal nature, cannot justify issuing a storm warning for tonight`s frontal passage. Seas at buoy 46005 peaked at 23 feet several hours ago and was likely driven by the local wind waves for a brief time before settling down to around 20 feet for the following few hours. Typical wave decay would bring that westerly swell in at 18-20 feet which remains in line with the current forecast for later tonight. winds behind the front will drop of dramatically but still likely sit in the SCA realm. The central waters, however, have a chance at seeing low end gale gusts through the day Thursday. 00z models have done little to change confidence fro the next system to affect the waters later Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening. The track and strength of this second system keeps changing in small but impactful ways, leading to more uncertainty with this second system. Have left the forecast from the previous shift in place which would bring another round of gales, with a chance for storm-force winds especially south of the Columbia River Thursday evening and decreasing around 10pm Thursday night. Have, unfortunately, still left the storm force watch in place with the hopes the current front and the expected additional satellite derived wind data will provide a clear picture. If a choice had to be made right now, would be inclined to drop the storm watch and go with a strongly worded gale warning...similar to the current one with gusts primarily 40-45 kt and the occasional gusts 50-55 kt possible. The current forecast would bring seas back up to 20 to 25 ft Thursday evening with seas starting to fall back down after the winds start to subside after 10pm Thursday night. Keep an eye on the forecast for this system as it is subject to change. Friday things start to calm down, with winds and seas coming back down. Still think we will see small craft advisory winds through most of the day on Friday, though winds should drop below 20 kt by Friday evening. Seas should drop back down into the mid-teens by Friday evening as well. Weaker fronts move across the waters over the weekend, but generally seas expected to drop to around 9 ft by Saturday night or Sunday, and winds stay fairly benign for this time of year. JBonk/McCoy && .PQR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...Winter Weather Advisory from 4 AM Thursday to 4 AM PST Friday for Northern Oregon Cascades. High Wind Warning from 1 AM to 10 AM PST Thursday for Central Oregon Coast-North Oregon Coast. Flood Watch from Thursday morning through Friday evening for Central Coast Range of Western Oregon-Central Oregon Coast- Central Willamette Valley-Coast Range of Northwest Oregon- Greater Portland Metro Area-North Oregon Coast-South Willamette Valley. High Wind Watch from Thursday afternoon through Thursday evening for Central Oregon Coast-North Oregon Coast. WA...Winter Storm Warning from 1 AM Thursday to 4 AM PST Friday for South Washington Cascades. Flood Watch from Thursday morning through Friday evening for South Washington Coast. High Wind Watch from Thursday afternoon through Thursday evening for South Washington Coast. PZ...Storm Watch from Thursday morning through Thursday evening for Coastal Waters from Cape Shoalwater WA to Florence OR out 60 nm. Gale Warning until 10 AM PST Thursday for Coastal Waters from Cape Shoalwater WA to Florence OR out 60 nm. Small Craft Advisory for Rough Columbia River Bar until 4 PM PST Thursday. && $$ Interact with us via social media: www.facebook.com/NWSPortland www.twitter.com/NWSPortland This discussion is for Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington from the Cascade crest to 60 nautical miles offshore. The area is commonly referred to as the forecast area.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tulsa OK
337 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .DISCUSSION... Fog potential through mid to late morning is the primary forecast concern. So far early this morning, any fog has been very patchy and also very short lived at any one site. Both the experimental and operational HRRR indicate this changing prior to sunrise across portions of eastern Oklahoma and into the Arkansas River Valley, in the cleared area on the western edge of the surface ridge. Confidence is not high enough at this point to issue a Dense Fog Advisory but we are prepared to issue one if observations begin to support it. In addition to the dense fog potential, a couple of sites have briefly reported freezing fog, and as such, will include a patchy mention of freezing fog generally from Claremore to Tahlequah to Sallisaw. Southerly winds will return today as the surface ridge pushes to the east, leading to above normal temperatures today. A fairly fast moving, dry cold front will push through the region tonight, with a brief decrease in temperatures following on Friday. Saturday will be largely quiet with slightly warmer temperatures. The next big weather maker will begin to affect the region Sunday and into the early part of next week. Flow in advance of a large trough over the western half of the country will lead to increasing deep layer moisture and a resulting increase in shower and thunderstorm potential. While activity should generally remain scattered across the area into Sunday evening, better chances, with some locally heavy rain potential, should arrive with a cold front early Monday morning and into the day. Southeast Oklahoma and into western Arkansas look to have the best shower and thunderstorm potential during this time frame. The medium range models differ somewhat with the handling of the system after Monday, with the GFS lingering the front across the southeastern half of the area, leading to rain chances into Monday night and early Tuesday, whereas the ECMWF is more progressive with this feature. Much cooler temperatures and dry conditions will prevail toward the middle of next week on the heels of the departing front. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TUL 66 38 60 33 / 0 0 0 0 FSM 65 39 61 33 / 0 0 0 0 MLC 66 40 61 33 / 0 0 0 0 BVO 64 35 59 26 / 0 0 0 0 FYV 62 34 57 25 / 0 0 0 0 BYV 59 38 56 31 / 0 0 0 0 MKO 64 37 58 31 / 0 0 0 0 MIO 60 35 55 30 / 0 0 0 0 F10 65 38 59 33 / 0 0 0 0 HHW 66 41 62 35 / 0 0 0 0 && .TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...None. AR...None. && $$ LONG TERM....22
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Dodge City KS
606 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 606 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Updated to include areas of fog across more of the eastern CWA this morning, and to increase sky cover to account for thickening cirrus this morning. No other changes. && .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 254 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 We will need to watch the areas around Hays early this morning for the potential of fog or stratus development, as the latest fog channel imagery has been indicating this across Rooks county. The HRRR fields however suggest that will not occur at this time. Going foreword, a vigourous shortwave will drive a pacific surface cold front into the High Plains region later this morning. The short wave vort lobe will be moving across the area just behind the front, adding to subsidence and helping create strong northwest winds sustained to 30 mph and higher gusts. Surface winds weaken rapidly with the loss of insolation. Not alot of variance in the model lows tonight, however MOS products are generally cooler in the teens across the higher elevation far western counties. .LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 254 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 The large scale pattern will remain progressive in the medium range. Between the ECMWF and GFS there appears to be a general agreement on a large trough developing in the west, and a closed low most likely to move into the Northern Plains around the end of the weekend. This won`t rule out our area for seeing clouds and even a possibility for precipitation, however the main forcing mechanisms near the warm front would be too far north in the upper midwest with these model runs. As the low develops to the north, Sunday looks to be a particularly windy day with a strong surface pressure gradient and strong subsidence aloft. The region could remain in cyclonic flow aloft easily through mid week, supporting generally cold temperatures (cooler than climo highs). && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Friday morning) Issued at 500 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 VFR with scattered cirrus expected through 12z Fri. The only possible exception to this is a few hours of BR and/or stratus at/near HYS this morning. Satellite imagery reveals widespread stratus/fog north and east of the HYS terminal this morning, with a general westward drift noted. RSL already reporting LIFR cigs. Given this, included a TEMPO group for IFR or lower cigs at HYS and reduced vis in BR. Strong shortwave will pass just north of SW KS this afternoon, forcing a dry cold frontal passage across the airports with strong gusty NW winds. NW winds will average 22-32 kts, with the strongest winds at GCK and the least at HYS. NW winds will relax quickly around sunset. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DDC 59 27 58 31 / 0 0 0 0 GCK 57 23 58 27 / 0 0 0 0 EHA 58 26 58 30 / 0 0 0 0 LBL 61 24 58 29 / 0 0 0 0 HYS 55 28 58 30 / 0 0 0 0 P28 63 32 59 32 / 0 0 0 0 && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ UPDATE...Turner SHORT TERM...Russell LONG TERM...Russell AVIATION...Turner
