Forecast Discussions mentioning any of "HRRR" "RAP" "RUC13" "RUC" "RR" received at GSD on 08/19/18


Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Albuquerque NM
822 PM MDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .UPDATE... Quick update to decrease 1st period PoPs based on latest radar trends and HRRR output. Severe threat has diminished, although a few stronger storms are still possible through the evening hours across the east central plains. && .PREV DISCUSSION...529 PM MDT Sat Aug 18 2018... .AVIATION... 00Z TAF CYCLE Round of strong to severe storms moving southeast across the state may impact KSAF and KLVS early this evening and will likely impact KTCC, where strong to damaging winds and hail are possible between 0130-0300Z. MVFR conditions will accompany storms at KTCC, with short-lived IFR conditions possible. KABQ and KAEG look to be spared from this round. Otherwise, VFR conditions prevail and are forecast to persist. Northwest breezes with gusts will pick- up again Sunday afternoon at KGUP and KFMN. 11 && .PREV DISCUSSION...256 AM MDT Sat Aug 18 2018... .SYNOPSIS... An atypical upper level trough is expected to drag across northeastern New Mexico this afternoon and into the evening, providing lift and unstable conditions for scattered to numerous thunderstorms, some of which will turn strong to severe. Showers and thunderstorms will also form along the higher terrain of central and western New Mexico early this afternoon, but will be shunted eastward as the afternoon wears on. On Sunday, storms will be few in number during the daytime due to drier air that will have worked in behind the previously mentioned disturbance aloft, but a cold front will spill into the eastern plains of New Mexico late Sunday and Sunday night with a few storms possible. Gusty winds will accompany the front, including parts of the Rio Grande valley as the front surges westward Sunday night. Thunderstorm chances will be fairly low early next week as moisture struggles to slowly return to the area. && .DISCUSSION... Upper low over northern ID will drop an unseasonably strong short wave trough into eastern CO and northeastern NM late today. Southerly surface flow over the plains of NM will be topped with increasing north-westerlies aloft, a veering wind profile that will give plenty of directional and speed shear for strong to severe storms today and this evening. Abundant instability will also be present with NWP advertising scattered areas of 2,000+ J/kg of CAPE and lifted indices of -3 to -6 C over much of northeastern NM as well as some east central parts of the state. Have included likely POPs for some of these areas with mention of large hail and damaging winds. The other notable feature with the trough will be the pronounced dry slot working in immediately behind the trough axis. This sharp moisture gradient will likely act as a trigger for storms, but the impending drier air will also lead to a quick suppression of storms once the wave aloft passes through. Quick storm motions to the southeast should limit the flash flooding threat, but PWATs ahead of the trough axis will be quite healthy. On Sunday, a cold front will be spilling southward down the plains as the remnant lobe of energy from ID finally drops into KS. Western NM will be void of storms as the drier air will limit convective initiation on Sunday, but a few isolated cells will be possible along and just east of the Sangres. While storms appear to hold off for much of the day Sunday, a line of convection is depicted by the NAM, dropping along the leading edge of the front in the plains into the evening and overnight. While the NAM is the most aggressive model with this frontally-induced line of convection, it seems reasonable given the fast propagation speed and the favorable thermal/moisture/wind profiles ahead of the front. A gusty east canyon wind will spill into central zones Sunday night and early Monday morning. On Monday, in the wake of the front temperatures will cool a couple degrees below average in central to eastern NM. Storms will be hard to come by as the PWATs will be fairly low with the best moisture shunted to the southern tier of NM. Through this time the upper high will take residence near the NM-AZ border with dewpoints remaining healthy in eastern NM, but the deeper moisture and juicier PWATs will likely not arrive Tuesday either as the high builds more directly over NM. Temperatures will rebound several degrees into Tuesday with daytime highs exceeding normal by a couple of degrees in many locales. Forecast models diverge into the middle and latter parts of next week with regards to the placement and strength of the high and consequentially the steering of deeper moisture into or around NM. Am tending to lean toward the European solution that ever-so-slowly takes the high slightly east of NM and gradually introduces more moisture into the far western and northern tiers of the state. 52 && .FIRE WEATHER... Another round of afternoon tstms is expected, forming over the high terrain before moving off to the E/SE this evening. Storms east of the central mtn chain could become severe, producing strong erratic downburst winds and large hail. Changes begin to arrive across the far northwest where drier air behind a trough to our N will cutoff tstm/shower activity early today. NW winds are also expected to pick up to 20-25 kts near the Four Corners just before sunset. The punch of much drier air reaches the RGV during the day Sunday, as a backdoor front protects sfc moisture east of the central mtns. Another round of breezy NW winds can be expected Sunday afternoon over the NW Plateau, with Haines6 and MinRHs dipping to ~10%. A few hours of elevated to critical fire weather is possible as the NW winds pick up over the NW Plateau late Sun afternoon. A significant downtrend in tstm coverage is also expected Sun, although a few isold tstms can`t be ruled out over the east-central plains. The backdoor front wins out Sun night, surging through the gaps of the central mtn chain reaching the continental divide Mon morning. Moisture trends up behind backdoor front across the west through Tue as the upper high builds back over NM allowing a better tap into monsoon moisture over AZ. Some of the moisture works its way into far western NM. Thunderstorm coverage also trends up through the middle to latter half of next week. 24 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ 99
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Gaylord MI
1158 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .UPDATE... Issued at 930 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Convection got a late start (thanks to strong heating being delayed by stratus), but our initial showers did indeed develop shortly after 5 pm. Presently, a few showers linger from GLR to CAD. Have tweaked to expand and extend mention of showers, but per CAMs everything should be gone by midnight. Stratus never exited parts of the se (Iosco Co in particular), though it is still shrinking. Stratocu is expanding over n central lower MI. With weak sub-850mb winds veering from ne to e to se, clouds will expand back into much of northern lower MI, especially overnight. Cloud cover will be most extensive south of M-68 and east of M-37. Fog is a possibility as well, especially outside the cloudier locales. && .NEAR TERM...(Through Tonight) Issued at 309 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 ...A few Showers/Thunder Possible Into the Evening... High Impact Weather Potential: Minimal. Thunderstorms, perhaps this afternoon. Non-severe. Pattern Synopsis/Forecast: Mid level ridging continues to build into the upper Midwest/western Great Lakes, along with surface high pressure building down out of Ontario into the northern lakes region. Pesky stratus that developed before sunrise across northern lower MI, expanding through the morning hours, has finally eroded back across a good portion of the region, although there is still a good amount of cloudy skies across NE lower MI. I expect the remaining stratus to continue shrinking through the rest of the afternoon and this evening. Tonight: First, still waiting to see if any convection will fire. 18Z SPC mesoanalysis reveals under 500 J/KG of MLCAPE across northern lower Michigan, greatest south of M-55, along with some capping aloft and CINH. We may not see much more if SPC forecasts are correct (based on 40KM RAP data). Satellite imagery does show show congested CU across the SW/W part of northern lower Michigan, which has some potential. But nothing on radar yet. Plan to keep at least chance PoPs across inland parts of northern lower Michigan heading into the evening, primarily where the congested CU is located and along the "edge" of eroding stratus deck. But given the meager instability and capping, think I will keep shower chances to less than 40 percent. Thunder may not happen at all. Will see... Later tonight: Low level flow will veer more southeasterly in time. This suggests "residual" low level moisture across NE lower MI into Lake Huron may get advected back up into northern lower Michigan, offering the potential for more expanding stratus late overnight and through the morning hours. Have bumped up sky cover forecasts accordingly (and that still might not be enough) along with patchy to areas of fog. && .SHORT TERM...(Sunday through Tuesday) Issued at 309 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Sunday through Monday ...Dry Sunday, Rain Begins Monday Night... High Impact Weather Potential...Thunderstorms Monday night. Pattern Synopsis/Forecast...High pressure continues over the region will continue to keep the region dry, for the most part, on Sunday. However, as the models have continued to do, afternoon showers and thunderstorms look to be a possibility. With this sort of "ring of fire" dirty ridge, not surprised that with the moisture in the lower levels, that with a little heat and the boundary collisions on the radar, and things take off. This looks to be the case again for Sunday, although as we have seen during the past few days, the bulk of the forecast area won`t see anything. Sunday night, any showers will diminish quickly as the 700-500 mb dry layer looks to help cap off the convection. The 500 mb ridge over the region, then begins to break down. By 15z/Mon, showers will be possible as the cold front and 500 mb trough approach the state, having started to cross W Lake Superior and the Upper Mississippi River. Models have been going with the idea, the last several runs, that the main part of the showers and thunderstorms will start Monday evening and progress across the state through the night, evolving into a stratiform rain event by Tuesday morning. Primary Forecast Concerns...So far, the timing on the models has held steady with a few showers expected to break out in the afternoon, but the bulk of the rain and thunder to be in the evening and overnight as the cold front moves through the state. Dynamics don`t look that great, as the 500 mb winds barely get to 30 knots as the front moves into the forecast area and with the timing being after sunset, the instability isn`t all that strong, so won`t expect any severe threat with these. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday night through Saturday) Issued at 309 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 ...Rain Tuesday then Pretty Much Dry through Saturday... Extended (Tuesday through Saturday)...The ECMWF shows a decent band of rain on the north side of the sfc low in a deformation zone producing some rain, possibly heavy at times, as the system move NE through the state. The GFS has moved its focus south of the forecast area and doesn`t put as much of the heavy rain into the forecast area, unlike the ECMWF. With that agree with the WPC idea that most of N Lower is in a marginal threat for excessive rain. Not really expecting flooding, but probably a decent relief from the D1 drought that has been going on. Wednesday through Friday are dry from high pressure building back into the region. Temperatures start around normal and continue slowly above normal into the weekend. Expecting scattered rain on Saturday/Saturday night as another cold front moves into the forecast area. Not sure about how well the models will do with this, but with this Monday night/Tuesday storm, maybe we have see a pattern change? && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Sunday night) Issued at 1157 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Fog/stratus will return to at least ne lower MI tonight. Some stratus still lingers in the OSC area, while higher stratocu and some fog is found in patches in the rest of northern lower MI. Anticipate another night of expanding low clouds, with APN again likely to get the worst of it. This should be a little faster to burn off on Sunday. Showers again possible in the interior Sunday afternoon, inland from the TAF sites, so no problems there. Light/variable winds. && .MARINE... Issued at 309 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Winds and waves remain on the lighter side. Persistent N/NE flow may result in some better waves along the Lake Huron nearshore areas into this evening. Winds veer southeast overnight and south for Sunday and beyond, but remain 10 knots or less through the period. No marine headlines anticipated. && .APX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MI...NONE. LH...NONE. LM...NONE. LS...NONE. && $$ UPDATE...JZ NEAR TERM...BA SHORT TERM...JL LONG TERM...JL AVIATION...JZ MARINE...BA
