Forecast Discussions mentioning any of "HRRR" "RAP" "RUC13" "RUC" "RR" received at GSD on 05/24/24


AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service Wakefield VA
909 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front will approach from the northwest this evening into tonight. The boundary weakens as it pushes south into the local area on Friday. The front lifts back north Saturday with daily chances of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms continuing through the Memorial Day weekend. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM FRIDAY MORNING/... As of 905 PM EDT Thursday... A weakening cold front will approach the area from the NW this tonight. Showers and thunderstorms have struggled to initiate or move into the region this evening. Latest radar shows some showers in NE NC, but otherwise dry. A few CAMs hint at some redevelopment in the SE later tonight into early tomorrow morning, but confidence is rather low at this point. Outside of isold/wdly scattered storms through the evening hours, expect at partly to mostly cloudy sky overnight with lows in the 60s. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAY/... As of 330 PM EDT Thursday... The aforementioned weak front will stall out across the local area on Friday. 12z NAM and HRRR are showing the potential for scattered showers/storms during the morning before clearing and then additional isold showers/storms developing in the afternoon. Remainder of the guidance favors the afternoon/evening for any showers/storms. Forecast still favors highest PoPs on Friday after 18z (15-20% NE to 30-40% S). Remaining summer-like and rather warm Friday with highs in the mid to upper 80s inland, and upper 70s to lower 80s at the coast due to a developing sea-breeze in weak flow. Mild Friday night with lows in the 60s. 23/12z guidance has some broad consistency in showing shortwave energy arriving Saturday in westerly mid/upper level flow, with the boundary lifting back to the N, but confidence in the details remains low. Given this, PoPs for mainly afternoon/evening showers/tstms are 30-50% across the entire area. Highs Saturday will once again be in the mid 80s, with upper 70s to lower 80s toward the coast. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... As of 330 PM EDT Thursday... Key Message: - Remaining warm and humid Sunday into Memorial Day with the potential for showers and thunderstorms Memorial Day. Continued warm and humid Saturday night with any showers/tstms diminishing in coverage as shortwave ridging arrives in the westerly flow aloft. Lows will mainly be in the 60s. Highs Sunday will once again be in the mid 80s inland with upper 70s to lower 80s toward the coast. Less coverage of showers/tstms are expected Sunday afternoon/evening as broad ridging prevails, with PoPs less than 10% NE to ~30% SW. 23/12z EPS/GEFS depict an anomalous trough digging from the Great Lakes to the Northeast Monday through Wednesday with a cold front pushing through the Mid-Atlantic. Confidence on timing remains on the low-side, but given the strength of the trough more coverage of showers/tstms are possible in the Memorial Day/Monday night timeframe. Highs Memorial Day will once again be rather warm in the mid 80s to around 90F (slightly lower at the coast), with highs trending down into the upper 70s to lower 80s toward the middle of next week with drier air also arriving into the region. && .AVIATION /01Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... As of 755 PM EDT Thursday... Storms have been slow to initiate/make their way into the local forecast area as the weakening cold front approaches the area. May still see a shower or storm at ECG this evening, but confidence is lower for impact at other terminals. Brief vsby restrictions will be possible within any precip that does develop. Otherwise, prevailing VFR is expected. A front stalls in the vicinity of the region Friday-Monday, bringing daily chances for mainly afternoon/evening showers/tstms. Chances for showers/tstms are mainly 15-20% NE to 30-40% SW Friday, 30-40% across the area Saturday, and 15% or less NE to 20-30% SW Sunday. There is the potential for more coverage of showers/tstms Monday as an upper trough approaches from the NW. && .MARINE... As of 230 PM EDT Thursday... Key Messages: - Benign conditions expected on the waters through Sunday. - Chances for showers and storms (especially in the afternoons and evenings) through the Holiday weekend. A very quiet stretch of marine weather conditions is expected through Sunday. Expect winds of 5-15kt through Sunday with seas 2-3 ft over the ocean/waves 1-2 ft in the bay. Afternoons will likely be dominated by sea breezes each day so winds should become onshore during those times, otherwise expect south to southeast winds. A cold front approaches the area on Monday associated with a deepening low pressure center over the Great Lakes. Have continued with winds of 10 to 20 kt on Monday, still below small craft advisory criteria. Winds turn NW at 10 to 15 kt behind the front on Tuesday into midweek. Marine interests will need to keep an eye out for thunderstorms each day through Memorial Day, mainly in the afternoon and evening. && .AKQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MD...None. NC...None. VA...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...JDM NEAR TERM...AM/JDM SHORT TERM...AJZ/JDM LONG TERM...AJZ/JDM AVIATION...AM/JDM MARINE...MRD
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service La Crosse WI
1023 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Initial Storm Chances Return Late Tonight Into Friday Morning Primarily Providing Widespread Rainfall - Strong to Severe Storms Possible Through Friday Afternoon As Surface Frontal Boundary Pushes from West to East. Low Confidence Regarding Hazard Type, None Can Be Ruled Out At This Time - Main Impact Will Be Heavy Rainfall, Scattered Nature Of Afternoon Rainfall Presents Difficulty Discerning Location Of Highest Impacts. Overall Amounts Near & Above 1" Likely. More Precipitation Chances Return Sunday Night Into Monday, Furthering Water Concerns. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 257 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Ongoing Rain & Storms Today: Surface low pressure early this afternoon has been meagerly deepening across the Northern Plains. A couple of surface frontal boundaries extend from the low with the main low level theta axis extending from the Southern to Central and Northern Plains. Accompanying surface observations have temperatures in the 70s with dewpoint temperatures in 50s. An exiting surface high pressure has provided an anticyclonic arc to the low level theta e axis, pushing the surface warm frontal boundary near Lake Superior. Otherwise, a pocket of drier air mass near the surface high pressure center extends from Chicago into southeast Iowa with a storm east-west moisture boundary farther south with dewpoint temperatures in the 60s. A narrow appendage of the aforementioned dry air extends northwest from Chicago, into Trempealeau County. As a result, isentropic lift along the 290K isentropic surface providing weak storm and precipitation chances this afternoon. Therefore, have added slight chances in a limited area as the moist air continues advecting northeast. Although, this area in central Wisconsin known for very sandy soils, potentially persisting precipitation and storm chances later than currently expected. Will be a very near term forecast detail. Precipitation & Storm Chances Late Tonight - Friday Morning: More widespread precipitation chances return tonight from the aforementioned surface low pressure seen over the Northern Plains this afternoon. Highest chances move from southwest to northeast along the initial warm frontal boundary as the surface low occludes and phases through the Northern Plains into northern Minnesota and southern