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Duluth MN
854 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 854 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Updated precipitation types and POPs to attempt to account for the lake effect showers over portions of northwest Wisconsin this morning. DLHWRF and RAP data suggest the low-level flow will back northwesterly later this morning and into this afternoon. That wind shift should change the one or two bands at present to multiple, weaker bands later this morning with a northwest to southeast orientation. Thermal profiles using lake temperatures of 45 degrees yield equilibrium levels below -10 degrees C, with drier air farther aloft. It would seem ice crystal seeding is difficult to achieve with these parameters and reports from spotters indicate either -RA or DZ this morning. Updated precip types to lean more heavily on the -RA/ZR potential through this afternoon. Increased QPF by a few hundredths given the intensity of the returns. UPDATE Issued at 622 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Updated to remove early morning wording and adjust POPs along south shore in NW WI to account for the continuing precip band off the lake. The area is slowly shrinking in area but will continue into mid-morning. UPDATE Issued at 543 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Updated for the new 12Z Aviation Discussion below. && .SHORT TERM...(Today through Friday) Issued at 340 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Main concerns for short term is a snow band this morning along the south shore of Lake Superior and chances/Ptype tonight. Current surface analysis indicates a precip band extending NE to SW across eastern Douglas and Western Bayfield counties early this morning. It is caused by an area of convergence in the area with north winds from MN converging with NE winds along the lake. The band is probably snow with some rain mixed in at times. Surface obs in the affected area indicates temps 33-35 so there could be mixture. There has been a slow eastward movement with the band. Will put in up to a half of an inch of snow this morning. The band will continue to move east and dissipate by mid-morning as the convergence decreases. Will keep fog in across most of the region this morning. With the low clouds and abundant moisture in the low levels along with fog being reported at some ob sites, fog will be a good bet. The next concern will be a shortwave trough that will move across the forecast area this tonight and early Friday morning. As indicated by the previous shift, with the moisture in the region along with some forcing and seeding from cirrus into the lower levels, there could a possibility of snow showers along with some possible freezing drizzle. It still looks the best chance for the freezing drizzle will be in NW WI. An area of high pressure will build into the region on Friday which may bring some breaks in the clouds and near normal temperatures. .LONG TERM...(Friday night through Wednesday) Issued at 340 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 The focus remains on a potential strong area of low pressure that will likely affect the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest early next week, potentially bringing the Northland periods of rain and snow Sunday night through the middle of the week. The latest model runs maintained a more northern low track and warmer temperatures, compared to the model runs from 24 hours earlier, so it still appears the pcpn will be more rain than snow, at least at first. There should still be a transition to more snow than rain by the middle of the week. An upper-level ridge will build into the Upper Midwest this weekend, with southerly flow pumping warmer air into the region. Temperatures will increase to nearly 10 degrees above seasonal normals, with highs well into the 30s Saturday and Sunday. This will help melt any lingering snow and ice off the roads from the recent rounds of snow. A fast moving wave is expected to lift from the southwest US early Sunday into the Great Plains Sunday and Sunday night. It will develop a stacked low near eastern Colorado and lift into the eastern Dakotas and/or Minnesota Monday. The low will bring a surge of moisture into the Northland Sunday night and Monday, probably mostly in the form of rain given the relatively warm temperatures aloft. Think the threat of freezing rain is very low because the cloud cover and moisture will help temperatures remain or rebound to near or above freezing. This low track is farther north than earlier runs, which is part of the reason for the greater favorability of rain than snow. However, colder air will likely develop or filter into the region towards the middle of the week, and possibly result in periods of light to moderate snow Monday night through Wednesday. The Canadian and GFS are much faster at pulling out the low than the ECMWF, which lingers the low over Minnesota well into Wednesday, so there is greater uncertainty for the weather for the middle of the week. At this time, not overly concerned about headline-worthy snowfall for this coming storm system, as long as this latest more north track and warmer air trend continues with subsequent model runs. Periods of rain and melting will probably give breaks between the snowfall accumulations. Temperatures will likely return to about 5 degrees above normal by Wednesday. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Friday morning) Issued at 543 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Widespread IFR/MVFR conditions are expected across northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin through tonight. Expect low ceilings, very light wind flow, and occasional times of LIFR ceilings. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DLH 35 28 34 26 / 20 20 10 10 INL 34 25 34 23 / 20 20 10 10 BRD 34 27 35 23 / 20 30 10 0 HYR 36 27 35 23 / 20 30 10 10 ASX 38 29 36 26 / 60 30 20 10 && .DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. LS...None. && $$ UPDATE...Huyck/Stewart SHORT TERM...Stewart LONG TERM...Grochocinski AVIATION...Grochocinski
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Gray ME
1043 AM EST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure will crest over the region early this morning before sliding offshore. A weakening area of low pressure will approach from the west later today and tonight before passing out to sea to our south. Another area of weak low pressure will approach from the west on Friday and will push into New England Friday night. A trough of low pressure will remain over the region on Saturday through Sunday. High pressure will build in from the west Sunday night and Monday. High pressure will crest over the region Monday night and will shift off to the east on Tuesday. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/... UPDATE 2...continue to tweak pops and raised max temps a degree or two for today. Area of over running precip moving through the forecast area. snow is light and should not accumulate much today. The GYX sounding this morning was very dry in the mid levels so much of what is on radar is evaporating as it falls. Prev Disc... At 07z...a 1029 millibar surface ridge was draped across New England. A 1012 millibar low was centered over the Great Lakes. GOES imagery showed lingering low cloud across the Connecticut valley northward through the international border area. Middle and high clouds were advancing rapidly eastward from the Great Lakes ahead of a shortwave impulse situated over the upper midwest and Great Lakes. For today...the surface ridge will slide offshore this morning. Thicker clouds will arrive from west to east later this morning in weak warm air advection ahead of the shortwave impulse. NWS doppler radar mosaic showed a band of mixed precipitation associated with this disturbance over the eastern Great Lakes at moment. This precipitation should arrive during the afternoon and evening hours with HRRR and other short term numericals placing the bulk of the QPF...albeit light over the northern half of New Hampshire into adjacent western Maine. Forecast soundings are cold enough for frozen precipitation today...with the exception of where the precipitation is extremely light and boundary layer temperatures are several degrees above freezing with some rain or a rain/wet snow mix possible. High temperatures today will be limited to the 30s by clouds and precipitation. Snow accumulations later today should be an inch or two for the higher terrain with less than an inch elsewhere. && .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH 6 PM FRIDAY/... For tonight...snow tapers to scattered flurries as the weakening shortwave impulse exits the area to our east overnight. With loss of ice crystals we may also see some patchy drizzle and freezing drizzle overnight depending on surface temperatures. On Friday...we have a quiet start as we are initially between disturbances with clouds and scattered flurries along with some patchy drizzle or freezing drizzle. By afternoon...the next weak disturbance will be approaching from the Great Lakes with the next batch of warm air advection precipitation arriving. High temperatures will range from 30s in the mountains to near 40 elsewhere. Any light accumulating snows should be limited to the higher terrain...while we`ll see a rain/snow mix elsewhere. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Low pressure will develop/strengthen near Nantucket Island Friday night and move northeastward on Saturday as potent short wave trough approaches from the west. As this occurs, at least light precipitation should develop across the CWA. At this time, the thermal profile across much of the CWA supports rainfall, with a mix and/or snow across the far interior. As secondary mid level low pressure develops further just to the east of the Maine coast on Saturday, colder air will filter in from the west and perhaps change the rain over to snow even on the coastal plain Saturday evening. At this time it appears as though the best forcing for ascent will be found to the northeast of our CWA at this time and this should preclude a major snow event in our CWA. However, it is worth noting that there is still a good amount of model spread in short wave trough strength and speed, and this still could have an effect on mesoscale features at this juncture. Therefore, we still cannot rule out the occurrence of a brief band accumulating snow moving across portions of the region between Saturday and Sunday morning. Low pressure will move away from the region on Sunday with weak high pressure building in on Monday. The fair weather will be short-lived however as there is strong model and ensemble agreement that that weather will quickly become active again Tue through Thurs. At this time, low pressure is expected to bring mainly rainfall then. && .AVIATION /16Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Short Term /Through Friday/...Areas of MVFR ceilings for the Connecticut valley...then conditions lowering to mvfr with lcl ifr in snow and rain btw 16 and 22z. Widespread mvfr and areas of ifr tonight in -shsn and areas of drizzle and fog...with patchy freezing drizzle. Long Term...MVFR to IFR conditions are expected Friday night through Saturday night as low pressure develops off the Maine coast. Improvement is foreseen on Sunday as low pressure moves away from the region...with VFR conditions prevailing into Monday. && .MARINE... Short Term /Through Friday/...Quiet on the waters with conditions remaining below small craft as high pressure crosses the waters today then weak low pressure passes well to the south of the waters early Friday. High pressure builds overhead tonight...allowing winds and seas to continue to diminish. Winds remain light thru Thu...with conditions expected to remain below SCA thresholds. Long Term...SCA conditions are expected Sat night through sun night as low pressure departs. && .GYX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. NH...None. MARINE...None. && $$ UPDATE...TFH
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Wilmington NC
906 AM EST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure will settle offshore this afternoon ahead of a cold front that will cross the coast Friday. Much cooler air will move into the region this weekend into early next week. A warming trend develops Tuesday ahead of another cold front. This front will bring a good chance of rain by the middle of next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 9 AM Thursday...The upper-level disturbance continues to move to the east and at 12 UTC it was located from Lake Superior to central North Carolina. The 06 UTC runs of the GFS continue to show this feature off the coast by 18 UTC. Associated with this wave is isolated showers mainly north of Lumberton to Burgaw, and the HRRR is not showing an extension of these showers to the South so expect the threat of any precipitation will diminish. As the short-wave shifts to the east the HRRR confirms the skies clearing and high temperatures being able to rise in the lower to mid 70s. Overnight with a strengthening subsidence inversion aloft, and light low-level winds will set the stage for areas of fog tonight, mainly after midnight, with lows 50-55. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... As of 300 AM Thursday...A broad area of low pressure off the Mid- Atlantic and New England coast will deepen into a stronger low off New England Friday night into Saturday. This should pull a cold front through the area late Friday night, with the next high building in from the west Saturday. Expect a partly cloudy sky Friday with residual low-level moisture and the subsidence inversion still present up around 7000 feet AGL. It`s even possible that a few of the daytime cumulus clouds could try to drop some sprinkles given model progs of up to 100-150 J/kg of surface-based CAPE during mid afternoon. Highs are expected to again reach 70-75. Surprisingly, the slightly better chance of showers could arrive with the cold front itself Friday night. Although moisture depth will be meager and the bulk of the upper support remains well to the north, forced lift along the front could produce a broken line of showers, focused from late evening through about 3 AM. Forecast PoPs are only 20 percent. Dry weather and significantly cooler temperatures are expected for Saturday into Saturday night as Canadian air again spreads southward. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 300 AM Thursday...Cool and dry high pressure over the Carolinas on Sunday will shift off shore on Monday. A light northerly flow Sunday morning will become lighter and more variable through late Sunday, but without any change in air mass, expect temps on the cool side, with most places not making it to 60 during the day and dropping down into the 30s Sun night. As the high shifts off shore on Monday, a warmer and moister return flow will set up. Temps will reach into the 60s with plenty of sunshine. Dewpoint temps will start climbing Mon nigh into Tues as southerly flow increases through the low to mid levels. Clouds and shwrs will increase heading into mid week as a cold front approaches from the west. The ECMWF is a bit slower to bring the front through, but overall expect the best chc of rain on Wed with a chance of some decent QPF across most of the area. Could see pcp water values up over 1.5 inches on Wed. Plenty of WAA will push temps above normal Tues and Wed. && .AVIATION /14Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 12Z...Based on current observational trends and latest MOS guidance, VFR is likely to continue this morning into this afternoon. A few showers are possible this morning, mainly NC terminals, but do not expect anything more than very light. There is possibility of MVFR cigs around mid-morning, but confidence is low as cloud layers today should be most predominate in the 4-9k range. Light winds this morning will gradually increase and become S-SW at the coastaL terminals and SW-WSW at the inland terminals 5-10 kt. This evening as winds become light, fog development is likely but mainly after midnight. Confidence is low but KCRE could have temporary fog/sub VFR vsbys 3-6z. The best likelihood of dense fog however should be at KFLO/KLBT after 09z under clear skies. Lingering cloudiness at the coastal terminals should decrease the likelihood of IFR. Extended outlook...VFR condiitons expected through the period. && .MARINE... NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 9 AM Thursday...The high pressure area has shifted off the east coast and the southerly winds over the coastal waters is now established. Wind speeds currently are around 10 knots and hrrr show this speed to continue with a veering of the wind direction to the southwest by sunset. SHORT TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... As of 300 AM Thursday...A broad area of low pressure off the Mid- Atlantic and New England coast will deepen into a stronger low off New England Friday night into Saturday. This should pull a cold front through the area late Friday night, leading to a period of rather strong northerly winds lasting through most of Saturday. At this time it appears wind speeds within 20 miles of shore will top out around 20 knots with some 25 knot gusts around daybreak Saturday, just below Small Craft Advisory thresholds. Winds should remain around 15 knots from the north through Saturday night as he next high builds in from the west. LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 300 AM Thursday...Northerly flow on Sunday will diminish and become very light and more variable as high pressure migrates east over the waters through Monday. The center should be moving off of Hatteras by Mon aftn allowing for a more persistent on shore flow to set up by late Mon into Tues. Overall winds will start out 10 to 15 kts Sun morning and then diminish to under 10 kts Sun night through Mon with a trend upward late Mon into Tues to 10 to 15 kts out of the E-SE. Seas will follow similar trend diminishing from 3 to 4 ft on Sun morning down to less than 2 ft by Mon aftn but rising steadily Mon night into Tues in increasing on shore push. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...None. NC...None. MARINE...None. && $$ NEAR TERM...HAWKINS/TRA SHORT TERM...TRA LONG TERM...RGZ AVIATION...MRR
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service North Platte NE