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Bismarck ND
908 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .UPDATE... Issued at 908 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 SPC expanded the Day One Marginal risk into most of south central North Dakota with their 01 UTC update. The 01 UTC RAP analysis depicts an unstable airmass across south central North Dakota and the James River Valley with MUCAPE around 3000-4000 j/kg with steep mid level lapse rates. The 00 UTC KBIS sounding was also quite unstable, however, it did show some residual capping around 750 mb. While shear remains weak, convection has increased in intensity in a similar airmass across north central South Dakota over the past hour. With an outflow boundary inbound into south central North Dakota and a cold front still to approach the unstable airmass, a marginal severe threat is plausible south central, and hinted at by the CAMs through their 00-01 UTC iterations. Again, weak shear limits the threat ceiling and coverage for hail and damaging wind. Locally heavy rainfall is possible given the expected slow storm motions, and precipitable water at 132% of normal on the 00 UTC KBIS sounding. UPDATE Issued at 620 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Convection and smoke this evening and tonight highlight this update. Scattered, slow moving thunderstorms continue along a pre- frontal trough from Hettinger and Adams counties north through Billings, and Dunn counties ahead of a cold front approximately from Bottineau through Minot and Watford City. Severe convection is not expected given weak shear, as storms will continue to exhibit a pulse nature through sunset. However, steep low and mid level lapse rates and high LCLs do suggest a few wind gusts to 50 mph are possible, especially with collapsing storms. Locally heavy rain is also likely given the slow storm motions. Hail is likely to be limited to a half inch or less. After sunset and through the overnight, rain showers and thunderstorms will increase in coverage across southwest and south central North Dakota to the north of the upper level low and ahead of the slow moving cold front. With regards to smoke, NDDOT webcams and surface observations have shown increasing near surface smoke across western North Dakota as winds turn to the northwest behind the trough and cold front. Expect this to continue through the evening and overnight as the cold front continues to move southeast per upstream trends. Visibility of 4-6 miles is possible. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Sunday) Issued at 152 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 A cold front lying across southern Alberta/northeast Montana will move southeast tonight and Sunday. The front will be the focus for scattered showers and thunderstorms during this period. Smoke continues to be widespread across the northern plains again tonight, although current observations suggest its thinning more today than yesterday. This has allowed temperatures to rise close into the lower 90s west this afternoon, and will eventually rise close to 95 across the west central. Expect showers and thunderstorms to initiate along and just ahead of the cold front late this afternoon, coincident with an h850 thermal ridge possibly suppling a bit more instability. The severe threat will be limited as the bulk shear remains low although cape values look sufficient. Sunday will be much cooler behind the front. By then the chances for showers and thunderstorms should be across teh southeast. Severe weather is not expected. The HRRR/RAP smoke models both indicate a break in the smoke beginning northwest in the morning reaching the east by evening Sunday. .LONG TERM...(Sunday night through Saturday) Issued at 152 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Northwest flow aloft will allow cooler surface temperatures to remain in place through Tuesday, followed by a slow moderation Wednesday through Friday, then cooler by Saturday. The next significant chance of precipitation will be Thursday night and friday with the next h500 shortwave trough and associated cold front. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Sunday evening) Issued at 908 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Rain showers and thunderstorms will become more numerous this evening and through the overnight across southwest and south central North Dakota with the approach of a cold front. Near surface smoke reducing visibility to 4-6SM is expected behind the front across most of western and central North Dakota tonight into Sunday morning. Scattered rain showers and thunderstorms will continue across the far south central and James River Valley on Sunday. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ UPDATE...PA SHORT TERM...WAA LONG TERM...WAA AVIATION...PA
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Columbia SC
1111 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .SYNOPSIS... Surface high pressure in the Atlantic will extend westward along the Gulf Coast through Monday. North of this ridge troughing will be in the forecast area. The pattern supports scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms with near normal temperatures. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 8 AM SUNDAY MORNING/... An upper-level trough will remain over the region with surface high pressure extending from the western Atlantic into the Gulf of Mexico. Convection decreasing across the Midlands and CSRA as weak shortwave crosses the area. PWAT will remain around 2.0 inches as the air mass stabilizes overnight. Thunderstorms were north of the Midlands with showers crossing the forecast area. High-resolution models indicating showers ending after 07Z. Convective debris clouds should thin during the early morning hours. Still expect overnight lows in the low to mid 70s. && .SHORT TERM /8 AM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... Surface ridging from the Atlantic will continue to extend westward into the Gulf of Mexico Sunday. North of this ridge, a front will extend from the mid-Atlantic region into the Tennessee Valley. With the forecast area situated between these two features, moist southwest flow will dominate and a weak lee- side thermal trough should develop. Diurnal showers and thunderstorms can therefore be expected, and may be enhanced by a weak shortwave trough that is forecast to move through during the late afternoon and evening. Upper ridging may be more dominant Monday, yet there should still be ample moisture for diurnal storms, especially across the northern Midlands. Temperatures will be near normal with highs around 90 and lows in the low 70s. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... The models indicate unsettled weather continuing through next week. There will be surface troughing early. A cold front will approach the area Tuesday and should stall near the coast Wednesday. Each day will therefore see a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cooler and somewhat drier conditions can be expected behind the front Thursday and Friday. However, with the front remaining stalled along the coast through Saturday, cannot rule out diurnal convection each afternoon and evening. && .AVIATION /03Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Mainly VFR conditions expected overnight. Stratus is possible during the early morning hours. Scattered showers crossing the TAF sites should move out of the area by 07Z. Mid- and high-level convective debris clouds expected to decrease overnight. Stratus possible during the early morning hours but latest HRRR and lamp suggest no restrictions. Convection will develop Sunday afternoon in a continued moist and unstable atmosphere. Have indicated VCTS at all TAF sites after 19Z. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...Areas of late night and early morning stratus and fog possible each day. There will also be a chance of mainly afternoon and evening thunderstorms. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...None. SC...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...99 NEAR TERM...99 SHORT TERM...99 LONG TERM...99 AVIATION...99
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac MI
903 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .AVIATION... Thunderstorm activity being driven by convergence along colliding convective outflows and composite lake breeze boundaries will wane here the next hour or two. Concern for the overnight is fog and some guidance is extremely bullish with LIFR and VLIFR potential late tonight/around daybreak. HRRR suggests fog may develop near Saginaw Bay initially and spread southward overnight. Did include IFR fog now and will monitor trends. Winds will remain light. .DTW THRESHOLD PROBABILITIES... * Moderate for ceiling/visibility down to 200ft and/or 1/2 mile. * Moderate to high for ceiling 5 kft or less tonight and Sunday. && .PREV DISCUSSION... Issued at 339 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 DISCUSSION...CORRECTED FOR WORDING Biggest change to the forecasting period as discussed in the 16Z update is the increase in PoPs from slight chance to high-end chance as latest 12Z hi-res model guidance and internal probabilistic guidance has trended towards higher rain and thunderstorm chances. Low-level convergence caused by an a lake boundary coupled with weak divergence aloft in conjunction with MLCAPE values ranging between 1000 - 1200 J/kg has and will continue to provide a source for showers and convection. Main focus for shower and convection initiation will take place across the Metro area up into Flint and the southern region of the Thumb (Tuscola and Sanilac) as this is the area where the boundary is expected to move into, coinciding with peak CAPE values. Severe weather is not anticipated as lack of meaningful shear and modest mid-level lapse rates hold across SE MI through the afternoon. Storm mode will be pulse storms with isolated to scattered coverage. Otherwise, precipitation chances will diminish throughout the evening as diurnal heating diminishes, cutting off the lake breeze and lowering CAPEs. Main weather concern for the overnight period will be the development of patchy fog, with the possibility to see areas of locally dense fog. Surface RH will remain high overnight (>90%), especially for areas that do see rain showers/thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Another plus for fog development will be light winds in the low to mid-levels that will prevent any mixing. However, model discrepancies still exist regarding cloud cover and how well the mid-levels of the atmosphere dry up overnight. 