Manitoba. Separation of the PBL overnight will limit local impacts, keeping things elevated and limiting potential storm strength. Irregardless, have increased thunder chances from National Blend based on instability in high resolution model forecast skew Ts. Precipitation & Storm Chances Through Friday: These initial storm and rain chances shift northeast through Friday morning before the subsequent cold front pushes from west to east Friday afternoon. An appendage to the phasing low will drive and strengthen the cold front, causing strong convergence along the boundary. The occlusion of the northern low also advects a narrow filament of instability and attendant shear. The strengthening return flow keeps warmest air off the deck initially, persisting an inversion before surface air can potentially recover. Due to the morning convection, ability for surface temperatures to recover remains a questionable factor. The RAP remains to be the most keen model, quickly recovering surface temperatures, becoming surface based in a very limited window. Although, it also persists mid level saturation through this time so hard to confidently say the surface temperature recovery is accurate. The highest helicity remains tied to the tight, narrow occluding area ahead of the cold front, offset of the highest instability and quickening cold front. Severe Potential Through Friday: As the cold front provides the necessary lifting, hodographs and shear becomes quite messy as storms are undercut from a west to east frontal boundary and a mean storm motion of southwest to northeast. Therefore, scattered convection looks to be the most likely with wind and hail with the highest potential hazard types. If these ingredients line up closer, storm mode could also be linear along the cold front with popping off outgoing cold pools. However, given the potential for severe, machine learning probability forecast have 5-10% probability for tornadoes, 15-30% for severe hail, and 5-30% for severe wind. So, will be a limited window to keep eyes fully peeled for. Highest Impact Concerns: Irregardless, highest concern and impact, especially given the recent heavy rainfall, will be potential for flooding. Given the longer residence time of the 1" PWAT isohyet through much of Friday, highest confidence for a widespread 1" of rainfall. Thankfully, most rivers have begun to recover since previous rainfall. Initial heavy rainfall Friday morning will provide a widespread amount while the secondary wave will be more scattered, limiting further widespread impact. Could see some longer residence time though with those scattered storms into Friday evening. Something to keep an eye on in coming forecasts. Local probability matched mean (HREF) 24 hour precipitation totals as of 12Z Saturday push 2-2.5" in our southern areas while 48 hour probability matched means only push 1". HREF storm total precipitation maximum further spreads the 2" isohyet primarily from northeast Iowa into central Wisconsin with highest 48 hour amounts pushing 4" while the mean remains 1.5". Quite a spread, but a concern. Late Weekend Precipitation & Storm Chances: Subsequent precipitation chances return late weekend into Monday. A phasing bowling ball of vorticity lifts northeast before crashing into the Upper Mississippi River Valley. Strong low level moisture advection from a stunted Midwest atmospheric river taps into the Gulf airmass, again providing heavy rainfall. Highest confidence for instability grazes southern counties from northeast Iowa into southwest Wisconsin as the surface low is expected to wrap up and provide heaps of low level shear. Too far to nail out details at this time. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1022 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 A cold front will move through the area on Friday afternoon. A pre-frontal trough will bring a round of showers and storms. The CAMs continue to show that the highest chances of showers and storms are from 24.12z to 24.15z for KRST and from 24.13z to 24.16z for KLSE. Additional showers and scattered storms will possible into Friday afternoon. The confidence in the timing of thunderstorms was so low that they were not included in the TAFs. It looks dry in the evening, so removed all mention of precipitation. Winds will be southerly at 10 to 15 knots during the morning and then shift to the west during the afternoon and increase into the 10 to 20 knot range. Winds during the evening will gust into the 20 to 30 mph range. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. IA...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...JAR AVIATION...Boyne
Area Forecast Discussion...Updated
National Weather Service Billings MT
943 PM MDT Thu May 23 2024 .UPDATE... Snow has decreased over the Bighorn and Pryor mountains this evening as the low pressure system gradually shifts east. Additional snow accumulations in the mountains are expected to be minor. Therefore, have gone ahead and cancelled the Winter Storm Warning. The forecast remains on track. STP && .DISCUSSION... Today through Friday night... ...Key Messages... - Heavy precipitation for lower elevations and heavy snow for mountains today lingering early this evening. - Heavy rain will cause rises on area rivers and streams. Active day of weather across the region with heavy rain in the lower elevations and heavy snow in the mountains. There is an upper jet passing to the south putting the region in the favorable left exit region. RAP mesoanalysis is also depicting strong upper divergence and frontogenesis. This strong upper forcing combined with soundings that are saturated through a deep layer of the atmosphere is leading to efficient rain production and heavy rain in a short amount of time. Winds are wrapping around the backside of the low bringing north/northwest winds through the western areas of the CWA. Some of our northwestern counties such as Wheatland have started to clear out. Locations in far southeast Montana have been dry-slotted today leading to higher temperatures and surface heating. This has allowed these areas to remain dry so far. Precipitation will continue to spread into these areas of southeast Montana this afternoon into evening. CAPE will be lilted in these areas to about 500J/kg or less but 0-6km shear will be strong with values in the 50s and 60s kts. HREF is showing 2-5km updraft helicity tracks for locations mainly in Powder River and Carter Counties. Due to these factors, the Storm Prediction Center has put these areas into a marginal risk for severe weather with the main threats being hail and wind. Most of the region east of a line from Red Lodge to Miles City will see additional rainfall of an inch or more. Locations to the west of that line will begin to clear out this afternoon and receive 0.10 inches or less of additional rainfall. Due to the heavy rainfall amounts saturating soils, there is a risk of water ponding and localized minor flooding conditions. This will be more pronounced in cities and towns were development prevents water absorption or in locations with already saturated soils. We have gotten some reports of localized street flooding on low lying roadways in Billings. Stream and river levels are expected to rise although there are currently no major concerns for stream and river flooding. The Little Bighorn River near Hardin is no longer expected to reach minor flood stage. This afternoon and evening will continue to be windy with most locations having a 30-60% chance of getting a wind gust over 40mph. The strongest winds will be in Sheridan County where probabilities will be 60-90%. Temperatures will be cool tomorrow morning with most locations being in the low to high 30s. Some locations west of Billings generally have a 20-50% chance of getting a freeze. Tomorrow we will move more into a more downsloped pattern leading to warmer temperatures in the low to mid 60s. There will be isolated