856 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 856 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 A pacific cold front is entering Western Nebraska. The front should induce mixing...sweep moisture east and lift any remaining fog. Visibility will continue to improve and the dense fog advisory will be allowed to expire at 9 am CST. UPDATE Issued at 547 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 The freezing fog advisory has been converted to a dense fog advisory and expanded west through Chase county until 15z. Do not be deceived by the improvement in visibility at North Platte airport. The 200 foot ceiling likely represents 1/4 mile or less visibility in the highlands north and south of town. && .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 333 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Today and Tonight...a weak short wave moving through ncntl Colo this morning will collide with arctic drape across ncntl Neb producing scattered rain showers across ncntl Neb. The HRRR...RAP and NAM are in good agreement lifting a band of showers through Holt county this afternoon. A pacific cold front moving through cntl WY will sweep east into the Neb Panhandle this morning and scour out the arctic air and clouds across ncntl Neb this afternoon. A blend of bias corrected RAP and HRRR model temperatures produces highs in the 40s. Bias corrected guidance produces lows in the teens and 20s tonight under clear skies. The dense freezing fog this morning is forming mainly on the wrn fringe of the arctic drape. This hazard is short lived in most locations but could last several hours this morning according to the time lapsed HRRR model. Temperatures will gradually warm above freezing this morning reducing the hazard. The freezing fog advisory operates until 12z and will be reevaluated at that time for a possible extension or down-grade to a dense fog advisory. .LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 333 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Upper level ridging and surface high pressure remain over the region through Sunday. This ridge will result in dry conditions across central Nebraska through much of the weekend. In addition, temperatures will have a brief warm-up this weekend. Highs Friday start off in the low to mid 50s before rising up into the upper 50s on Saturday. Cooler temperatures begin to filter into the region on Sunday with highs only rising into the upper 40s across the north and into the low 50s across the south. The next weather system arrives on Sunday night bringing a potential of some wintry precipitation to central Nebraska. Current model runs show this system mostly missing the north central Nebraska forecast area. Just a chance of some rain mainly across Holt and Boyd counties in the afternoon Sunday. Precipitation will then switch over to snow, however, the system will be north of the area by then. Will keep just a slight chance of some snow across the Nebraska/South Dakota border as moisture wraps around this system on Sunday night. The low pressure system moves north and east of the area by Monday night allowing another weak high pressure system to build northward into the central Plains for the middle of next week. Temperatures remain cooler through mid-week with highs only rising into the mid to upper 30s each day. Lows remain steady from Friday night through Tuesday night in the mid 20s. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Friday morning) Issued at 520 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 The widespread IFR/LIFR in very low cigs and fog will be swept east as a pacific cold front moves through western and north central Nebraska today. VFR is expected all areas around 21z. Improvements in flight conditions will occur from west to east. Pacific high pressure will build through the cntl High plains and Rockies late this aftn and tonight presenting VFR to all areas. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ UPDATE...CDC SHORT TERM...CDC LONG TERM...Kulik AVIATION...CDC
Area Forecast Discussion...Updated Aviation
National Weather Service Saint Louis MO
451 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM... (Through Late Tonight) Issued at 313 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 A weak RIDGE aloft prevails over our region early this morning, with a light northwest flow at the surface. A surface RIDGE axis extends from eastern Nebraska into far western Missouri. An expansive area of low cloudiness exists across much of the Midwest, with its backedge just to the west of the surface RIDGE axis. This backedge has not moved over the past several hours. Temperatures were in the upper 30s to mid 40s across our region. The 06/07z RAP runs as well as the updated 06z NAM seem to be handling the low clouds the best and were used as primary guidance. These models persist the low cloud field across our region into the afternoon hours with some clearing occurring for some sections south of Interstate 70 in central and southeast MO. With the low level RIDGE axis sliding thru late this morning and early afternoon, advection will be negligible in moving this cloud field and this being late November, it is unlikely the sun will be able to dissipate. A light southerly low level flow into central MO and southeast MO during the afternoon look like the best opportunity for limited clearing. Max temps will also be cool today for areas near and north of I-70 where the clouds will persist, with conditional climatology suggesting a mere 5 degree rise, and have strongly preferred the MET MOS values in these areas with peak readings in the 40s. Trended towards the MAV MOS in southern areas, with peak readings in the low 50s. Light winds becoming more northerly with time tonight will, if anything, allow the low cloud field near and north of I-70 to drop south again and recover lost ground. In addition, an upper level disturbance will drop thru our region. Models generally show a decently strong region of broadscale lift and some WAA that will also bring in thicker ice-containing clouds. The system is rather fast moving, however, and will work on a very dry column. The column will be too warm for anything but liquid pcpn, but unless the system can produce stronger lift than is currently being depicted, it will be tough to get any pcpn going with this when it moves thru tonight. Have continued the dry forecast. Went warm on min temps tonight with lots of clouds persisting. TES .LONG TERM... (Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 400 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Low level clouds will clear out from west to east on Friday due to increasing subsidence as a surface ridge builds into the area. Colder temperatures are expected Friday night due to good radiational cooling with a clear sky and light surface winds along surface ridge axis. Lows Friday night will be at or slightly below normal for late November. Warmer, above normal temperatures are expected for the weekend beginning Saturday afternoon as an upper level ridge shifts eastward into the central US, and the surface wind becomes southerly as the surface ridge shifts east of the region. Showers will spread into parts of northeast and central MO and west central IL Sunday afternoon as low level temperature and moisture advection increase over the area ahead of an upper level low and associated surface low pressure system moving east- northeastward into the northern Plains. Showers will shift through the rest of the forecast area Sunday night with the best coverage across west central IL as the storm system moves eastward through the northern Plains with low level moisture convergence across this area on the nose of a strong southwest low level jet. Showers will continue Monday and Monday night, particularly across southeast MO and southwest IL as a southern stream shortwave approaches from the southern Plains and induces a surface wave along a nearly stationary front across this area. Will continue pops on Tuesday, although the model solutions differ with the ECMWF model shifting the precipitation east of the forecast area by this time, while the GFS is stronger/deeper and slower with the surface low moving northeastward along the surface front and keeps precipitation going across the southeast half of our forecast area through Tuesday. A cooling trend is expected Tuesday through Wednesday as colder air continues to filter southeastward into our area as a deepening upper level trough shifts slowly eastward over the region. GKS && .AVIATION... (For the 12z TAFs through 12z Friday Morning) Issued at 450 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Expansive cloud shield of MVFR CIGs is expected to persist for the TAF sites thru much of the valid period with few exceptions. Otherwise, light NW surface winds will become variable later today with some improvement to CIGs between 2000-3000 feet as surface RIDGE moves thru. With a new cold front moving thru late tonight, this should finally push the low clouds to the east by the end or just beyond the end of the valid period as surface winds resume from the west-northwest. TES && .LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. && $$ WFO LSX
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE
538 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM...(today through Saturday) Issued at 345 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Thanksgiving forecast concerns through the evening will be cloudcover, temperatures, and light precipitation/precip type through early evening. Water vapor satellite imagery showed some enhanced mid level moisture from north to south ahead of a longwave trough from MT/WY/CO/AZ. Earlier in the evening, there was some lightning ahead of the h5 shortwave over UT. WSR-88D reflectivities and obs are picking us some snow over southeast WY/northern CO. This is coincident with where the max omega and steepest lapse rates are. The 130kt h3 jet was a little stronger than progged yesterday. This jet will quickly work across Nebraska and into Iowa today advancing the trough. An extensive area of stratus was located across the forecast area. This was in an area of high pressure with weak low level flow, temperatures in the 30s and dewpoints in the 30s. Although not at the obs, while driving around in the evening and on the way to work, there was some light patchy drizzle. Surface low pressure extended from Wyoming through Colorado. Through today and early this evening lift increases with steepening lapse rates with the progress of the longwave trough and the short range models bring a local maximum of vorticity across the forecast area. The models vary in if there will be sufficient moisture for precipitation as well as the details of where the best chance is. The GFS is mostly dry while the the NAM has a quarter of an inch near the SD border. The EC is in between. The latest hi-res SPC HRRR has light precipitation by noon in northeast Neb in advance of the wave and continuing on a sct basis through the afternoon and spreading southward to south of Norfolk. The RAP/ESRL HRRR/SPC SREF are similar and have some light precip as farther south...as far as Falls City and northwest MO. Have increasing pops this morning in northeast Nebraska with a chance for rain or a rain/snow mix and continue this afternoon with light precip exiting the area by 02Z or 03Z. For now did not mention much for amounts and the short term forecaster will have to assess how this is going. Little temperature change today with highs in the 30s north and 40s south. Lowered highs due to extensive cloud cover. There may be some breaks in the clouds near the KS border and temperatures could be a little warmer there. Decreasing clouds tonight with northwest winds, drier dewpoints and subsidence behind the shortwave. Friday should be a bit warmer in the 40s and 50s with more sunshine and Saturday warmer still with the mid level ridge over the area. .LONG TERM...(Saturday night through Wednesday) Issued at 345 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 The mid tropospheric ridge will give way to lowering heights as the Interior West trough moves into the Rockies. The low level jet is forecast to strengthen from 20kts to Sunday at 12Z to 45kts by 00Z, transporting 7-9deg C h85 dewpoints northward into the forecast area. Temperatures will be mild, however there will be increasing clouds and some showers and possibly a rumble of thunder. The track of the h5 low is well to the west...somewhere over SD/ND with surface low pressure over CO tracking across Kansas into central Neb by 00z Sunday evening to a 980/988MB low over southeast SD by 06z. Colder air does get pulled in and depending on how far north the system has shifted, some light snow may try to work into northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa Monday, or it may be north of the area. Sunday highs should be in the 50s with breezy to windy south winds at 15 to 30 mph and gusty. Preliminary rain amounts would be a trace to a quarter of an inch. Cooler for Monday with highs in the 40s and 50s. Reinforcing cold air will build in for Tuesday/Wednesday with highs in the 30s and 40s. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Friday morning) Issued at 533 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 A mix of IFR and MVFR conditions continue at all 3 TAF sites, and will likely continue for a good part of this forecast period. Bases will again increase to MVFR through the day, but should remain below VFR at all 3 sites. A weak storm system may bring some rain to KOMA/KOFK this afternoon to early evening, but these are expected to be very light. As winds become northwest tonight behind the system we will likely start to clear out the stratus at KOFK/KLNK late in the period, but will keep KOMA MVFR through 12Z Friday. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...None. IA...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Zapotocny LONG TERM...Zapotocny AVIATION...Boustead
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Paducah KY
918 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 918 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Aviation update. UPDATE Issued at 852 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 After looking at the new data from the NAM/RAP, and given satellite trends, will make significant changes to the cloud forecast through tonight. Forecast soundings show moisture trapped below a strong inversion just above the top of the cloud layer, with rather weak flow unable to mix the below inversion layer enough to warrant a decrease in the low cloud cover. This may also affect temperatures. The HRRR data shows most areas unable to reach 50 today. The other guidance has yet to catch on to this possibility. Will trend lower/cooler, but not as low as the HRRR just yet. CN && .SHORT TERM...(Today through Saturday night) Issued at 229 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 In general, clouds/drizzle/fog are hanging tough, and slower to clear/erode, than modeled/forecast. So we have trended the near term for a little slower on the rate of dispersion, which leads in turn to a little (overall) cloudier forecast, as the next (fast moving/still dry passage) system incoming for Black Friday spills clouds in even as we briefly clear from the system prior. That is the primary change in the near term forecast, which otherwise still shows High pressure building into/across the lower Ohio river valley, a fast moving/dry cold frontal passage Friday, and then surface High pressure again building into/across the lower Ohio valley into the weekend. The forecast remains dry with seasonal temps primarily in the 50s/30s for highs/lows each day. .LONG TERM...(Sunday through Wednesday) Issued at 229 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 The medium range models and their ensembles are now in better agreement than in previous days, so the rain event early next week can be forecast with greater confidence. An expansive mid/upper ridge will be in place across the CONUS at the beginning of the extended period, with the center of high surface pressure over the PAH forecast area. This high will drift off toward the Carolinas throughout the weekend. Southwesterly return flow (850 mb) of about 50 knots should get established Sunday night in the PAH forecast area ahead of an expansive mid level longwave trof which is progged to become more and more dominant across the CONUS with time, setting up a prolonged southwesterly flow aloft over the Midwest. As the parent stacked low moves toward MN early Monday, the low level jet will combine with fast winds aloft to create large scale lift over our area, enhanced by difficult-to-time impulses in the flow aloft, which may or may not be accompanied by a surface waves. This should result in rain showers Sunday night for us, starting in southeastern MO/southern IL and gradually moving eastward, though the southeastern Pennyrile region may escape substantial rainfall through much of Monday. There may be just enough instability for a little lightning Monday through Monday evening, mainly in southeastern MO/Purchase area of KY/southernmost IL. As one likely impulse moves through, it appears the window for highest PoPs and QPF for the region overall will be Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning. The sustained pattern of southwesterly flow will be conducive to two to three inches of total rainfall being probable, with higher amounts possible. This could cause some minor flooding issues. Pcpn is expected to taper off from west to east late Tuesday. Some model indications are that additional impulses in the cyclonic flow could generate more rain Wednesday, but the forecast PoPs will be kept under 15% for now. In this pattern, temps will continue to be mild, especially Monday/Tuesday, when the lows will be above freezing and highs in the upper 50s/lower 60s. && .AVIATION... Issued at 918 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Significant changes to the cloud forecast, which will affect all terminals. Model projections show little to no chance we will erode the low cloud cover. Thus, kept MVFR cigs in for the entire duration of the forecast. Light NNW winds today will become variable by dark, near calm at times. VSBYS should generally be VFR, though some brief MVFR vsbys cannot be ruled out entirely. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...None. MO...None. IN...None. KY...None. && $$
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Portland Oregon