17Z HRRR and RAP runs hold light winds and high RH up to 850 mb, with dry conditions aloft from 700 mb up, conducive for fog formation. Some hints that a stratus deck at 700mb may advect north into the Metro region overnight which may hamper meaningful fog development, however, latest MOS guidance suggests potential clearing of cloud cover across Metro region overnight. Overall, Tri-Cities up into Bad Axe saw pockets of dense fog last night, and with calmer winds and potential dry conditions aloft, opted for patchy fog across CWA. Evening/overnight crew may amend forecast if dense fog looks probable for any morning commutes. Additional isolated to scattered rain showers will again be possible on Sunday as low-level convergence is again the the cause of forcing, coupled with a weak shortwave aloft that swings through SE MI between 12Z - 00Z. Additionally, weak divergence aloft may help precipitation development more-so for the late afternoon and evening hours as a right entrance region of a weak jet clips SE MI. Otherwise, with a similar air mass in place, highs will again peak in the low to mid-80s (upper-70s along the shoreline) as conditions remain humid. The next chance for widespread likely showers will start to move in across SE MI throughout Tuesday morning as an upper-level wave, currently stationed just east of Idaho, strengthens and digs into MO/IA, before opening and pushing northeast into Michigan. WAA ahead of the low will transport subtropical air into SE MI ahead of precipitation, pushing PW values between 1.80 - 2.00 inches by Tue 12Z. Upper trough axis and strengthening surface low pressure reflection still on track to move through central Lower Michigan during the day Tuesday. Plenty of moisture advection ahead of the system will lead to numerous showers and thunderstorms through the day as the height fall axis tracks overhead. Gusty winds during the afternoon will be possible given enhanced pressure gradient, and highs will reach the mid to upper 70s under overcast skies. A secondary shortwave dropping through from northwestern Ontario will sustain a lesser chance for precipitation overnight into early Wednesday. With this second shortwave comes a surge of cooler, drier Canadian air with 850mb temps just below 10C. This translates to surface high temps only reaching the mid 70s on Wednesday. High pressure will build into the area from the upper Midwest with heights aloft rebounding through the remainder of the week. As a result, quiet weather expected from Wednesday through next Saturday. Highs will gradually moderate back into the low 80s by the weekend. MARINE... High pressure settling into the central Lakes region will aid in slackening the wind field over Lake huron during the evening. Light flow is expect to persist into Monday. Winds will increase from the southeast later Monday as a stronger storm system approaches the region. Strong northwest flow and much higher wave conditions are expected late Tuesday into Wednesday. && .DTX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MI...NONE. Lake Huron...NONE. Lake St Clair...NONE. Michigan waters of Lake Erie...NONE. && $$ AVIATION.....CB DISCUSSION...AM/TF MARINE.......Mann You can obtain your latest National Weather Service forecasts online at www.weather.gov/detroit.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa NM
224 PM MDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .SYNOPSIS... A pair of upper level disturbances will move through the area tonight, bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms to much of the region. Much drier air will work into the area behind the disturbances, nearly shutting off afternoon thunderstorm activity on Sunday, and helping boost temperatures across the lowlands. A few areas may see highs around 100 degrees on Sunday. A weak backdoor cold front will drop temperatures by a few degrees on Monday. Thunderstorm chances will increase over the higher terrain of the Gila Region and Sacramento Mountains again starting on Monday, but will stay focused over the higher mountains for much of the week. && .DISCUSSION... We should see an active afternoon and evening across the area (in terms of convection), followed by a sharp downturn in activity for tomorrow, and a fairly anemic start to the week ahead. Water vapor imagery shows a well-defined shortwave trough/vort lobe moving into Grant and Sierra Counties from the NW currently, with a more significant trough further to the north (with significant drying in its wake). There`s a bit of wind shift at the surface, going from light W over most of SW New Mexico to light NW over Catron County, and this is likely the ill-defined tail end of a surface trough that curves up into SE Colorado. The NAM and GFS push both of these upper disturbances through the area overnight, with significant drying behind the second trough basically shutting us down tomorrow as PW values drop into the 0.50 to 0.75 inch range tomorrow afternoon over most of the CWA. Modifying the 12Z EPZ sounding for a Dewpoint of 55 and a Temp of 94 (and mixing the boundary layer) yields a SBCAPE of 1200 J/Kg and little to no CIN, and maintains a healthy 1.40" PW. However, RAP analysis shows moderate instability (CAPEs of 800-1200 J/Kg) mainly south of I-10, with weaker instability further north, and much lower values over the Rio Grande Valley north of Las Cruces. Rather flat Cu over the lowlands on satellite supports this, as does the weakening trend of the first round of storms coming off the Black Range. Additional storms/outflow over Catron and Socorro Counties suggests we`ll see another round of storms in Grant and western Sierra Counties in the next hour or two. Most higher-res models suggest storms over Grant/Sierra Counties will propogate south and east into the lowlands, while isolated storms develop later this afternoon over the Sacramento Mountains, Hudspeth County, and higher terrain in NE Chihuahua. This convection NE to SE of El Paso should be enough to produce an outflow boundary which may become a focus for additional thunderstorm development later on, especially as storms and stronger outflow from the NW push into the area, aided by the aforementioned upper level trough. Earlier runs of the HRRR seemed to really favor SW New Mexico (esp Luna County) for convective coverage later today, but subsequent runs have been far less consistent. HREF members seem to prefer South-Central NM and the El Paso area, but with little agreement on timing. All that being said, I like SW New Mexico this afternoon and early evening (and more spotty storms over Otero/Hudspeth), with the focus shifting to Dona Ana/El Paso/Southern Otero Counties this evening. This will largely hinge on getting a decent storms going in the next few hours to our NW, as outflow generated by these storms will be a necessary trigger. With the other (more significant) upper level trough approaching later this evening, there`s a good chance at seeing storms linger after midnight, with the most favored area sort of stretched out E-W near and just south of New Mexico/Chihuahua border and into West Texas... basically following the orientation of the approaching trough. Main weather hazard will be localized flooding with back-building storms or slow-moving. Storm motion has been a little better than this morning`s sounding would suggest, but storm motion is likely to be slower closer the further SE you go (note the storms south of Hudspeth County are barely moving). We could see a few showers lingering in southern Hudspeth County early in the morning tomorrow, otherwise, significant drying aloft and at the surface will shutoff thunderstorm activity for tomorrow. I kept in a slight chance over the Sacramento Mountains, but that might be a stretch. With the lack of moisture, temperatures will climb up and possibly meet or exceed the 100-degree mark over some lowland areas, including ELP. Sunday night, a backdoor cold front will bring increasing NE to E flow, with some noticeably gusty (but below advisory-level) winds expected along west-facing slopes. Low level moisture will increase markedly behind the front, but we`ll remain very dry aloft, with PW values Monday afternoon hovering around 1.00 inch. Stable conditions will limit thunderstorm potential over most of the area, but scattered storms can be expected over the higher terrain of the Gila Region and the Sacramento Mountains. With the subtropical ridge located over the AZ/NM border, steering flow will remain weak, and the risk of spot flooding will crop up again in the higher terrain. The ridge looks to drift eastwards slowly through the week, with weak steering flow continuing. Upper and lower-level moisture will remain anemic, and slowly warming temperatures aloft coupled with the drier conditions will yield weak instability. What limited thunderstorm chances we`ll have will be mainly focused in the higher terrain. Luckily, the ridge itself isn`t terribly strong, so while temperatures will climb above average, they should stay in the middle to upper-90s. Better moisture will be pulled up west of the Continental Divide towards the middle and later parts of the week, to the benefit of Arizona and Sonora. But as the ridge shifts into central Texas Fri-Sat, we`ll hopefully start to see some of that moisture work back east of the Divide. && .AVIATION...Valid 19/00Z-20/00Z... Period will start out with SCT-BKN080-100 BKN150-200 and isolated to scattered VRB25G40KT 1-3SM TSRA BKN030-040 through 06Z. After 06Z skies will begin to clear from N to S with just some FEW-SCT100-120 expected to develop after 18Z. && .FIRE WEATHER... After some afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms, much drier air will be moving in from the north for Sunday. Just a couple isolated storms possible in the Sacs during the afternoon. Relative humidities will be falling into the teens for most locations Sunday afternoon as temperatures approach the 100 degree mark again for the lowlands. A back door cold front will move through Sunday night and bring an increase in low level moisture and relative humidities for the upcoming week. Thunderstorm chances look minimal except the mountains through midweek as upper ridge that`s been persistent over the western U.S. moves eastward. As the high moves east, a more typical monsoon pattern will setup,toward the end of the week, but at this time it looks like the best precipitation chances will be closer to the Arizona border. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... El Paso 76 101 76 95 / 40 10 0 0 Sierra Blanca 72 96 70 91 / 40 20 10 0 Las Cruces 69 98 69 94 / 40 0 0 0 Alamogordo 68 97 68 93 / 40 10 0 10 Cloudcroft 52 75 48 67 / 50 10 10 50 Truth or Consequences 70 98 68 93 / 30 0 0 0 Silver City 63 92 60 89 / 40 0 0 10 Deming 68 99 69 96 / 40 0 0 0 Lordsburg 68 97 66 96 / 40 0 0 0 West El Paso Metro 75 99 75 94 / 40 10 0 0 Dell City 70 99 70 93 / 40 20 0 0 Fort Hancock 75 101 73 96 / 40 20 0 0 Loma Linda 70 96 69 89 / 50 20 0 0 Fabens 70 100 70 95 / 40 20 0 0 Santa Teresa 73 99 73 95 / 40 10 0 0 White Sands HQ 71 98 70 94 / 40 0 0 0 Jornada Range 68 98 67 95 / 40 0 0 0 Hatch 67 98 67 95 / 40 0 0 0 Columbus 71 99 71 97 / 40 10 0 0 Orogrande 73 98 73 93 / 40 10 0 0 Mayhill 59 83 54 75 / 50 10 10 40 Mescalero 58 85 54 79 / 40 10 10 50 Timberon 56 84 55 77 / 50 10 10 40 Winston 57 91 52 86 / 40 0 0 20 Hillsboro 65 96 64 92 / 40 0 0 10 Spaceport 67 97 67 92 / 40 0 0 0 Lake Roberts 51 90 49 87 / 40 0 0 30 Hurley 63 93 61 90 / 40 0 0 10 Cliff 57 96 56 94 / 30 0 0 20 Mule Creek 57 94 55 93 / 30 0 0 10 Faywood 65 94 64 90 / 40 0 0 10 Animas 69 97 67 97 / 30 0 0 0 Hachita 69 98 68 96 / 40 0 0 0 Antelope Wells 67 95 67 94 / 40 0 0 0 Cloverdale 65 92 63 91 / 40 10 0 20 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...None. TX...None. && $$ 25-Hardiman / 26-Grzywacz
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