showers around tomorrow from a low pressure system to our north. Most locations north of Billings have a 20-30% chance for precipitation. Torgerson Saturday through Thursday... Next trough approaches the region on Saturday, and moves through the area on Sunday. Low PoPs in the western mountains Sat. morning, will increase and spread E in the afternoon. Highest PoPs will be W of KBIL (60-80%). The high PoPs will traverse the area from W to E Sat. night. While a few thunderstorms will occur into Sat. night, CAPE/shear values were weak. Chances for at least 0.25 inches of precipitation will be 29% in KLVM and 21% in KBIL for Sat. night. Temps will be near or a little below normal on Saturday. On Sunday, PoPs will range from 30% W to 60% E. Chances for thunderstorms will be confined E and S of KBIL. Again, CAPE/shear looks weak. Sunday will be slightly cooler than Saturday. Chances for at least 0.25 inches of precipitation on Sunday were 20% in many areas. Monday through Tuesday will be mainly dry with a warming trend due to upper ridging. Highs on Tue. will be in the upper 70s to lower 80s. SW flow moves in on Wednesday ahead of the next trough. This flow will bring scattered (30-40%) showers and thunderstorms into the area in the afternoon through Wed. night. Warm weather continues on Wednesday. Uncertainty in the pattern increases for Thursday as ensembles have different solutions regarding the trough. Forecast has a 20-30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, with temps in the 70s. Arthur && .AVIATION... Moderate to heavy rain will move W to E through the forecast area through this evening. Snow will occur in the foothills and mountains above around 5000 ft. Expect scattered showers and thunderstorms from Rosebud County E. Conditions will be MVFR/IFR with areas of LIFR. Mountains will be obscured. VFR will return to the area after 06Z, but scattered stratus and patchy fog cannot be ruled out. Chances of showers and thunderstorms will move into the area from the N after 18z Friday, with MVFR/IFR conditions and areas of mountain obscuration. Arthur && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS... Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu ----------------------------------------------------------- BIL 036/065 042/068 046/064 044/074 048/080 053/079 052/074 01/U 15/T 74/W 10/U 00/U 13/T 43/T LVM 031/061 036/062 039/061 039/071 044/078 049/077 047/073 01/U 18/T 73/T 00/U 01/U 14/T 33/T HDN 034/066 039/070 045/065 042/074 044/082 050/081 050/076 21/U 03/T 75/W 10/U 00/U 12/T 42/W MLS 038/065 041/070 047/064 045/073 046/079 053/082 052/076 52/T 11/B 55/T 10/U 00/U 11/U 42/W 4BQ 039/065 042/070 047/063 045/071 046/079 053/082 054/077 +1/U 01/B 56/T 10/U 00/U 01/U 32/W BHK 037/062 038/071 044/065 042/070 043/077 049/079 049/075 +3/T 01/B 36/T 10/U 00/U 01/U 32/W SHR 033/064 038/067 041/061 040/071 044/078 049/080 049/076 50/U 02/T 66/T 10/U 00/U 02/T 32/T && .BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...None. WY...None. && $$ weather.gov/billings
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service State College PA
1105 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Upper level riding will build into Pennsylvania Friday into early Saturday. A shortwave passing north of the region will push a weak cold front through the state late Saturday. Low pressure will then track west of Pennsylvania Sunday night into Memorial Day, with the trailing cold front coming through Monday evening. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM FRIDAY MORNING/... The 03Z surface analysis places a stalled frontal boundary over the southern tier of PA. A mix of cumulus and cirrus is noted in the satellite imagery south of the front, while the arrival of much drier air has resulted in mostly clear skies north of the front. The main focus for tonight will be on a potent-looking shortwave over KY, which is progged to track eastward across VA late tonight. Latest model guidance keeps the bulk of the convection associated with this feature south of PA. However, increasing large scale forcing, combined with modest instability south of the stalled front, could support a few showers/tsra across the southern tier of PA later tonight. Low level moisture pooling in the vicinity of the front may result in patchy late night valley fog across Southern PA. Across the NW Mtns, clear skies, a calm wind and dry air should result in efficient radiational cooling, so have shaved a couple of degrees off of NBM guidance and added patchy fog toward dawn in the deep river/stream valleys of the NW Mtns. Min temps should range from the upper 40s over the NW Mtns, to the low 60s over the Lower Susq Valley. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY/... Any showers over the southern tier should end by mid morning Friday, as the associated shortwave passes off of the Mid Atlantic coast. Large scale subsidence behind this feature should ensure fair weather for the rest of the day. Surface high pressure nosing southeast from the Grt Lks should push the stalled front south of PA by afternoon, with mainly sunny skies even in the south by that time. Model soundings mix to 800mb, where temps around 10C support highs ranging from the upper 70s over the Alleghenies, to perhaps the mid 80s over parts of the Susq Valley. Surface ridging over the state should ensure fair weather Friday night into early Saturday. By late Saturday the focus will shift to a shortwave lifting across the Eastern Grt Lks. Diurnal heating, combined with surging moisture ahead of a trailing cold/occluded front, will likely result in a round of showers/tsra in many locations late Saturday afternoon or evening. Unimpressive pwats and the progressive nature of this feature indicate rainfall amounts will be fairly insignificant (<0.25 inches). Model guidance supports fair and warm weather Sunday, as upper level ridging builds over PA ahead of an upstream trough and a weak surface high builds in from the Grt Lks. However, a diurnally-driven late day shower/tsra is possible across Southern PA, where modest capes are noted in the model guidance. GEFS 2m temp anomalies are close to 10 degrees above normal Sunday afternoon, translating to highs ranging from the upper 70s in the Endless Mountains to the mid 80s through the Susquehanna Valley. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... All medium range guidance tracks a surface low west of PA through the Grt Lks Sunday night into Monday, with the trailing cold front likely coming through Monday night. Falling heights and surging pwats along the attendant low level jet should result in numerous showers/tsra beginning Sunday night and lasting into Memorial Day. Ensemble median rainfall during this time period is 0.75-1.00 inch for much of the area. Current guidance indicates the best chance of severe weather will be west of the Appalachians Mon PM, with less cape east and an east-southeast flow to the east of the mountains. A longwave trough will then set up over the eastern US and persist through much of the upcoming week, with several shortwave troughs rotating through the base of the trough. Expect a downward turn in temperatures with 850 mb temps in the single digits only supporting highs in the 60s to low 70s by Wed-Thu. Given the low level instability beneath the cold pool aloft, we have moderate confidence in scattered diurnal showers and isolated thundershowers Tue-Wed, with the highest PoPs in NW zones (closer to the upper low). Models diverge in timing the departure of the trough late in the week. However, a trend toward drier/warmer conditions looks likely. && .AVIATION /03Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Dry air at midlevels has translated to a dry afternoon across central PA airspace. Expect VFR conds into the evening and overnight. A few isolated showers may pop up across the southern airspace, near the MD border during the evening hours, where a cold front slows its southward advance and taps into some deeper moisture. Guidance continues to show the chance of low vsbys and cigs late tonight into Friday morning, with recent GLAMP guidance and RAP guidance suggesting JST may experience an extended period of IFR/LIFR conditions. Given some uncertainty with regards to extent, have kept IFR restrictions limited to JST from 10z-14z, with MVFR conds at AOO and UNV. Generally VFR conds will prevail on Friday. Outlook... Sat-Sun...Mainly VFR, but chance of showers (mainly Sat) Sun PM - Mon PM...Restrictions possible with periods of SHRA/TSRA Tue...Scattered SHRA poss && .CTP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Fitzgerald NEAR TERM...Fitzgerald SHORT TERM...DeVoir/Fitzgerald LONG TERM...Fitzgerald AVIATION...Gartner/Colbert