238 AM PST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SYNOPSIS...A strong frontal boundary will move into Southwest Washington and far Northwest Oregon this morning then become nearly stationary. A secondary low pressure area develops offshore along the front this afternoon, reaching the North Washington coast Thursday night. The frontal boundary weakens late Thursday night and Friday morning with the main energy over Southwest Oregon. A cold upper trough settles over the forecast area this weekend. The general progressive pattern continues next week. && .SHORT TERM...Today through Saturday...Complicated weather pattern shaping up during the next 36-48 hours with below normal confidence in some details due to continued model differences. Water vapor satellite imagery early this morning shows an impressive shortwave trough encompassing much of the Gulf of Alaska. More impressive is the convective activity over the coastal waters and the South Washington and North Oregon coast associated with a frontal boundary. KLGX Doppler radar shows the impressive line extending from near Raymond to about KTMK. Lightning detection showed up to 125 cloud to ground strikes within this line from 08Z to 09Z. A strong jet on the backside of the trough is beginning to result in the shortwave trough digging. This will result in the approaching front to become more oriented from southwest to northeast as it drops southeastward across the area late tonight and Thursday. Biggest forecast question today will be QPF. Models differ on location of the QPF core within the baroclinic zone. The 06Z NAM has the front stalling across SW Washington and far NW Oregon this afternoon, while the ECMWF is a little more southeast, somewhat similar to the 00Z GFS. However, the 06Z GFS is trending toward the 06Z NAM solution. Another forecast issue will be coastal wind. 06Z NAM does show 70 kt 850 mb and 900 mb wind speeds off the North-Central Oregon coast 15Z today. Wind speeds diminish from north to south later this morning as the front sags southeast. Again, the main forecast challenge will be the actual frontal location by early afternoon. There is also a high wind watch valid late this afternoon through this evening. Overall confidence in this event is less than optimum. 06Z NAM and GFS have come more into line showing a secondary low pressure area developing out near 140W early this morning and then continuing to deepen today as it heads toward the Washington coast. The ECMWF does not have near the surface reflection as the NAM or GFS. The NAM indicates 65-75 kt 850 mb and 900 mb wind speeds along the Central Oregon coast early this evening. With the current warning in place, will punt to the day shift on the high wind watch. Snow levels continue to hover around 3500-4000 feet in the Cascades per surface observations. It should be noted that temperatures have fallen across the upper Hood River valley and we could see precipitation begin to mix with snow above 2000-2500 feet this morning. The NAM & WRF-ARW wet bulb zero heights support this idea as cold air banks up against the Cascades. Do not foresee major accumulations at these elevations, but still something worth monitoring. Models continue to vary considerably on what becomes of the aforementioned baroclinic boundary, which leads to difficult QPF forecast challenges. The GEM, EC & WRF-ARW models hold the heaviest QPF over the Nehalem, Wilson, Nestucca and Siletz River Basins today while the latest GFS & HRRR runs suggest the front will likely drop southward this morning and end up over the Alsea and Siuslaw River drainages by midday. The GFS & HRRR runs would be less likely to produce river flooding as the heaviest rainfall would likely not sit over any given drainage too long. The 06Z GFS has the heaviest rain this afternoon over the North Oregon coast basins, then slowly shifts the focus south late this afternoon and tonight. By Friday morning the front has weakened with the primary dynamics over far SW Oregon and NW California. But, the front never goes completely away. The GFS, and to a certain extent the ECMWF, lift the frontal remains north Fri evening and Fri night as a colder upper level trough pushes toward the coast. Snow levels will vary quite a bit across the Cascades today and tonight. Cold air will likely be stubborn to scour out across the south Washington Cascades especially near Mt Adams where 10-20 inches of snow appear likely above 3500` and somewhere between 15-30 inches above 4500`. Warm air streaming northeastward ahead of the front should result in snow levels rising to around 4500 feet this afternoon across the Oregon Cascades. This process will be slowest to occur near Mt Hood so the current Winter Wx Advisory looks on track. The good news is that this should bring a period of improved travel conditions for those traveling across the Cascade passes today. The cold upper trough Saturday will keep snow levels below the passes. QPF will not be all that impressive, but snow will continue to accumulate above the passes. Weishaar .LONG TERM...(Saturday night through Wednesday)...No Changes... Previous Discussion from Wednesday afternoon follows...The active weather pattern looks to continue through much of the long term forecast as a series of storm systems move across the Pac NW. Models continue to show an upper level trough moving across the forecast area Saturday night and Sunday which will maintain showers over the region. Snow levels look to lower to around 2500 ft on Sunday, with an additional 3 to 6 inches possible at the Cascade passes. If you are planning on traveling over the Cascades, prepare for hazardous road conditions. Models then show a weak upper level shortwave dropping southeastward Sunday night and Monday. This system looks to bring another round of rain to the area late Sunday/early Monday, with cool northwesterly flow keeping showers going on Monday. High pressure looks to build across the area Monday night and Tuesday bring with it a period of quieter weather and raising snow levels to around 4500 ft. However, this bring will be short as models show another upper level trough dropping south out of the Gulf of Alaska Tuesday night and Wednesday which could bring another round of heavy rain and Cascade snow, with locally windy conditions. /64 && .AVIATION...Primarily VFR early this morning with occasional MVFR CIGS and VIS at the coast. This should trend toward more MVFR conditions this morning at the coast. A band of thunderstorms stretching from near KAST southwest over the coastal waters. If current trends continue most of the coastal areas will see some thunderstorms through about 15Z as the band shifts east. Southerly wind gusting 30 to 40 kt right along the coast will ease later this morning as a cold front moves ashore. South winds appear to increase again with gusts 30 to 40 knots Thursday evening but there is significant model uncertainty regarding the track of a potential surface low and even it`s possible existence versus on open surface trough. 06Z model runs are in better agreement but still have significant differences in the details. Inland areas remain generally VFR into this evening, but areas from KSLE northward have better chances for MVFR CIGS and VIS after 21Z Thu as heavier precipitation leans further inland. KPDX AND APPROACHES...VFR prevailing through about 21Z Thu then a good chance for MVFR CIGS in the 2000 to 3000 ft range to occasionally affect the TAF sites. MVFR conditions may continue through tonight into early Fri. && .MARINE...A band of thunderstorms extending southwest from near Astoria will continue to slide east as a cold front pushes toward the coast. The cold front may be further back from the convection but valuable information from buoy 46029 shows pressure rises and a slight windshift and decrease in wind. Hires wind models are fairly close to the observation and this will push the front through Astoria around 4 am, then slide down the coast to Florence by 10 am if not a couple of hours earlier. Seas appear to have hit its peak around 20 ft around 1 am for the northern waters, but the central Oregon coastal waters may still a bump to 22 ft early this morning. Seas will gradually subside this morning but remain above 15 feet through Friday with a bump back up to near 20 ft this evening with the next system. Models have not done well with this system for Thu evening. The track and strength of this second system keeps changing in small but impactful ways, leading to more uncertainty. The 06Z models are in slightly better agreement but confidence in the forecast is still not very high. But a decision has to be made so will convert the Storm Watch to a Gale Warning starting late this afternoon through late evening. Feel fairly confident that the waters south of Cascade Head will see gales, and possibly a short period of near storm force gusts early this evening. North of Cascade Head confidence is lower as model solutions vary from Small Craft Advisory to Gale force winds. Friday things start to calm down, with winds and seas coming back down. Still think we will see small craft advisory winds through most of the day on Friday, though winds should drop below 20 kt by Friday evening. Seas should drop back down into the mid-teens by Friday evening as well. Weaker fronts move across the waters over the weekend, but generally seas expected to drop to around 9 ft by Saturday night or Sunday, and winds stay fairly benign for this time of year. /mh && .PQR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...Winter Weather Advisory until 4 AM PST Friday for Northern Oregon Cascades. High Wind Warning until 10 AM PST this morning for Central Oregon Coast-North Oregon Coast. Flood Watch from 10 AM PST this morning through Friday evening for Central Coast Range of Western Oregon-Central Oregon Coast-Central Willamette Valley-Coast Range of Northwest Oregon-Greater Portland Metro Area-North Oregon Coast- South Willamette Valley. High Wind Watch from this afternoon through this evening for Central Oregon Coast-North Oregon Coast. WA...Winter Storm Warning until 4 AM PST Friday for South Washington Cascades. Flood Watch from 10 AM PST this morning through Friday evening for South Washington Coast. High Wind Watch from this afternoon through this evening for South Washington Coast. PZ...Gale Warning until 10 AM PST this morning for Coastal Waters from Cape Shoalwater WA to Florence OR out 60 nm. Gale Warning from 1 PM this afternoon to midnight PST tonight for Coastal Waters from Cape Shoalwater WA to Florence OR out 60 nm. Small Craft Advisory for Rough Columbia River Bar until 4 PM PST this afternoon. && $$ Interact with us via social media: www.facebook.com/NWSPortland www.twitter.com/NWSPortland This discussion is for Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington from the Cascade crest to 60 nautical miles offshore. The area is commonly referred to as the forecast area.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tulsa OK