917 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .UPDATE... Issued at 917 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 The surface boundary appears to be located somewhere along a line from Bismarck to Rugby to Winnipeg. Storms have been firing over southwest North Dakota and north central South Dakota, as well as near Winnipeg. However, so far nothing in this FA. The HRRR is still holding to its guns, depicting some precipitation breaking out along the frontal boundary after midnight and continuing into Sunday. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Sunday) Issued at 309 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Wildfire smoke continues to impact the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest today. Smoke has dissipated somewhat since yesterday but is still present overhead. This lead to slightly higher than expected temperatures with highs today now forecast to be in the mid to upper 80s. Much of this smoke is expected to clear out with the cold front that will move though tonight into tomorrow. This cold front will also have some higher winds that we are now experiencing as the pressure gradient tightens. Rain showers with some thunderstorms are expected to fire along this cold front tonight into tomorrow. The best chances for rain and thunderstorms tonight will be in eastern North Dakota and far northwest Minnesota. As the front continues to move to the southeast the rain and thunderstorms chances will move to the southeast spreading the chances into west central and the rest of northwest Minnesota. Severe weather is unlikely with weak shear present but ML CAPE in the 1500 to 2000 J/kg range will provide the instability for thunderstorms. Another limiting factor is the cap which will help to limit the occurrence of thunderstorms. The best chances for thunderstorms will be along the cold front thanks to the synoptic lift that it will provide. .LONG TERM...(Sunday night through Saturday) Issued at 309 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 An amplified west coast H5 ridge and mid continental trof will set the stage for the early into mid week period... providing at least the possibility of a somewhat freshened and cooler northerly blayer flow into the area from Monday into Tuesday. Highs are expected to reach only into the 70s either day. In regards to air quality... there is a caveat, however, as at least one Canadian smoke plume model would show a strong return of intense smoke into northwest MN with the north winds on Monday... from fires along the MB/ON border. And, since very little rain is expected to accompany this weekends frontal passage its a good bet that existing large fire areas across central and western Canada will persist in some form into the coming work week. Thus when surface high pressure, originating in west central Canada, settles over the area from Tuesday into Wednesday... we will likely see the return to a somewhat smokey and/or hazy sky and a reduced air quality. Light and variable winds on Tuesday should turn from the south on Wednesday... but the same dry and smokey airmass qualities are likely to persist. Temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday should rise near seasonal normals /lower to mid 80s/ for the mid week period... but if substantial smoke is also present, expect this warming to be somewhat reduced. There is some hope as we get to the late week period... for a more substantial and widespread rainfall, and for a improvement in air quality. Mid range forecast models agree in bringing a strong H5 shortwave trof into the Northern Plains area late Thursday into Friday which could flush any lingering smoke from the area and provide rainfall to fire affected area in central and western Canada to boot. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Sunday evening) Issued at 651 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 The regional radars show the surface boundary nicely, extending from near Killdeer to Minot in western North Dakota. There has been some shower/TSTM activity near Killdeer, but not much to the northeast of there. Shear is nearly non existent, so not sure there is much to push this western activity eastward. However, the HRRR runs are pushing the activity toward KDVL by around midnight, and KGFK/KFAR several hours later. Doubting there will be much coverage though, so kept a VCTS mention for now. Looks like more organized coverage is possible at KFAR Sunday afternoon. Otherwise do expect winds to lighten up after dark, then switch to the north behind the frontal boundary. Guidance is showing it getting fairly breezy Sunday afternoon, with the north winds behind the front. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...None. MN...None. && $$ UPDATE...Godon SHORT TERM...NC LONG TERM...Gust AVIATION...Godon
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Glasgow MT
903 PM MDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .DISCUSSION... Main change this evening was to tweak the patchy smoke tomorrow. We should get a break for most of the area (per experimental HRRR Smoke), with better air quality at the surface. Used the Vertically Integrated Smoke display to draw in patchy smoke for Sunday. Will let the Dense Smoke Advisory expire on-time (9 pm MDT/3Z) as visibilities have climbed and stayed above 3 miles. Should be a cool night tonight compared to the last several, with lows dipping into the 40s and 50s across the CWA and a mild day tomorrow with highs mostly in the 70s with a few 80s dotted in. Avery Previous Discussion... A vigorous short-wave trough is sliding through eastern MT today and tonight. This storm initially brought thunderstorms to the area, but they have since moved south. Rain showers are ongoing, but will move out of the area by Sunday morning. The surface analysis depicts a cold front pushing south from Canada. Its main affect will be to lower temperatures to below normal. There still is plenty of wild fire smoke spreading over the region. It remains to be seen if there will be much clearing of this smoke before Sunday. Smoke was dense enough and unhealthy enough to issue a dense smoke advisory for Phillips & Valley Counties, based on written guidance. Templer Previous discussion for Sunday and beyond: Cooler weather will move in by the end of the weekend and early next week, as another trough moves into the northwestern CONUS. This will bring another chance of showers to the area Monday, with high temperatures mainly in the 70s across the region. The cool weather will be short-lived as by the middle of next week, an upper ridge will set up over the area, and temperatures will once again reach the 80s and 90s across northeast Montana. Beyond this, expect mainly zonal flow with embedded shortwave troughs from Thursday through the end of next week, although little to no precipitation is expected from these. Temperatures are expected to remain within a few degrees of normal during this period. Hickford && .AVIATION... FLIGHT CATEGORY: MVFR (HZ) to VFR. VFR expected on Sunday. DISCUSSION: Showers across the region associated with a cold front and upper level trough will move out of the area overnight tonight. Visibilities should briefly improve on Sunday for much of the area, although hazy conditions are expected to make a return to the area late Monday into Monday night. Visibilities at TAF locations should be over 6 SM on Sunday. WINDS: Generally out of the N between 10 to 15 knots. Avery && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && $$ weather.gov/glasgow
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Hastings NE
702 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Sunday) Issued at 204 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 A few light rain showers are currently moving east-northeast across west-central Kansas. This appears to be associated with an area of weak isentropic ascent ahead of the main trough that will impact the area late tonight through tomorrow. For the most part, models don`t have a good grasp on this, with only the last few runs of the HRRR starting to initialize this activity. Nevertheless, it appears that parts of north-central Kansas may see a light shower through late afternoon, before these showers dissipate this evening. This evening, models agree that thunderstorms should continue to develop over western Nebraska and Kansas...gradually moving eastward with the deepening upper trough. It appears that most...if not all...of the forecast area will remain dry through midnight tonight, and the bulk of the precipitation should move in after 3am. At this time, it appears that any marginally severe storms that develop should weaken to below severe criteria before reaching the forecast area. By mid to late morning on Sunday, the trough axis will be pushing into the local forecast area, which should lead to fairly widespread showers and thunderstorms across the area into the early afternoon. The threat for severe weather continues to be minimal, as the saturated atmosphere limit instability. Deep layer shear is also very lackluster. Locally heavy rain will likely be the main threat. While PW values of 1.6-1.8" aren`t "off the charts", they still are quite high for this time of year and indicative of efficient rainfall production. Model QPF is widely variable, but most models have a bullseye of at least 2-2.5" somewhere in the forecast area. Given that this will be a relatively long-lived event, any flooding threat should be confined to low-lying areas and areas near creeks/streams. There could be a bit of a lull in precipitation during the afternoon as the center of the upper low moves into the area...especially across south and western parts of the the forecast area. Overall, the forecasted PoPs are quite high through this entire period, but I do believe that there will be dry periods through the day. Unfortunately, the timing of these dry periods is near impossible to pin down. The widespread precipitation and cloud cover should limit high temperatures to the low 70s on Sunday. .LONG TERM...(Sunday night through Saturday) Issued at 204 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 By Sunday night, the corridor of deepest moisture will have moved off to the east of the forecast area, but we should continue to see scattered showers and perhaps a few thunderstorms wrap around the backside of the low through the overnight and into Monday morning. By late Monday morning and early afternoon afternoon, the forecast area will begin to dry out from west to east. Monday will also bring gusty northerly winds. Gusts of 30 to 35 MPH are possible across the area...which would be some of the strongest non-convective winds that the area has seen in quite some time. With highs only in the 70s, it may even feel chilly for mid to late August. Dry conditions will prevail Monday night as high pressure settles into the area. Decreasing winds and clearing skies should allow overnight lows to dip into the low to mid 50s. Dry and mild conditions continue Tuesday, but a series of weaker disturbances will move through the area Tuesday night through Thursday night, bringing slight chances for rain and storms to portions of the forecast area. Temperatures should also gradually bounce back closer to climatological normals (highs in the low 80s) by Thursday. At this time, the Friday and Saturday appear to be warm and mostly dry across the area. High temperatures are once again forecast to reach the mid to upper 80s. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z KGRI/KEAR TAFS through 00Z Sunday) Issued at 654 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 High clouds are working into the area from the western thunderstorms, but any rainfall should hold off until after midnight at our TAF sites. Rain is likely early Sunday morning with some lightning around but more just a nice steady rain. The wind will remain light and out of the south this evening, but will become more variable tomorrow in and around the showers, but should remain light. Ceilings are expected to fall Sunday morning into the MVFR range in the rain. We might see improvement in the ceiling heights until late Sunday afternoon. && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...None. KS...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Mangels LONG TERM...Mangels AVIATION...Wesely
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Grand Junction CO
542 PM MDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .SHORT TERM...(Tonight through Sunday night) Issued at 304 PM MDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Many residents on the western slope woke up to rainfall and cleaner skies as a recent cold front and upper level trough moved through the area, helping clear the valleys of persistent smoke from local and regional wildfires. Much of the cold front is already on the Front Range with the trailing southern edge of it currently moving through Archuleta county in our extreme southeast corner of our CWA. Some isolated storms are forming along the ridges in the trailing northwest flow but do not expect much out of these storms as they will remain of the pop and drop variety with much drier air moving in behind this system and much weaker instability. The storm activity will shift focus over northwest Colorado late this afternoon into the early evening as the front moves well east of the area, before ending by or after sunset. The temperatures will be noticeably cooler tonight into Sunday in the wake of this departing cold front with much drier conditions as precipitable water (PW) values drop below 0.5 inches. Enjoy the cleaner air this afternoon while it lasts because smoke from wildfires burning out west will move back into the region this evening and linger through at least Sunday evening according to the latest HRRR smoke model. The main players appear to be the Coal Hollow wildfire in northeast Utah for near surface smoke and the Watson Creek wildfire in Oregon for smoke higher up in the atmosphere, mainly impacting eastern Utah and portions of southwest Colorado by Sunday. Smoke from British Columbia and the state of Washington looks to make it to northwest Colorado by Sunday as the flow shifts to more north-northwest by Sunday afternoon as the ridge of high pressure rebuilds out west over the Great Basin. Due to the slightly faster flow on Sunday behind the departing shortwave trough, breezier conditions will be seen with some marginal critical fire weather conditions possible over southwest Colorado. The coverage and timing was not enough to warrant fire weather highlites. .LONG TERM...