break the cap (see 06z HRRR). As of this forecast discussion, I find
myself leaning more towards Scenario #1 with latest HREF guidance
favoring a decrease in SBCIN over areas along and south of Interstate 80. Should scenario #1 play out, we would need to watch for storms capable of producing damaging wind gusts and large hail thanks to the presence of high instability (MLCAPE around 2000 J/kg), very steep mid-level lapse rates around 7-8 C/km, favorable deep layer shear around 30-35 kts and a more linear storm mode favored. A tornado cannot be ruled out especially with any storm that interacts with remnant boundaries or that can become surface based. This complex should exit the area by late morning to midday, with potential for another line of showers and thunderstorms to move through the area during the afternoon/evening with the surface cold front. This threat will be heavily dictated by which scenario we see in the morning. If we see scenario #1 play out, much of our PM threat will be diminished with coverage more isolated to scattered due to more atmospheric stabilization. Should scenario #2 play out, storms during the afternoon could be stronger with more instability to work with. The Storm Prediction Center continues to highlight areas across east central and eastern Iowa in a Level 1 (marginal) risk of severe thunderstorms through 12z Friday, with a Level 2 (slight) risk along and east of a Manchester IA to Ottumwa IA line after 12z Friday. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... Issued at 207 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Friday Night Through Daytime Saturday... High pressure will provide a dry start to the holiday weekend. Look for near normal highs in the low to mid 70s, and lows Saturday morning in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Saturday Night on... Active weather returns Saturday night as remnants from a complex of showers and thunderstorms moves into the area. This complex will dictate how things evolve for daytime Sunday, with potential for another round of showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening. There is a chance these storms could be severe, with the latest SPC Day 4 outlook painting a 15% chance (slight) for areas along and south of Interstate 80. Higher chances remain to the south of the area near a upper jet poleward exit region, where there is enhanced upper level divergence in play. Other severe statistical guidance including CSU and CIPs are in agreement of severe potential, so please continue to monitor the latest forecasts if you have plans Sunday. Chances of showers and thunderstorms will persist into Memorial Day as another shortwave moves into the area. Coverage looks to be more isolated to scattered with this feature with lower levels of moisture and forcing at play. We quiet down by the middle of next week with high pressure moving across the area, though this will be short-lived with zonal flow and a renewed round of shortwaves moving into the area by late next week. Temperatures look to average near normal for the period. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 653 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 A complex of showers and thunderstorms is forecast to track through eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois Friday morning, moving in from west to east. The storms could lead to brief IFR/LIFR ceilings and visibilities and gusty winds of 40+ kts out of the west/northwest. TEMPO groups will likely be needed in later updates to account for the higher potential impacts. Additional development of scattered showers and storms are possible Friday afternoon and evening before a cold front shifts winds around to the west late in the period. && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 1025 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 The flood warning for the North Skunk River near Sigourney has been upgraded to Major flood category. Routed water from a sparse data area upstream where the heaviest rain fell a few days prior has led to a rapid rise in the last 6 hours and is now above Major flood stage. The forecast calls for a crest of 24.5 feet by Friday afternoon, but there is uncertainty in the amount of water that remains to move through the reach and the crest may need to be further adjusted. The Wapsipinicon River near DeWitt was upgraded to a Flood warning. Major flood stage is being forecast based on routed flow, and is supported in output from the Hydrologic Ensemble Forecast Service Model Simulation (HEFS), which places high confidence on reaching Major Flood stage (12.5 feet). The forecast has gone up this evening with a crest now over 13 feet next week. This fits near the most likely range from HEFS of 12.8-13.1 feet. Some attenuation is possible as the routed flow moves through the river system, but at the same time there will be additional rounds of rain Friday and Sunday of which could total over 1 to 2 inches. There will likely be changes to the forecast in the coming days as the rain lays out and the extent of the routed flow is better known, so stay tuned! Routed water and additional rain through the weekend is leading to rises on most other tributary rivers and the mainstem of the Mississippi, especially south. Flood warnings or watches are in effect for portions of the Cedar, Iowa, Skunk and southern sections of the Mississippi river so please refer to the latest Flood Statements and Flood Warnings for details. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...None. IL...None. MO...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Speck LONG TERM...Speck AVIATION...Uttech HYDROLOGY...McClure
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Goodland KS
819 PM MDT Thu May 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Severe storms still remain possible for this afternoon and evening. - Cold front this evening and tonight brings strong to potentially damaging winds; High Wind Warning is in place for a portion of the area. - Severe weather potential continues on Saturday along with some fire threat for eastern Colorado. - Warmer and potentially active pattern for next week. && .UPDATE... Issued at 815 PM MDT Thu May 23 2024 Forecast updated again to add in Rawlins county in NW Kansas to the Severe Thunderstorm Watch. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... Issued at 212 PM MDT Thu May 23 2024 Difficult forecast for today as moisture return across eastern counties has been a bit stronger than anticipated leading to fairly thick stratus across the eastern counties. The dry line is currently located from roughly Yuma to Burlington into western portions of Greeley county Kansas; have also already begun to see CU developing along it as of 1730Z. Forecast continues to lean heavily on the NAMNEST as it has done the best hinting at the cloud cover across the east and has thus far nailed the position of the dry line. Same as yesterday, do continue to think that the convection will occur along the dry line as it continues to trek to the east, CI should occur around 3pm MT along a line from roughly Holyoke to Benkelman to Colby down to Leoti. Significant differences are still seen in CAMS with the HRRR and RRFS being dry and the NAMNEST the most aggressive. There is some slightly warmer 700mb temperatures around - 8-10C creating a weak cap; but do think this can be overcome despite the overall lack of large scale forcing by not only the dry line but also by reaching convective temperatures which are in the low to mid 80s. As for hazards for today: think there may be a window for some landspouts along the dryline due to the stark difference in temperatures along it. The warm temperatures should help to further destabilize the surface (along with some surface vorticity moving into the area and then as any updrafts start to form it should help stretch them. Concern does continue for large to very large hail as well as ample MUCAPE in the 3000-3500 j/kg range; the only caveat as to if this can be realized is if the storms can survive long enough for hail to remain aloft. A tornado (not landspout) threat may materialize as well if a storm can be longer lived in the 23-01Z time frame as the LLJ increases and streamwise vorticity increases. Attention then turns to an incoming strong cold front during the evening hours and overnight. There still does remain potential for storms to develop along the front mainly to the east of Highway 83 where the better moisture still remains. Large hail, and damaging winds will continue to be primary threats with this. Some areas for QLCS tornado potential would also be possible along the leading edge of the line especially with any north-south oriented segments where the normal wind can remain perpendicular to the line as strong streamwise vorticity remains seen in soundings along with 0-3 and 0-1 SRH values in excess of 200 m^2/s^2. To the west of the convection (in the more dry air) the potential does remain for strong to perhaps damaging winds with the front. GFS, NAM, RAP and HRRR all agree on 8-11 mb pressure rise along and behind the front. The HRRR forecasted sfc gust has also been consistently showing stronger and stronger wind gust potential lying across a corridor from Graham county down into Wichita county; to further increase confidence the HREF also is highlighting this area as having the relative best potential for non thunderstorm damaging winds. Have opted to issue a High Wind Warning after coordination with NWS Dodge City. A chilly start to the day Friday with lows starting in the upper 30s across western portions of our Colorado counties and reaching the mid 40s across the east. Not concerned for frost formation at this time as winds will continue to remain breezy around 20 mph sustained. Surface high that sets up across the area will push out to the east as the day goes on which will lead to a fairly similar day as what we experienced yesterday as winds will lessen throughout the day. Similar to yesterday as well another weak wave moves off of the Front Range and low to mid level moisture return occurs leading to the potential for some hit and miss showers after sunset and through the night. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Issued at 212 PM MDT Thu May 23 2024 Extended period starts off active again as well as a fast moving trough and developing surface low moves across the area. A dry line again will remain the main focus for storm initation, although there remains differences in where the dry line will set up. Start time may not be until a bit later in the afternoon/early evening due to the timing of the wave and the better surge of moisture into the area. Large hail and damaging winds again look to be the primary hazards. Yet another cold front will then move through the area Saturday night and Sunday morning which may again be the focus for a potential second round of severe weather. Will also need to keep an eye on fire weather potential behind the dry line and especially across eastern Colorado where fire partners report conditions remain favorable for fire spread. Sunday, as the low moves off wrap around moisture looks to move into the area again leading to a continued potential for showers and storms. The severe threat at this time does appear to be on the lower end of the spectrum. Currently thinking that strong winds would be the primary threat as DCAPE values look to remain around 1000 j/kg. Ridging then is forecast to develop across the western CONUS which looks to lead to warmer temperatures for the region. The pattern at this time is appearing to be fairly reminiscent potential MCS patterns where storms form off of the Front Range and trek into western Kansas as the Tri-State area is on the downstream side of the ridge which makes the area more at risk to waves off of the mountains. Moisture at this time does appear to be in place which again would favor this. High temperatures for next week are currently forecasted in the 80s with overnight lows in the 50s to low 60s. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 350 PM MDT Thu May 23 2024 For KGLD, VFR conditions through the forecast period. Winds, south-southeast around 20-30kts through about 03z Friday, then veering north-northwesterly with a cold frontal passage. Looking for 15-30kts, w/ gusts up to 35-45kts from 03z-11z Friday. By 20z, northwest 10-15kts. LLWS 07z-11z Friday 330@55kt. For KMCK, VFR conditions through the forecast period. Could be some potential for VCTS through 06z, but low confidence at this time so have left out of forecast. Winds southeast around 20-30kts through 04z Friday, then veering north-northwest around 15-30kts. Gusts to about 45kts possible from 04z-06z. By 14z Friday around 10-20kts, then down to about 10kts by 21z. LLWS 06z-14z Friday 320/330@50kts. && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...High Wind Warning until 3 AM MDT /4 AM CDT/ Friday for KSZ013>016-027>029-042. CO...None. NE...None. && $$ UPDATE...JN SHORT TERM...Trigg LONG TERM...Trigg AVIATION...JN
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Wilmington NC
942 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Shower and thunderstorm chances will grow as a series of upper level disturbances move across the region Friday through Sunday, while a front remains stalled well north of the area. Inland temperatures will rise into the lower 90s by Sunday, then cool back towards normal by Wednesday behind a cold frontal passage late Tue. && .UPDATE... Have tweaked POPs across the CWA slightly lower and pulled slightly back the further southward extent and coastal extent based on latest 88D trends and the latest hi-res models. Will see debris convective mid and upper level clouds moving and slowly partially scouring out-some as the overnight progresses into daylight Fri. Very little tweaking needed for overnight lows. Marine winds generally SW around 10 kt or 10-15 kt as night time SW winds 15 to 20 kt just off the deck mix down- some. Seas generally around 2 ft, with an underlying easterly swell at 8 to 10 second periods dominating with wind chop above. Could see a solid SW 15 kt near shore Fri as seen today due to the sea breeze. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/... A ridge axis extending northeastward from a mid and upper level high centered over the Gulf of Mexico will move off the Carolina coast this evening. Behind this ridge the westerly flow near and above 700 mb will bring cooler air overhead, removing the convective cap that has remained across the Carolinas for the past several days. Precipitable water along the coast should increase from around 1.2 inches this morning to 1.8 inches by Friday morning. A series of upper level disturbances should begin to arrive tonight, each potentially accompanied by a wave of showers and thunderstorms. Timing of these disturbances starts easy but gets more muddled with time. Disturbance #1 is discernible in water vapor imagery now across central TN into Alabama and should move across the eastern Carolinas tonight. My forecast shows an increasing trend in inland PoPs after 9 PM, peaking around 40 percent late in the evening, then diminishing again after 1 AM. It`s less likely this initial wave will reach the coast intact although clouds should certainly increase. Forecast lows are generally in the upper 60s inland to around 70 on the coast. Mesoscale subsidence behind tonight`s initial impulse may keep convection isolated Friday morning, but renewed convective activity should develop during the afternoon hours as surface- based instability rises to near 2000 J/kg and modest DPVA overspreads the region in advance of another disturbance slowly approaching from the west. High-res models suggest the seabreeze front should be a significant trigger for convection, and my forecast PoPs are highest (60 percent) just inland from the coast. Forecast highs are in the upper 80s, except lower-mid 80s at the beaches. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... Still expecting an active pattern for the weekend via the mostly zonal mid level flow and embedded short waves. Of course the inland Piedmont Trough and to a lesser extent the sea breeze will play a part as well. The highest pops occur Friday night and again Saturday pm. Guidance is trending toward formidable NVA in the wake of Saturday`s system for Sunday and pops may need to be reduced further there if this continues. Temperatures look to remain above climatology throughout. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Active pattern continues for the first part of next week as the west to east mid level flow pushes to the south slightly with remaining embedded shortwaves. It appears the best forcing in several days may occur Tuesday evening when all of the elements (surface front, mid level height falls) combine. Beyond this still expecting dry conditions to develop along with cooler temperatures. && .AVIATION /02Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... An upper level disturbance to approach from the west overnight into Fri. Have indicated a VCTS/VCSH for the inland terminals by 04z/05z with activity likely dissipating as it pushes closer to the coast during the pre-dawn Fri hrs. Could see a round of low stratus around a 2-3 hr window around sunrise. A better shot of convection from generally 18Z Fri thru the remainder of the fcst period. May use PROB30 groups to highlight at this time given the upper disturbance, the sea breeze and says insolation aiding increasing instability. Extended Outlook...Scattered thunderstorms will be accompanied by periodic short lived MVFR/IFR conditions through the weekend into Monday. The best potential appears to be Friday and Saturday afternoons when thunderstorm potential coverage and potential increases at or above 50 percent, especially inland. && .MARINE... Through Friday...Surface high pressure will retreat east to near Bermuda tonight as a series of weak upper level disturbances begin to move across the Carolinas from the west. Synoptic winds will remain south to southwest at less than 10 knots, however some higher winds will persist along the coast through this evening due to today`s well- defined seabreeze circulation. Additional periods of stronger winds could accompany scattered thunderstorms on Friday, expected to be most numerous during the afternoon hours. A few of our high-res weather models including the HRRR explicitly indicate west to northwest thunderstorm outflow winds developing along the South Carolina coast late Friday afternoon. Outside of any thunderstorms, sea heights of only 2 feet are expected through Friday consisting of an eight second easterly swell plus local wind chop. Friday night through Tuesday...Overall light winds will persist into the weekend from the south to southeast as the pressure pattern remains weak. In time the flow will turn more from the southwest and increase a bit in magnitude. This occurs early next week. Significant seas will be 2-3 feet this weekend perhaps increasing to a range of 2-4 feet early next week. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...Coastal Flood Advisory until 1 AM EDT Friday for NCZ107. SC...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...DCH UPDATE...DCH NEAR TERM...TRA SHORT TERM...SHK LONG TERM...SHK AVIATION...DCH MARINE...TRA/SHK
Area Forecast Discussion...Updated
National Weather Service Lincoln IL
832 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - There is a slight risk (level 2 of 5) for severe weather for all of central and southeastern Illinois for tomorrow. These storms could produce damaging winds and large hail. - There is a 80-100% chance of thunderstorms on Sunday. These storms have the potential to be severe, with a 15-30% chance for severe weather that day. && .UPDATE... Issued at 832 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 No significant changes needed this evening. An approaching low pressure system will lift a warm front slowly northward through the area overnight, increasing low level moisture and cloud cover. Precipitation will likely hold off until late morning (West of I-55) to afternoon (east of I-55). Lows in the lower to mid 60s look on track, considering at least light winds, cloud cover, and increasing dewpoints. 37 && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 245 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 There are a few rounds of low pressure systems and it associated frontal passages over the coming days. The first of which arrives tomorrow morning. A cold front is expected to move through central and southeastern Illinois late morning/early afternoon tomorrow, bringing along severe weather potential. A brief surface high pressure will set up for Saturday before the next low pressure system passes to the north/northwest of the CWA Sunday. This low will bring its associated cold front through the area in the afternoon to evening hours. This system on Sunday will have the greatest risk for severe weather. This forecast cycle will put a lot of focus on what is coming tomorrow. The models are being difficult and not agreeing on timing or how the storms will move through the CWA. They do agree on storm type, however. It will move through as a QLCS but whether it will be a broken line or not is up for debate. The HRRR and NAM 3km differ in timing somewhat, with the NAM 3km being a bit slower. The line will enter our western border between 15z and 17z. The HRRR has the QLCS moving through as solid line that goes across the entire CWA. Whereas the NAM 3km shows a broken line. The northern portion of the line propagates across the CWA (north of I-72), with the southern portion developing slightly later as the first line exits the state around 21z. This second line stretches further south along our entire CWA. The HRRR shows the activity exiting Illinois around 23z but the NAM 3km shows it lingering longer to around 4z. The chances of redevelopment behind the front is basically non existant at this time. Temperatures tomorrow get up into the low to mid 80s. In more mesoscale news, the storms should be surface based. The HREF 12z run shows a 50-60% chance of greater than 3000 J/kg of SBCAPE ahead of the front. There is a brief cap in the morning that quickly erodes by mid morning. DCAPE values associated with the system shows 1000- 1500 J/kg. There appears to be an inverted V signature on the 18z HRRR soundings ahead of the front. The hazards most likely to impact central and southeast Illinois with this round of severe weather is primarily hail and severe wind. The wind threat is the highest risk for tomorrow, which the inverted V soundings and high DCAPE values support. PWAT values max out around 2 inches but the fast moving nature and training isn`t expected will limit the flooding threat. Localized higher amounts could occur. Saturday a high pressure settles of the area briefly, providing us a short break