545 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .AVIATION... CONCERNING TAF SITES KTUL/KRVS/KBVO/KMLC/KXNA/KFYV/KFSM/KROG. IFR ceilings across nwrn AR sites will become VFR by late morning as cloud deck erodes from west to east after sunrise. Variable restricted flight conditions in fog/freezing fog over other sites will also improve by late morning. All sites should be VFR with SCT- BKN high clouds after 18z and wind becoming south/southeast. A weak cold front will move through nern OK sites around 03z and through MLC/FSM after 06z. WX NIL with the front. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /Issued 337 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016/ DISCUSSION... Fog potential through mid to late morning is the primary forecast concern. So far early this morning, any fog has been very patchy and also very short lived at any one site. Both the experimental and operational HRRR indicate this changing prior to sunrise across portions of eastern Oklahoma and into the Arkansas River Valley, in the cleared area on the western edge of the surface ridge. Confidence is not high enough at this point to issue a Dense Fog Advisory but we are prepared to issue one if observations begin to support it. In addition to the dense fog potential, a couple of sites have briefly reported freezing fog, and as such, will include a patchy mention of freezing fog generally from Claremore to Tahlequah to Sallisaw. Southerly winds will return today as the surface ridge pushes to the east, leading to above normal temperatures today. A fairly fast moving, dry cold front will push through the region tonight, with a brief decrease in temperatures following on Friday. Saturday will be largely quiet with slightly warmer temperatures. The next big weather maker will begin to affect the region Sunday and into the early part of next week. Flow in advance of a large trough over the western half of the country will lead to increasing deep layer moisture and a resulting increase in shower and thunderstorm potential. While activity should generally remain scattered across the area into Sunday evening, better chances, with some locally heavy rain potential, should arrive with a cold front early Monday morning and into the day. Southeast Oklahoma and into western Arkansas look to have the best shower and thunderstorm potential during this time frame. The medium range models differ somewhat with the handling of the system after Monday, with the GFS lingering the front across the southeastern half of the area, leading to rain chances into Monday night and early Tuesday, whereas the ECMWF is more progressive with this feature. Much cooler temperatures and dry conditions will prevail toward the middle of next week on the heels of the departing front. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TUL 66 38 60 33 / 0 0 0 0 FSM 65 39 61 33 / 0 0 0 0 MLC 66 40 61 33 / 0 0 0 0 BVO 64 35 59 26 / 0 0 0 0 FYV 62 34 57 25 / 0 0 0 0 BYV 59 38 56 31 / 0 0 0 0 MKO 64 37 58 31 / 0 0 0 0 MIO 60 35 55 30 / 0 0 0 0 F10 65 38 59 33 / 0 0 0 0 HHW 66 41 62 35 / 0 0 0 0 && .TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...None. AR...None. && $$ LONG TERM....22 AVIATION...69
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Lincoln IL
159 PM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday) ISSUED AT 159 PM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Expansive stratocumulus shield has started to erode over central and western Missouri this afternoon. With the ridge overhead at the moment, there are some doubts that this clearing will make it all the way over here, as LAPS soundings still show a decent inversion around 900 mb and RAP 925 mb humidity plots are pretty solid through the night. So, will maintain the cloudy forecast overnight, followed by some slow clearing on Friday once the upper wave currently over the Dakotas passes by. With a bit of sunshine, temperatures should get a little warmer on Friday, mainly mid to upper 40s with some 50 degree readings over the far southwest and southeast parts of the CWA. && .LONG TERM...(Friday night through Thursday) ISSUED AT 159 PM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Dry weather is expected the first part of the weekend as a surface high pressure ridge moves across the area. As this high pressure moves east into the southeastern US, a strong weather system developing in the western plains will move out into the plains and move northeast into the northern plains. The end of a warm front should lift across a portion of central IL Sunday afternoon and could bring showers to the western parts of the CWA. As the main low pressure area lifts into the northern plains, warm moist air will stream northward into the area the latter part of the weekend and into the beginning of next week. This will cause occasional showers across the area beginning Sunday night. There could be a brief break in the precip Monday morning in the wake of the first wave, but with models differing on how fast to bring the secondary system into the area, will keep chance pops for Mon morning. By Monday afternoon, the secondary system will lift out the plains and bring heavier rain and rain showers to the most of the CWA Monday afternoon through Monday night. Heavy rainfall will be possible with this secondary wave, with around an inch possible in southeast Illinois Mon afternoon through Mon evening. Moderate rainfall will be possible north of this area over most of central IL, with rainfall amounts exceeding over one half inch. Rain showers will remain possible through Tuesday as the surface system pulls away and the upper level system slowly moves northeast toward Canada. Beyond this system, the ECMWF and GFS differ on if the area will be dry or if there will be more showers somewhere in the area. The ECMWF is showing more showers for the southeast Wed night, while the GFS is dry. For now, will keep dry forecast since that is what the ECMWF showed previously. Temps will become unseasonably warm for the weekend and into the beginning of next week as the main surface system stays to the west and warm air is advected into the area. High temps are expected to reach into the upper 50s to near 60 for Mon and Tue. Then temps will drop back down to more seasonable levels for Wed and Thur. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Friday afternoon) Issued at 1116 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Expansive MVFR stratocumulus deck will continue much of the forecast period. Some thin spots trying to form across Missouri, but inversion will remain strong much of the time and currently do not think any significant breaks in the clouds will occur until Friday morning. Ceilings are very slowly rising, but VFR conditions are not expected until mid to late morning on Friday. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ SHORT TERM...Geelhart LONG TERM...Auten AVIATION...Geelhart
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Saint Louis MO
301 PM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM... (Through Late Friday Afternoon) Issued at 258 PM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Satellite imagery late this afternoon is showing that clouds are eroding on the back side of the surface ridge across central Missouri. This trend will likely continue to at least just west of the Mississippi River before sunset when mixing ceases for the day. Then RAP soundings are showing the low level profiles moistening back up beneath 850mb overnight. This is part due to the area of low clouds currently over Nebraska and northern Kansas ahead of a upper trough moving across the northern Plains. This trough will move across the Midwest bringing the moisture with it. Will go with mostly cloudy to cloudy skies everywhere overnight before skies clear out on Friday as drier air advects in from the northwest. Should not be much drop in temperatures tonight with clouds holding in place. Went warmer than MOS guidance in most locations. Clouds will break out tomorrow morning helping highs climb to near GFS MOS and SREF mean highs. Gosselin .LONG TERM... (Friday Night through Next Thursday) Issued at 258 PM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 (Friday Night - Saturday Night) An area of high pressure at the sfc will slide eastward from the south-central Plains to near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers by Saturday morning. This area of