(Monday through Saturday) Issued at 304 PM MDT Sat Aug 18 2018 The ridge of high pressure slides over the New Mexico-Arizona border south of the Four Corners by Monday as a trough moves into the Pacific Northwest. A shortwave looks to eject ahead of this PacNW trough with a trailing boundary moving through northeast Utah and northwest Colorado Monday evening through Tuesday morning. The models are not in great agreement on how to handle this shortwave with the NAM being the driest of the models and the GFS being wetter. Thinking there is potential for at least isolated coverage of showers and thunderstorms mainly north of I-70 Monday evening. Overall though, Monday looks to be a mostly dry day with temperatures warming up a bit from Sunday`s post- frontal airmass. By Tuesday, an upper low splits off the main trough and forms a brief rex block over the PacNW. This looks to be enough to help shift the high pressure ridge further east into eastern New Mexico and allow subtropical monsoonal moisture to work northward through Arizona and Utah and spread into western Colorado by Tuesday evening. The PacNW trough merges with the upper level flow and passes through the northern Rockies late Wednesday afternoon and evening into Thursday morning. Bottom line, late Tuesday through Thursday morning appear to be the peak in moisture surge and noticeable increase in thunderstorm activity and coverage as these embedded disturbances rotate through this southwest flow with PW values increasing above 0.75 inches with values nearing an inch or greater across southeast Utah and southwest Colorado. The deterministic models all seem to remain in fairly good agreement with the overall synoptic pattern, so confidence is high in this time period being the better days for increased moisture and thunderstorm activity, some of which looks to persist through the overnight hours. Therefore, increased the PoPs to at least chance and expanded the coverage to include valleys as well through this period. Moisture drops off a bit by Thursday through the coming weekend but remains elevated enough with PW values near or above 0.75 inches south of I-70. The high pressure area remains positioned east over the New Mexico-Texas border with embedded wiggles in the flow, which is favorable to keep thunderstorms in the forecast each afternoon and evening through the period. This is by no means a significant surge of monsoonal moisture but will be noticeable and at this point in time, any moisture is welcome as the west continues to burn. Temperatures through the period look to remain a few degrees above normal, but depending on how much moisture increases, daytime highs mid week onwards could be lower than forecast. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Sunday evening) Issued at 539 PM MDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Isolated showers and thunderstorms will continue to affect NE UT and NW CO until sunset. These will be in the vicinity of KHDN, KEGE, and KASE until about 03z. Gusts between 25-35 MPH area expected with these storms. VFR conditions will prevail thereafter and at all other TAF sites for the next 24 hours. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...None. UT...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...MDA LONG TERM...MDA AVIATION...CC
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Huntsville AL
717 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .NEAR TERM...(Tonight) Issued at 716 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Have made some minor adjustments to PoPs this evening and tonight. Radars currently detect just a few showers in southern portions of our forecast area (south of Moulton to Guntersville). The shower band between Lynchburg and Nashville in southern middle TN are slowly drifting southeast. The weak convergence zone along and near the I-40 corridor has little to no development west-southwest of Nashville. Have configured PoPs this evening to better fit these convergence zones, but confidence in overnight weather is rather low. The HRRR runs are showing isolated-scattered development, but exact locations are still such that I will keep the PoP at a chance level. Lower clouds are likely to develop as well given the very moist lower 2km per the 00Z OHX sounding. .SHORT TERM...(Sunday through Monday) Issued at 225 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 A potential wet pattern remains in place on Sunday as a surface boundary stalled north of the region drifts north as a warm front. Again, a caveat remains the south to north moisture gradient, which would again favor central AL for better coverage of showers/storms as opposed to N. AL and S. Middle TN. As such, on average, have under cut Superblend PoPs a bit for tomorrow. Still cannot rule out some scattered showers during the afternoon tomorrow given a southerly component to the flow regime and a surface boundary near our northern border. As we head into Monday, expect deeper southerly flow to develop ahead of an approaching cold front, progged to shift through the region later this week. Additionally, there will be some mid/upper level support for more organized thunderstorms, so we cannot rule out the potential a strong storm or two for Monday afternoon/evening. Partly to mostly cloudy conditions through the period will keep temps maxed in the mid to upper 80s each afternoon. .LONG TERM...(Monday night through Friday) Issued at 225 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 A mid-level trough, located across southeastern IA/northeastern MO at the beginning of the extended period, is predicted to deepen and lift east-northeastward into the eastern Great Lakes by 00Z Wednesday. Downstream west-southwesterly flow and attendant lower- tropospheric WAA will strengthen across the TN Valley on Monday night, supporting a fairly widespread coverage of nocturnal convection in the very moist airmass (PWATs in the 1.9-2.1 inch range). Although lightning and locally heavy rainfall will be the primary threats with this activity, increasing deep-layer shear may support some storm organization and a threat for strong wind gusts with the most intense cells. Extended range guidance from the global models indicates that the trailing mid-level trough axis and surface cold front will cross the forecast area after sunrise on Tuesday morning, with lingering showers and thunderstorms expected to end rather quickly across the southeastern zones. However, for much of the mid-week period, the region will remain beneath a northwest flow aloft along the northeastern periphery of a large subtropical high centered across eastern NM/western TX. Several weak disturbances traveling southeastward in the northwest flow aloft may provide sufficient lift for the generation of isolated-widely scattered showers on Tuesday night/Wednesday, before atmospheric moisture becomes depleted by persistent northerly flow at the surface from Wednesday night- Thursday night. Max temps will range from the lower 80s in the elevated terrain of the northeast, to the m-u 80s elsewhere. Lows will respond more effectively to the southward advection of drier air, with lower 60s expected on Thursday/Friday mornings. Low-level southeasterly flow will become reestablished across the CWFA on Friday-Saturday, as a surface ridge builds southward in the lee of the Appalachians. This should allow for at least some return of deeper moisture, with scattered afternoon convection possible both days. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Sunday evening) Issued at 529 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 A weak front in TN will drop south into north AL producing isolated to scattered thunderstorms overnight. However, confidence is too low to include at either KMSL or KHSV at this time. Scattered to broken clouds at ~050agl are expected at times this evening before lower clouds and IFR conditions (ceilings of ~005-008agl) develop by 06Z. These clouds will slowly lift to ~025agl by 15Z, then lift and possibly scatter out by midday Sunday. However, scattered showers and thunderstorms will remain possible, and may need to add to the forecast when it becomes more certain at our terminals. && .HUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...NONE. TN...NONE. && $$ NEAR TERM...17 SHORT TERM...Barron LONG TERM...70/DD AVIATION...17 For more information please visit our website at weather.gov/huntsville.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
National Weather Service Jackson KY
1055 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .UPDATE... Issued at 1055 PM EDT SAT AUG 18 2018 With some holes in the clouds showing up on satellite, subsidence behind the passing cold front, and plenty of ground moisture around expect areas of dense fog to form overnight in places where low stratus does not late hold. Due to the cloud cover uncertainty will go with an SPS for the fog rather than an NPW and also run it through 5 am so that the midnight shift can reevaluate before dawn Sunday. Otherwise, have taken out the thunder chances and lowered PoPs to 20 percent or less through the night. Have issued new zones and HWO to account for the thicker fog in the wx grids. For this update have also added in the latest obs and trends for the T and Td grids. The updated grids have been sent to the NDFD and web servers. UPDATE Issued at 745 PM EDT SAT AUG 18 2018 23z sfc analysis shows the cold front responsible for the shower and thunderstorm activity across eastern Kentucky this afternoon and evening cutting through the area. This will gradually bring drier conditions to the CWA later this evening and through the night. Meanwhile, training cells and high PW air has led to some flash flooding concerns across eastern Kentucky with Corbin and Barbourville most notably affected by flowing water across local roads. Things are quieting down now with the coldest cloud tops warming and departing the area to the east. Temperatures are running in the low to mid 70s with dewpoints nearly matching their values. Winds outside of any storms have been light and generally from the southwest. Cannot rule out a stray shower or thunderstorm for the rest of the evening, but most places will be dry per trends and the latest CAMs guidance. Attention then turns to post frontal fog development later tonight for a good portion of the area - especially in the valleys - though a build down of stratus could also result in limited visibility on the ridges after midnight. Have updated the forecast with these thoughts in mind. Also added in the latest obs and trends for the T/Td grids. The updated grids have been sent to the NDFD and web servers along with the issuance of a freshened set of zones and HWO. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Sunday night) Issued at 358 PM EDT SAT AUG 18 2018 Current surface observations show a cold front moving over Kentucky, coincident with the passage of an upper level shortwave. Convection has been forming ahead of the front, as seen in current radar signatures, and gradually moving southeast. The main threats with this convection will be heavy rainfall, leading to flooding concerns. A Flood Advisory was issued earlier this afternoon just north of the Mountain Parkway due to higher rain rates in the convection. Rain rates in this line have since decreased, but this will continue be monitored through the evening with the development and progression of other convection. This is particularly true in areas that have seen heavier rainfall during the day such as the area from Breathitt County to Pike County. A Flood Advisory as well as a Flash Flood Warning was recently issued for portions of this area in Floyd County. The HRRR did not seem to have a very good handle on current trends, but the CONSShort did have heavier PoPs in the north with the advancement of the lines of convection. Therefore, used the CONSShort as a baseline for PoPs. Made minor adjustments to better show the current radar trends and expected progression. The cold front is expected to slow and stall just to the south of the Commonwealth. This will keep chances of showers through Sunday, mainly in the southeast. However, a weak upper level ridge will set up Sunday night, bringing a brief lull in precip overnight into Monday. A warm front, associated with a low pressure system located over the Central Plains, will begin to lift northward over Kentucky Monday morning and increase the potential for some showers into the afternoon. Stuck close to guidance and CONSShort for temperatures. Low temperatures tomorrow morning will be in the upper 60s and afternoon highs will be in the low 80s. Lows Monday morning will also be in the upper 60s, but valleys could potentially see slightly cooler temperatures with the clearing of clouds overnight. .LONG TERM...