before the next round of severe weather on Sunday. Sunday another low pressure system is progged to move just north/northwest of the CWA, bringing the next chance for severe weather. There is a 15-30% chance for severe weather, with the greatest risk down in southeastern Illinois. Timing of the system is sort of uncertain currently but it looks to move through Sunday morning into the afternoon in a linear storm mode. This round is looking more impressive than the system expected tomorrow afternoon. Memorial Day, Monday, looks to be windy and pretty dry. A few pop up showers aren`t completely ruled out but basically dry. Stay tuned as the holiday weekend gets closer and this first system gets out of the picture for more detailed information. Copple && .AVIATION... (For the 00z TAFs through 00z Friday Evening) Issued at 646 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 A line of thunderstorms or perhaps a few distinct shorter thunderstorm lines look on track to affect the central IL terminals Friday afternoon. However, timing and location of these lines is still highly uncertain. At this point, have included VCTS in all TAFs starting 17Z-20Z, but will hone in on more precise timing of any thunderstorms at individual terminals with subsequent TAF issuances as predictability improves. For now, have kept all conditions VFR as MVFR or worse cigs/vsbys will likely be fairly short-lived, but any thunderstorms could produce brief lowered flight categories. Winds S-SE 5-10 kts overnight, becoming S around 15 kts with gusts 20-25 kts by 15Z-18Z. 37 && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Northern Indiana
638 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Driest periods of the holiday weekend look to be through Friday afternoon and again Saturday into early Sunday. - Shower and thunderstorm chances return Friday afternoon end evening with a strong to possible severe storms west of Indiana 15/US 131. - Greater chances for showers and thunderstorms Sunday afternoon and night with both severe storms and possibly heavy rain/hydro issues existing. - Lingering showers may impact activities on Memorial Day and Tuesday. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 214 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 An overall active pattern remains in place for the next week or so with a few quiet periods expected in between systems. The first of these us underway with high pressure bringing clear skies and pleasant temperatures/humidity to the area. The first feature to monitor will be an upper level trough that will quickly shift east towards the region to start out the holiday weekend. The trough and associated cold front will spark a line of strong to severe storms across Nebraska later today which will race east and reach western IL sometime during the first part of Friday. From here models diverge on handling of the remnants of the complex as well as potential new development on the cold front. The MCS will likely weaken somewhat as it enters IL, but plenty of sunshine ahead of it and increasing low level moisture should bring in 1K to 2K J/KG of MUCAPE into eastern IL/western IN by late afternoon to support re-intensification with a ramp up in the damaging wind threat if it can organize and possibly be aided by any MCV left over. Equally plausible is complex moves through faster with cloud cover holding on and limiting instability over our area. 500/300 mb jet streak remains to the SW and main trough will eject into WI, limiting overall strength of the line as well. NAM suite and 12Z HRRR remain the most aggressive on severe potential with a pronounced rise/fall couplet in the NAM suggesting strong wind potential. Bit concerned that with the lack of overall stronger wind fields in place (rather weak shear) this could be some convective contamination, but could also be a reflection of an MCV. For the time being, the slight risk for the western half is warranted with a decreasing trend likely to happen with eastern extent (unless the line becomes well established and early enough). Some scattered showers could occur on the cold front itself overnight. Categorical pops were inherited and for now will be maintained for collaboration as well as chance that convection does survive into the area with great enough coverage to warrant it. Saturday and Saturday night will be the nicest of the days for this weekend with a stronger system in the offing for Sunday with some lingering effects into Monday and Tuesday. Strong trough will move towards IL Sunday afternoon, deepening further and closing off an upper low over N WI by 6Z Mon. Low pressure will develop with original model trends track the low across the NW part of our area Sunday night. A few of the 12Z solutions track the sfc low a bit further northwest. Regardless, abundant moisture will be drawn north into the area with increasing instability and shear to bring a risk for not only severe weather (possibly all modes), but also hydro issues. We will continue to monitor trends as models struggling (as expected) with evolution of convection along the warm front and eventual cold front. Clouds may linger on Memorial Day and beyond with the potential for some showers around as the overall trough remains across the region. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 637 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 VFR/dry conditions will persist into tonight and tomorrow morning north of a warm front. This warm front and associated instability axis lifts into northern Indiana by late Friday afternoon/evening with renewed thunderstorm chances and the potential for brief gusty winds and vis restrictions. However, confidence on timing and whether any upstream convective line segment survives into the area before 00z Sat remains low. && .IWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...None. OH...None. MI...None. MARINE...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Fisher AVIATION...Steinwedel
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Jackson MS
1042 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 ...New MESOSCALE UPDATE... .MESOSCALE UPDATE... Issued at 1042 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Rest of tonight... A mostly quiet evening should remain mostly intact through the next few hours, but some reinvigoration of convection into the overnight in a deeply sheared & unstable aloft could support some severe potential. Shortwave ridge axis continues to build eastward across the Gulf Coast region, with broad southwesterly ascent ahead of additional shortwave energy propagating eastward from TX / Red River Valley across the ArkLaTex into MS River Valley into the overnight. Guidance has been a little too bullish on the aftn convection with evening regional radars indicating little in the way of confidence of development the next several hours. Earlier runs of convective allowing models (CAMs), including the HRRR & FV3, indicated some potential redevelopment along the northwest ArkLaMiss Delta. In this zone, isentropic ascent, some 30-40kt flow in the 310K Theta E layer, should work on deeply unstable environment for some convergence/potential shower & isolated storm redevelopment after 1-2AM. There has been some run-to-run variability concerns but enough signals to at least continue to advertise some severe potential but into the overnight. Recent runs of the Warn on Forecast (WoFs) domains have been a touch too far west, but on the eastern fringes there is some development indicate in south-central AR to north-central LA that could move into our area after 2AM. Main concerns with any storms would be damaging wind & large hail of quarter to golf ball size, but tornado threat looks lower so removed that from the graphic. Flash flooding concerns remains low but westerly flow could lead to some training potential. Left flood HWO graphic as is. PoPs are a challenge & lowered