high pressure will be accompanied by light winds and a clear sky...promoting a good radiational cooling setup. Lows are expected to range from the mid 20s to near freezing with the coldest conditions across the eastern Ozarks. Favored cooler MET guidance for lows Friday night...and even went a few degrees cooler than that for favored terrain where model guidance has had a warm bias under similar circumstances this fall. As sfc high continues to slide predominantly eastward...southerly return flow should be in full earnest by Saturday afternoon. Temperatures should be 5+ degrees warmer on Saturday compared to what is forecast for tomorrow. Look for highs in the 50s which is back above normal for late November. Lows on Saturday night will also be quite a bit warmer than the previous night...mainly due to southerly sfc winds staying up around 5 knots all night long. Lows back above normal...and above the freezing mark...are forecast areawide. (Sunday - Next Thursday) More active weather pattern will take shape for the end of the weekend and into the next work week. Mid-Mississippi Valley will be beneath southwest flow aloft with at least a couple of impulses ejecting out of the longwave trough centered near the lee of the Rockies. Two distinct rounds of rainfall are expected...one on Sunday night with the highest chances across northern sections of the CWFA...and the other Monday afternoon/night mainly for the southeastern half of the CWA. Nothing that looks overly concerning this far out in terms of hazardous weather. In fact...most parts of the CWA have been running below to much below normal in the rainfall department since the start of autumn. Therefore...a round or two of widespread rainfall would actually be welcome from a hydrological perspective...particularly for portions of southeast Missouri. Temperatures will start off the period above normal and stay that way through Tuesday. Temperatures are forecast to drop back to near normal for Wednesday and next Thursday behind the second wave of rainfall. Gosselin && .AVIATION... (For the 18z TAFs through 18z Friday Afternoon) Issued at 1125 AM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 MVFR clouds are expected to remain at all of the terminals through at least mid morning on Friday as low level moisture remains trapped in the lower atmosphere. High pressure moving across the area will cause winds to be light and variable. SPECIFICS FOR KSTL: MVFR clouds are expected through at least mid morning on Friday with light and variable winds. Britt && .LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. && $$ WFO LSX
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Morristown TN
237 PM EST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM (This Afternoon through Friday)... Current water vapor imagery and RAP upper air analysis indicates a shortwave ridge stretching across the Southern Appalachians northwards into the Great Lakes. A trough is present both to the east and west of this ridge with one across the Northeastern U.S. and the other moving across the Rocky Mountains into the Central Plains. At the surface, a surface boundary is located along the Cumberland Plateau. This boundary has slowed since the ridge has build into the region. Overall, the boundary is not very strong with little to no cold air advection behind the boundary with nothing more than shift to northwesterly winds. Expect mostly cloudy skies will continue throughout the afternoon with plenty of low level moisture around the surface boundary. The moisture is only around 100mb deep and do not expect any precipitation across the area this afternoon/evening. Smoke continues to be an issue across the area but conditions have improved a great deal since yesterday. Winds are currently in the 5- 10 mph at most observations sites and this has helped disperse the smoke. However, will continue with smoke in the forecast through the remainder of the afternoon. Patchy fog will become an issue tonight with low level moisture remaining elevated around the surface boundary. Dewpoints are currently in the low to mid 50s and expect low dewpoint depressions overnight. Low level winds will also weaken as the boundary layer begins to decouple tonight. Due to this, expect patchy fog will be possible tonight across all of the forecast area. The smoke from the recent wildfires will also act to decrease the visibilities as well. The surface boundary should push through the forecast area late tonight into early tomorrow morning as an upper level trough moves across the Central Plains into the Great Lakes. Could see a few light showers/drizzle across SW VA as the boundary pushes through with some weak low level convergence. As mentioned, the cold air advection with the system is weak and highs will still top out in the upper 50s to mid 60s. .LONG TERM (Friday night through Thursday)... High pressure builds into the region in the wake of the frontal passage. Although a deeper trough digs over the northern Ohio Valley dry conditions will persist. The models do indicate a more promising trough digging over the southern Plains by Tuesday. Differences in timing exist and with the deep amplitude of the trough expected...will trend toward the slower solution. This will bring the better chances of rain to the region on Tuesday afternoon (thunder possible) and Tuesday night. This area sure could use the precipitation! Nothing to get excited about but colder air on the backside of this system could produce some areas of snow showers limited to NE TN and SW VA for a few hours Thursday morning. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Chattanooga Airport, TN 47 65 38 61 / 10 0 0 0 Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport, TN 47 63 34 57 / 10 0 0 0 Oak Ridge, TN 46 63 36 58 / 10 0 0 0 Tri Cities Airport, TN 43 60 33 52 / 10 20 10 0 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...None. TN...None. VA...None. && $$ MA/AC
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Paducah KY
245 PM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 .SHORT TERM...(Tonight through Saturday night) Issued at 245 PM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Very difficult cloud forecast for the next 12-24 hours. The NAM and RAP models show much greater moisture 950-925mb through Friday while the GFS/ECMWF show a decrease. Satellite trends show clearing corresponds fairly well with a 15kt westerly 850mb flow serving to work drying in from above into a shallow moist layer. We are only a couple of hours from sunset. So, this clearing may slow given the weak flow. Or, there could be some low cloud redevelopment where it clears (fog?). Will have to monitor closely. Updates can be expected to clouds. If the clouds hold, most areas should remain slightly above guidance lows. Overall there should be a decrease in clouds Friday through Friday night. Dry weather on through Saturday with high pressure in control through the duration. Went slightly below guidance for Friday`s highs given lingering cloud potential. Again lower confidence call here. Chilly Friday night and Saturday night. Stayed near MOS for highs Saturday. .LONG TERM...(Sunday through Thursday) Issued at 245 PM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Ridging aloft and retreating high pressure during the latter half of the weekend over the Midwest will give way to increasing southwesterlies through a deep layer Sunday night. This should result in a "comma head" of light pcpn Sunday night to the southeast of a deepening stacked low that will be headed for the Dakotas or MN. For Monday afternoon and night, a lobe of energy in the expansive mid level longwave over 2/3rds of the CONUS is progged by the med range models to enhance lift and result in more robust rainfall across most of the PAH forecast area. This should be when the most QPF occurs. At this time, lightning potential is very low, and was left out of the extended forecast for now. Total QPF is now generally 1 to 2 inches, with higher amounts possible (subject to change). The weather picture gets a bit more murky after that, since the med range models do begin to differ in the finer details, though they are in somewhat better agreement in the large scale pattern details. An additional difficult-to-time impulse or two in the parent longwave may or may not follow, causing rain showers to possibly linger well into Tuesday, and perhaps Tuesday night. At this time, Wednesday and Thursday is forecast to be dry, though the 12Z ECMWF run suggests another impulse in the southwesterly flow aloft could trigger another batch of showers. Sunshine may return for a while on Tuesday afternoon, resulting in temps possibly reaching the middle 60s in southwestern IN/western KY. There should be a cooldown in the latter half of the week as mid level heights fall and deep layer winds turn more northwesterly. && .AVIATION... Issued at 245 PM CST Thu Nov 24 2016 Clouds will continue to be the focus of the forecast through Friday morning. Clearing has worked across central and southern MO. How far east this will make it remains to be seen, and a tough call. We are closing in on sunset in a couple of hours, and the overall flow remains very weak. Will continue to keep cigs at the terminals down in the MVFR category until we see a change. Later shifts can update accordingly. Winds will be light. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...None. MO...None. IN...None. KY...None. && $$