(Monday through Saturday) Issued at 407 PM EDT SAT AUG 18 2018 At the start of the period an upper level short wave trough and associated surface low will be in the vicinity of the IA/NE/MO tri state area. This system will advance east northeast towards the lower Great Lakes. Initially this will result in a warm front moving across the area from Monday into Monday night with a trailing cold front then pushing across the area on Tuesday. With a good flow of deep moisture in advance of this system we`ll see increasing shower and thunderstorm chances on Monday, with the best chance for showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday with the cold front. The overall upper level system will be weakening as it moves east northeast, but mid level wind fields still look fairly strong as we move into Monday night and Tuesday. Depending on exact timing of the cold front passage it is possible we could see some strong storms on Tuesday. Some showers may linger into Wednesday, but the end of the week will feature cooler and drier weather as the front moves into the southeastern United States and surface high pressure builds into the area. Temperatures will be below normal for the end of the week before warming again next weekend as surface high pressure slides to our east. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Sunday evening) ISSUED AT 820 PM EDT SAT AUG 18 2018 While the convection will die down over the next few hours there is the expectation that later this evening and overnight will see low CIGs and VIS in fog from some post frontal radiational effects along with a stratus build down. As a result, have some MVFR BR and IFR CIGs developing later tonight at all sites. The VIS should improve following sunrise, though lower CIGs will likely linger into the afternoon along with the potential for a stray shower for the southern sites on Sunday. Winds will generally be light and variable through the period. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ UPDATE...GREIF SHORT TERM...CGAL LONG TERM...SBH AVIATION...GREIF
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Miami FL
727 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .AVIATION... The winds will be mostly light and variable tonight, except for KAPF taf site where the winds should remain more of a easterly direction around 5 knots. The weather should remain dry this evening, before VCSH conditions after 6Z tonight for the east coast taf sites as showers work into the east coast metro areas from the Atlantic waters. There could even be a thunderstorm late tonight, but the coverage is to small to put into the east coast taf sites at this time. KAPF taf site will remain dry tonight. The ceiling and vis will also remain in the VFR conditions tonight, but could fall down into MVFR conditions with any shower or thunderstorm passage. && .AVIATION..54/BNB .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 638 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018/ UPDATE... Quick update to the forecast package for this evening over South Florida. The showers and thunderstorms have dissipated over the region late this afternoon leaving the weather dry. The latest SREF and HRRR models are showing dry conditions through the evening hours over South Florida. Therefore, the pops have been removed from South Florida for the evening hours. Rest of the forecast looks good at this time and no other changes are planned. UPDATE...54/BNB PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 339 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018/ DISCUSSION... Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms have developed across South Florida this afternoon. The greatest coverage of convection has been located across the interior and west coast areas. Most of this activity will begin to diminish as the evening progresses. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms will still remain over the Atlantic waters as well as the east coast metro areas during the overnight hours. Low temperatures will range from the lower 70s across interior areas to near 80 across the east coast metro areas. High pressure over the western Atlantic will remain in control of the weather pattern through the rest of the weekend and into early next week. Latest computer model guidance continues to show an east to southeasterly flow across the region. This will allow for an increase in low level moisture to continue as well which will keep the chances of showers and thunderstorms elevated. These showers and thunderstorms will develop during the late morning and early afternoon hours as the east and west coast sea breezes move inland. The greatest chances of showers and thunderstorms will remain over interior and west coast sections during the afternoon hours. There will also be enough instability to support one or two strong storms especially across the interior sections. As the middle of the week approaches, both of the GFS and the ECMWF show a similar weather pattern remaining in place. The area of high pressure located over the western Atlantic does not move much which will allow the southeasterly flow to continue. A typical summertime weather pattern is expected during this time frame with showers and thunderstorms developing along the east and west coast sea breezes during the late morning hours. The convection will then push towards the interior sections during the afternoon and evening hours. Temperatures each afternoon should reach near 90 degrees along the coast and low 90s for the interior. MARINE... An area of high pressure located over the western Atlantic will continue to dominate the weather pattern across the local waters through the middle of the week. Moderate east to southeasterly flow will continue across the Atlantic and Gulf waters with seas generally remaining at 2 feet or less. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible each day. Winds and waves could be higher in and around any shower or thunderstorm. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... West Palm Beach 77 89 77 91 / 20 40 20 20 Fort Lauderdale 80 89 80 90 / 30 50 20 20 Miami 78 89 78 90 / 30 50 20 30 Naples 76 91 76 91 / 10 40 20 40 && .MFL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. AM...None. GM...None. && UPDATE...54/BNB DISCUSSION...55/CWC MARINE...55/CWC AVIATION...54/BNB
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area
857 PM PDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .SYNOPSIS...Very warm conditions will persist inland on Sunday, although temperatures are expected to be a few degrees cooler than today. An upper disturbance will move into Northern California by late Sunday and generate a modest cooling trend regionwide during the first half of the work week. Below seasonal temperatures can be expected near the coast, in conjunction with a deepening marine layer, while near to slightly above seasonal temperatures will persist inland. Seasonal conditions are expected later in the week. && .DISCUSSION...As of 8:55 PM PDT Saturday...Temperatures at most inland locations inched slightly higher today as an upper ridge reached its maximum strength over California. Most inland valleys warmed into the 90s. The warmest location in our forecast area today was Pinnacles National park with a high of 106. A shallow marine layer persisted near the coast, as did light onshore flow. Thus, coastal temperatures remained mostly in the 60s and lower 70s. Whale Point, on the southern Monterey County coast had a high today of only 55, which is 51 degrees cooler than the 106 at Pinnacles just 35 miles to the northeast. Evening water vapor satellite imagery shows a weak upper trough just off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. This trough is forecast to dig southeast into the Pacific Northwest on Sunday and into northern California from Sunday night into Tuesday. Impacts from the upper trough are expected to mostly be felt starting Monday, but minor effects are expected tomorrow. There will likely be an uptick in onshore flow by late afternoon and the marine layer may begin to deepen from its current depth of 1000 feet. Modest cooling is likely in the coastal valleys and around San Francisco Bay tomorrow, but no more than a few degrees of cooling is expected for the inland valleys and hills. Thus, expect another very warm day inland tomorrow. Low clouds and fog will likely persist along the coast, helping to maintain cool conditions in coastal communities. The latest HRRR Smoke model indicates continued poor air quality across the Bay Area on Sunday as smoke from the Mendocino Complex increases across the area. Inland areas are expected to experience relief from the heat early in the work week as the trough sags into northern California, triggering a increase in the depth of the marine layer. The inland valleys are expected to cool by as much as ten degrees by Tuesday. The upper trough is forecast to move off to the east by Thursday, allowing for slightly warmer temperatures late in the week. Longer range models agree that a longwave trough will develop across the western United States by next weekend and perhaps persist for a while. The Climate Prediction Center`s 8-14 day outlook calls for near normal to below normal temperatures across northern and central California during the final week of August. && .AVIATION...as of 5:27 PM PDT Saturday...Webcams, metars, satellite imagery show a fair amount of wildfire smoke and haze over the Bay Area, biggest impacts have been reduced slant range visibilities as well as areas of haze and smoke resulting in MVFR surface visibilities. Hazy conditions aloft have also reached as far south as the Monterey Bay Area. A few pireps from earlier on in the vicinity KSTS and KUKI flight levels 2500-7000 feet indicated vsby 3 miles in smoke, recent pirep during descent into KLVK reports 3.5 miles visibility. The latest high-res rapid refresh model shows an increasing trend in smoke originating from the Mendocino Complex spreading into the Bay Area overnight and Sunday. Coupled with the smoke will be a steady influx of marine based stratus and fog, stratus ceilings on the coastline are IFR as the marine layer is compressed to 1000 to 1500 feet deep. Visible imagery this afternoon shows a widespread coverage of stratus and fog over the coastal waters. As cigs and vsbys on the immediate coast and locally inland lower tonight LIFR and VLIFR will likely develop. Vicinity of KSFO...VFR. Westerly winds 15-20 knots until 04z then lighter westerly winds tonight, increasing chances of MVFR visibility by early Sunday morning due to smoke and haze. Some improvement in surface visibility is possible at KSFO while slant range vis will quite likely remain moderate to poor Sunday. SFO Bridge Approach...Similar to KSFO. Monterey Bay Terminals...IFR developing between 02z and 04z, LIFR to VLIFR late tonight and Sunday morning. Clearing to MVFR-VFR conditions by late Sunday morning and afternoon. Coastal stratus and fog likely moving back in Sunday evening. && .MARINE...as of 4:50 PM PDT Saturday...Northwest winds will remain generally light through the week as high pressure resides over the eastern Pacific and an inland trough sits over California. Expect locally gusty northwesterly winds in the northern outer waters through Tuesday. Light to moderate mixed northwest and southerly swell will continue through the weekend. && .MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .Tngt...SCA...Pt Arena to Pigeon Pt 10-60 nm && $$ PUBLIC FORECAST: Dykema AVIATION: Canepa MARINE: AS Visit us at www.weather.gov/sanfrancisco Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube at: www.facebook.com/nwsbayarea www.twitter.com/nwsbayarea www.youtube.com/nwsbayarea
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Paducah KY
622 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .UPDATE... Issued at 622 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 The AVIATION section has been updated for the 00Z TAF issuance. && .SHORT TERM...(Tonight through Monday night) Issued at 125 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Mid level trof axis will depart to the east late today and this evening. Until it does, some lingering showers will continue through sunset, maybe an hour or so after. Mid level lapse rates are weak, so will just mention isolated showers. One or two lightning strikes possible. Convection is rather shallow. Overnight a weak surface ridge will calm winds. This coupled with breaks in the clouds and residual high surface RH, means some fog possible late tonight. There may also be return low clouds given high H9 moisture content and some advection from the east. That could have a direct impact on any fog potential. Will monitor. Most of Sunday should be dry. By the end of the day, a s/wv ridge will be across the region. Prior to that, in the afternoon, isolated convection cannot be ruled out across the KY Pennyrile, maybe slightly farther west. Sunday night, focus for convection will be mainly along and west of the MS River after midnight as a surface low deepens over the central Plains and heads northeast into NW Missouri by Monday morning, coincident with weak mid level energy over Missouri. Compact strong H5 low and assoc surface low will move across the upper Midwest Monday, with scattered convection anticipated across the region in a warm and unstable southerly flow regime. Chances will continue Monday night as a surface front approaches and mid level forcing increases with the approach of the upper trof. The chance for severe storms seems highly conditional on clouds and existing convection. This and forecast lapse rates are fairly lame. So concern for severe is minimal to nil based on the latest forecast data. 15 .LONG TERM...(Tuesday through Saturday) Issued at 125 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Given the numerical model initialization with the 12z upper air data, the 00z Saturday ECMWF and and 12z RAP guidance had a fairly decent handle on the northwest U.S. closed low. The timing and location of this feature may still be an influence at the beginning of the extended forecast period. Adjusting for spatial and temporal model drift, the closed low currently over the northwest U.S. today, should be an open high amplitude, somewhat progressive, trough with the mean axis along the Wabash and Ohio River. Weatherwise, this would place the best chances for showers and a few thunderstorms over southwest Indiana and West Kentucky at the beginning of the period. Despite the passage of this trough and associated surface cold front, decent cold air advection will not make headway into the area until Wednesday morning. During this time, a northeastward tilted ridge will be in place with 50H center near the eastern AZ/northwest TX border and a surface ridge center in eastern NE and far west IA. Further to the east, the trough axis that moves through on Tuesday will be vertically stacked along the east coast. The pattern places the WFO PAH forecast area in northwest flow just south of the sharpest baroclinic zone and channeled/sheared vorticity, and just east of the deeper layer moisture poised northeast of the upper ridge in the southwest U.S. The displacement of these features allows for a greater influx of cooler and drier air into the WFO PAH forecast area Wednesday through early Thursday afternoon, with warming taking place Thursday night as a surface ridge moves east of the WFO PAH forecast area. The trajectory of the moist low and middle level moisture eventually works northward from the Gulf of Mexico by midday Friday, intersecting weak upper level troughing further to the west, aiding in slow moisture advection into western Missouri. A mean trough axis centers over the WFO PAH forecast area by midday next Saturday. This axis, combined with Gulf Moisture should support at least a chance probability of precipitation during the afternoon hours next Saturday. In summary, there should be a chance of rain on Tuesday, then again later next Saturday. In between those times, a brief cool down below normal temperatures should take place, with the coolest temperatures centered around early next Thursday. KES && .AVIATION... Issued at 622 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 Scattered showers will linger through sunset mainly from KHOP to K2I0 eastward. Otherwise, the forecast is dry. Fog, possibly dense, and/or low ceilings is expected over most of the region for a few hours straddling sunrise. Limited IFR mention to KCGI at this time, but LIFR conditions cannot be ruled out at any of the TAF sites. There is a strong signal for MVFR ceilings to linger through the morning and then lift to VFR levels by early afternoon. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...None. MO...None. IN...None. KY...None. && $$ UPDATE...DRS AVIATION...DRS
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Reno NV
224 PM PDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .SYNOPSIS... The streak of 90 degree days will continue across the Nevada valleys over the next few days, while overnight lows provide relief from what could be the hottest summer on record. Gusty afternoon and evening winds may produce short periods of critical fire weather conditions the next few days. && .SHORT TERM... The main concern the next couple days is the afternoon and evening zephyr gusts near 30 mph combining with very low humidity. Details in the fire weather section below. Winds Sunday and Monday will produce choppy conditions on area lakes. The zephyr winds typically develop between 2 and 4 pm. If you are out on a lake in the afternoon be prepared for a quick uptick in winds and resultant waves. Afternoon highs could reach record levels Sunday. The forecast high of 99 for Reno would tie the record for Aug 19 set in 2003 and 2009. There is some relief in sight as low pressure remains near the west coast, which is also why we`re going to into a period of breezy afternoon winds. Highs will decrease, but remain at least in the low 90s. The Sierra will cool into the mid-70s to mid-80s by mid week. Smoke and air quality appear to be a decreasing issue the next day or so based on the last couple runs of the HRRR smoke model and excellent smoke dispersion from afternoon and evening winds. Aside from any new fire activity, smoke and haze will be limited to northeast CA and northwest NV and portions of Alpine and Mono counties very near the Donnell and Lions fires. Brong .LONG TERM...Wednesday and beyond... A small amplitude trough over the Pacific NW will lift to the northeast Wednesday. The 12Z run of the GFS has shown the trough to sag further south than previously shown. If this solution holds true, Wednesday afternoon could be the windiest day this coming week. However, this is a big if since model solutions have been fluctuating considerably with the position of this trough. Other than this change, no noteworthy alterations were made to the forecast. Past Wednesday, the ridge over the southwest US will momentarily build northward before another trough approaches the Pacific NW late Thursday into Friday. This will keep dry southwesterly flow over western Nevada and eastern California. Hence, there is no mention of thunderstorms in the forecast. Usual afternoon zephyr winds will occur with some enhancement expected due to troughs skimming by to the north. Daytime highs will continue to be above normal with 90s in the lower valleys of western Nevada and highs in the 80s for the Sierra. Overnight lows will be close to seasonal averages in the 50s- near 60 degrees for lower elevations, with low 40s near the Sierra. -Johnston && .AVIATION... Smoke from fires in northern California and southern Oregon have reduced visibilities to less than 6 miles at the northern terminal areas of SVE, LOL, and NFL. Current guidance shows that this smoke should stay to the north of RNO-TRK. However, if it does move southward, slant-wise and flight level visibility could be reduced at terminal areas north of CXP. Besides this concern, expect dry conditions with light winds this afternoon and evening. Afternoon breezes will be enhanced Sunday and Monday as a trough passes by to the north. -Johnston && .FIRE WEATHER... The presence of an upper-level trough of low pressure to our north over Oregon will enhance the typical zephyr winds both Sunday and Monday...especially north of Highway 50. Gusts in the valleys should easily reach 25-30 mph with some wind prone areas along the Highway 395 corridor briefly exceeding 30 mph. Humidity values remain low as well...so there may be a few areas with a brief period of critical conditions in zones 271/278/270/458/450/453. These periods of brief critical conditions should not persist for more than a couple of hours from very late in the afternoon into the early evening. If the upper trough were a bit farther south we would be looking at a longer period of critical conditions...but this forecast scenario does not line up well enough to produce a long-lived period of very gusty winds. Thus...we will not issue any Red Flag Warnings. We will headline the FWF for gusty winds and low humidity. Maybe as important will be the poor overnight recoveries at the ridges and mid-slopes Sunday night and Monday night. Winds will not likely fully decouple on the mid-slopes. Humidity values are not likely to recover much more than 20-25% either night; some ridges may not recover past 15%. Recoveries will improve slightly beyond Monday...but only into the moderate range for the mid- slopes and may not recover beyond the poor range at the ridges for much of next week. The trough of low pressure remains just west of the forecast area into the middle of next week. Model simulations now show this trough moving back east Wednesday. If this were to pan out...Wednesday would have the potential to be the windiest day of the forecast period. We must caution that the model simulations have been struggling the last few days with placement and movement of the upper-level trough...so confidence is moderate at best when trying to pick out the day with the strongest winds with any lead time. XX && .REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories... NV...None. CA...None. && $$ For more information from the National Weather Service visit... http://weather.gov/reno
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Blacksburg VA
857 PM EDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .SYNOPSIS... A frontal boundary will drift south into the region overnight into Sunday before stalling, which should keep periods of unsettled weather in place for the rest of the weekend. The front lifts back north as a warm front Monday ahead of another stronger cold front that should arrive with more showers and storms on Tuesday. High pressure will follow the front resulting in cooler and drier weather for the middle of next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/... As of 850 PM EDT Saturday... Overall the area remains in a void between earlier showers that passed to the southeast with a remnant wave aloft, and upstream convection that continues to spill across far southwest sections well ahead of the front. However seeing a band or two of slow moving shallow convection along the southern Blue Ridge where unidirectional flow off evening soundings looks to be keeping these heavy rain producing showers in place. This also in an area of weak moisture convergence where instability has recovered from earlier rainfall. Latest HRRR seems to have a good handle on this but coverage persisting another couple of hours before becoming much more isolated after midnight. Therefore bumped up pops to likelys where showers persist and kept in low chances elsewhere before cutting back overnight to a 20/30 percent regime just ahead of the actual front to the northwest. Otherwise looking at partly to mostly cloudy overnight with patchy fog in spots espcly where debris clouds fade in the wake of the earlier rainfall. Lows look on track with most dipping into the 60s except near 70 ridges and out east. Previous discussion as of 215 PM EDT Saturday... A weak cold front is slowly crossing over Virginia, which is providing prevalent cloud cover and showers moving eastward over the Blue Ridge. The 12Z RNK sounding shows a precipitable water value of over 1.6 inches, so there still remains a threat of localized heavy rain. Instability continues to be weak overall in the model soundings except for east of Danville where a hole in cloud cover depicted in visible satellite allowed surface heating. A few thunderstorms have just developed in this area and will head eastward into central Virginia. The shower activity should increase over the Piedmont this afternoon, but this activity will decrease somewhat over southeast West Virginia. POPs should remain rather high with high temperatures reaching the 70s and 80s. Any convective activity will gradually diminish in coverage overnight with POPs slowly decreasing toward Sunday morning. Some localized patchy fog is possible due to the wet ground and light winds, but confidence remains high that it will be a damp and cloudy night with low temperatures in the lower 60s to the lower 70s. The weak cold front should sag southward toward North Carolina on Sunday, which will keep most of the area unsettled. Shower and thunderstorm coverage should increase again by the afternoon due to the proximity of the cold front that will eventually stall just south of the CWA. More breaks in cloud cover may allow high temperatures to be a few degrees higher on Sunday as compared to Saturday. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... As of 300 PM EDT Saturday... The surface frontal boundary will drift south Sunday night into early Monday. Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms will continue into Sunday evening, then taper off into the overnight. The combination of light winds and low level humidity will result in patchy fog late Sunday night into Monday morning. Low temperatures Sunday night will range from around 60 degrees in the mountains to the upper 60s in the piedmont. A closed upper level low across the Mid-Mississippi Valley will track northeast and reach the Great Lakes region by Monday evening. The low center will continue to advance northeast Monday night into Tuesday night. On Monday, low level southwest flow will increase across the deep south, and result in the stalled front to our south to move back across our area as a warm front. The precipitation chances will increase across our forecast area, with the best opportunity in the southwest mountains Monday afternoon into Monday evening. High temperatures Monday will vary from the lower 70s in the west to the mid 80s in the east. Cloudy conditions with a few showers will continue Monday night. Low temperatures Monday night will generally range from the lower 60s in the mountains to around 70 degrees in the east. The upper low`s associated cold front will approach Tuesday and then cross the area Tuesday evening into Tuesday night. Numerous showers and thunderstorms are expected Tuesday afternoon and evening, then convection begins to wane after midnight behind the passage of the front. Some of the thunderstorms could be strong to severe with locally heavy rains. Tuesday high temperatures will be cooler with readings from around 70 degrees in the west to the mid 80s in the east. Low temperatures Tuesday night will drop to the upper 50s to the upper 60s. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... As of 300 PM EDT Saturday... A cold front will continue to travel east Wednesday, then a wave of low pressure along the boundary will cause it stalled along the Southeast Coast Wednesday night into Thursday. Meanwhile, cool Canadian High pressure will build south across the Ohio Valley and then across the Mid Atlantic by Thursday night. The High center will slide northeast into New England for the weekend. Isolated to scattered diurnal showers and thunderstorms will be possible Wednesday. Drier weather is expected Thursday into Saturday. The ECMWF has trended weaker with evolution of the surface low yielding a solution much closer to GFS. Eastern U.S. heights rises expected as the cold front to stall near the southeastern and Gulf coasts. Cooling trend expected Wednesday into Thursday, then temperatures moderate for the weekend. && .AVIATION /01Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 700 PM EDT Saturday... Showers and isolated storms have diminished across the region early this evening with most now lingering across far southern sections with the passing wave and upstream in West Va near the actual surface front. Short term models continue to show much of this coverage also fading with loss of heating, but appears that a shower or storm could make it into KBLF, and perhaps KDAN where leaving in a vicinity mention through late this evening. Otherwise looking at mainly VFR to start although cant rule out some passing MVFR cigs below a mid deck canopy just ahead of the front over the next few hours. Low clouds and patchy fog will likely spread over the area later tonight, especially around KBLF given weak upslope and perhaps KBCB/KLWB. Although the ground will be wet from recent rainfall, cloudy skies may keep the fog from getting dense so fog coverage remains low confidence at this point. However given current trends and potential for some breaks to develop, did add in a brief period of TEMPO IFR at KLWB/KBCB, and out east in spots where some stratus also looks possible in the wake of the earlier heavy rain. By Sunday morning, conditions should improve to VFR at KROA/KLYH/KDAN, but it will take several hours more for KBLF/KLWB/KBCB to follow suit. With the cold front sagging toward North Carolina, its close proximity will trigger more showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. MVFR/IFR conditions may occur in the stronger activity espcly across the mountains where including a VCTS/VCSH mention for Sunday afternoon per latest model consensus. Showers may spread east later in the day but too iffy to include in the forecast at KLYH/KDAN for now. Extended Discussion... On Monday, the stalled frontal boundary should start to lift back north out of North Carolina. Thus, more chances of showers and thunderstorms will continue in the afternoon espcly southern and western sections. Additionally, the wet ground may allow some MVFR/IFR ceilings and fog during Monday night, especially in the mountains. The frontal boundary will move northward as a warm front by Tuesday and keep conditions unsettled with potential for more organized convection later Tuesday ahead of the next stronger cold front. By Wednesday, this cold front will push through the Mid Atlantic, and high pressure should build overhead by Thursday. Good flying weather will return once the cooler and drier air mass associated with this area of high pressure arrives. && .RNK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VA...None. NC...None. WV...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...PW NEAR TERM...JH/PW SHORT TERM...KK LONG TERM...KK AVIATION...JH/PW
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Diego CA
129 PM PDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure will strengthen over the area through tonight, continuing to dry and stabilize the atmosphere. Onshore flow and a shallow marine layer will continue areas of night and morning low clouds over coastal and western valley areas into the upcoming week. Daytime temperatures will be near, to a bit above average, while overnight lows continue between 5 and 10 degrees higher then average due to the elevated sea surface temperatures. Monsoonal moisture may return by the middle of next week, rekindling the chance for mountain and desert thunderstorms. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES... Satellite imagery at midday showed marine stratus hanging onto coastal San Diego County and still over a good chunk of the inner waters. Farther to the east...patchy cumulus clouds were bubbling over the mts. Except for the desert passes where westerly winds were occasionally gusting 25-30 MPH, winds were mostly light. Latest available Hires WRFEMS and HRRR runs are showing a couple of showers popping over the mts this afternoon, so the small chance will remain in the forecast. Otherwise, look for dry weather with moderate to high humidity and little temp change through Monday. Strengthening high pressure aloft over SoCal through tonight will begin to shift back to the SE through Tue as a trough deepens over the PacNW. The net result will be a slight warming early next week, and then a possible return of some monsoonal moisture by midweek. The chance of thunder returns to the mts by Tue afternoon as a result of the shift back to SE flow aloft. Looking at the 12Z ECMWF/GFS runs...both handle the overall pattern similarly, and both suggest less mid-level moisture will return to the area than this past week. However, enough is there to leave the forecast as is. Other features of note...Both models trend 500H lower and show increasing SW flow aloft into next weekend. This should result in gradual cooling and decreasing thunder chances over the mts. && .AVIATION... 182030Z...Coasts/Valleys...Low clouds will redevelop and spread inland after 01Z with bases 1000-1400 feet MSL and spread not as far inland overnight. Local vis restrictions along inland edge of cloud deck. Scatter out Sunday by 17Z. Mountains/Deserts...Mostly clear through Sunday, but with some cumulus clouds over the mountains through 01Z and again Sunday between 19-00Z. Bases near 10000 feet MSL. && .MARINE... No hazardous marine weather is expected through Thursday. && .BEACHES... Beach Hazard Statement will continue through this evening for elevated surf and strong rip currents. A 3-4 ft/15-16 second period swell from 180 degrees will bring surf of 3-6 ft, with isolated sets to 7 ft, mainly along the south facing beaches of Northern Orange County, and strong rip currents. Surf will lower tonight through Sunday. && .SKYWARN... Skywarn activation is not requested. However weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...Beach Hazards Statement through this evening for Orange County Coastal Areas-San Diego County Coastal Areas. PZ...NONE. && $$ PUBLIC...10 AVIATION/MARINE...MM
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Shreveport LA
940 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018 .UPDATE... Still dealing with some isolated showers and thunderstorms late this evening mainly along and to the north of the I-20 Corridor of Northeast Texas and Northern Louisiana. An outflow boundary or weak frontal boundary can be seen on radar extending from the Sulphur River Basin of Northeast Texas to near the Ar/La border to near Monroe, Louisiana. This boundary has pretty much been uneventful this evening being able to initiate convection except across Northeast Louisiana and across North Central Texas. Looking to the west, this convection continues to develop but shows very little push eastward. Northwesterly flow aloft is not at pronounced as it was this time last night and is really becoming rather neutral as upper level ridging begins to retrograde back to the south and west into the Texas Hill Country. For the overnight update, 00z NAM and HRRR output suggests that renewed convection will be rather minimal overnight despite the boundary in place so have cut pops back to slight chance variety for all areas except Deep East Texas. Forecast min temps are in the ballpark so did not make much in the way of changes in this department. Concerning pops for Sunday, with upper troughing across the Southern Plains, it appears that our northern most zones should experience the greater coverage of convection with only very isolated activity expected elsewhere. This resulted in cutting pops back to high end chance variety across our northern most zones as latest 00z progs did not support likely to categorical pops in these areas. All other grids in good shape with our update out shortly...13. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 630 PM CDT Sat Aug 18 2018/ AVIATION... Currently dealing with isolated to widely scattered convection across portions of NE TX into N LA or in the vicinity of the SHV/MLU terminals. A frontal boundary was noted across S AR into NE TX this evening and while the short term progs suggest that convection should be exploding along this boundary attm...just not seeing it. Thus, this TAF forecast is a very low confidence forecast as all available model output is contaminated. For the package, went with VCTS at the SHV and MLU terminals for a few hours this evening and will handle any pop up isolated convection elsewhere with AMDs if necessary. Will need to watch the convection across N TX through the evening hours as the HRRR suggests it could make it into our airspace much later tonight. Continued with the mention of VCTS at the TXK/ELD/MLU terminals beginning late morning through the remainder of the day on Sunday as again, this appears to be the favorable airspace given the flow aloft and the boundary in place. 13 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SHV 78 94 77 94 / 20 20 20 50 MLU 77 90 75 93 / 20 30 20 50 DEQ 75 87 73 89 / 20 50 70 40 TXK 76 89 76 91 / 20 30 60 50 ELD 76 89 75 89 / 20 40 30 50 TYR 79 96 77 93 / 20 20 30 40 GGG 78 96 77 94 / 20 20 30 50 LFK 77 95 77 95 / 10 10 10 40 && .SHV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...None. LA...None. OK...None. TX...None. && $$ 13/13