them across the board southeast of the Natchez Trace to more isolated to more scattered to the northwest. Fcst & HWO severe graphic updates are out. /DC/ && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 251 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Today through Saturday Night: As of mid afternoon today, our forecast area is under the temporary influence of a shortwave ridge in the wake of this morning`s shortwave trough passage. For the time being, this has resulted in weaker deep-layer wind shear and likely some subsidence aloft. Farther to the west however, another shortwave trough associated with convection over East Texas is edging eastward. It`s expected that at least isolated to scattered storms should redevelop in the unstable air mass to our west with SBCAPE over 4000 J/kg and increasing shear with that next wave. A Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms remains in place into this evening for areas in far northeast LA, far southeast AR, and MS near Greenville and Cleveland. A broader Marginal Risk for severe storms extends farther south and east to encompass more of the Natchez Trace corridor and areas northwest from there. There is also a chance that heavy rain could cause isolated flash flooding problems if storms train over the same areas, or a quick downpour of 2-3 inches is observed like happened in northeast Louisiana this morning. Will carry a Limited threat area for flash flooding in the ArkLaMiss Delta regions through tomorrow morning. Confidence in exact timing is low, but it appears that we should have a relative lull in severe weather and flooding threats through most of the daytime tomorrow. Then during the evening and overnight hours Friday night, a shortwave interacting with a frontal boundary over KS/MO/AR areas should trigger additional rounds of thunderstorms that have the potential to spread southeast toward our forecast area through early Saturday morning. A Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms has been extended into southeast Arkansas and northern Mississippi to cover this potential round of severe weather. Some continued threat for strong to severe storms will exist across those same areas on Saturday, so a Marginal Risk for severe storms is advertised on Saturday. Given the holiday weekend and some uncertainty in forecasted impacts and timing, please continue to stay aware of any updates to the forecast over the next few days. /NF/ Sunday through Thursday: The overall active pattern will continue into early week before seeing a reprieve for the mid week period. Starting with Sunday, the main weather focus will be north of our area and things should be warm/hot but basically quiet. PoPs on Sunday are 10% or less, but chances do increase some (20-30%) for later Sunday night. There remains quite a bit of variability for Sunday night into Monday night as there are timing differences with the surface front location and southward progression and being aligned with the upper support. Due to this, confidence is not overly high with PoPs from Sunday night into Monday night. Additionally, same reasoning is lowering confidence in severe storm potential. While confidence is on the low side for these time periods, there`s a bit more of the guidance that is on the side of slower with the front and thus the area holds more in the favorable parameter side for getting severe storms. So while some probability exists for severe storms at some point Monday, will allow a few more runs to come in and build confidence in either way. For Tuesday into Thursday...good agreement from the global guidance of deep layer dry air filtering into the region with PWs <1.2 or sub 1.0 inch. This will help take the edge off the warmth and humidity, but look for modification and the boundary trying to return by later Thursday into Friday. This is typical and having a lower level boundary to focus moisture and convergence fits the late May type of front supports increasing storm potential by late Thursday and by Friday. /CME/ && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 740 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 SHRA & TSRA are slow to materialize this evening, with scattered SHRA west of the MS River corridor. Expect this to push eastward & some late evening to overnight development at GLH, GWO & psbl, at GTR. Confidence is too low at other TAF sites to introduce this TAF cycle. Some low MVFR stratus is psbl overnight between 24/08-15Z Friday, with some potential IFR stratus at southeast TAF sites. Expect mixing & lifting to VFR flight categories after 24/15Z Friday. Any low probs of aftn convection is psbl again at GTR. Light southerly winds, generally around 10mph & gusts up to 20mph, are psbl through Friday aftn. /DC/ && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Jackson 72 91 72 92 / 20 10 10 10 Meridian 71 91 71 93 / 20 10 10 10 Vicksburg 72 92 72 92 / 20 10 10 10 Hattiesburg 72 92 73 94 / 10 10 0 0 Natchez 73 91 72 93 / 20 10 0 10 Greenville 72 90 72 90 / 50 10 40 30 Greenwood 71 90 71 90 / 40 20 40 30 && .JAN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MS...None. LA...None. AR...None. && $$ DC/CME/DC
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Chicago/Romeoville, IL
846 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Scattered showers and storms likely Friday with some severe weather threat during the afternoon and early evening - Another round of showers and storms expected Sunday with some severe threat && .UPDATE... Issued at 846 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 No significant changes to the going forecast this evening. Quiet weather is expected overnight, as surface high pressure centered over Lake Michigan and the western Great Lakes drifts slowly off to the east. Humidity will start to increase from the south later tonight as a warm front begins to lift north from downstate IL/IN, though skies should remain mostly clear with temperatures settling into the upper 50s/low 60s in most spots. Attention continues to be focused on thunderstorm trends across the area on Friday, which will depend largely on the evolution of convection across the Plains to our west overnight. CAM guidance is in good agreement in upscale growth of current storms over SD/NE into a linear MCS, which would be approaching the Mississippi River after sunrise Friday morning. Latest high- res trends (including new 00Z HRRR) appear to be trending toward weakening convection moving into northern IL with a more limited cold pool footprint, which would then allow for some redevelopment/renewed initiation farther west along an approaching cold front which would affect the forecast area during the afternoon and evening hours. As previous discussions have indicated, these later storms will likely present a severe weather threat, thanks to steepening mid-level lapse rates and increasing deep-layer shear associated with the southern periphery of an upper level trough lifting across the upper Midwest later in the day, along with more favorable diurnal timing for destabilization. Wind looks to be the primary threats, though the potential for an outflow boundary/effective warm front lingering from morning activity would potentially provide more low-level directional shear and may support other hazards (including tornadoes) especially if shear were stronger (perhaps from an remnant MCV?). As noted above, much of this will be dependent upon details still yet to evolve to our west later tonight. Going forecast has decent pops especially across our IL counties Friday morning, with another period of likely pops later in the afternoon/evening, which fits current thinking fairly well. Thus no significant changes needed at this time. Ratzer && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 320 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Through tonight: Light winds this afternoon have allowed a lake breeze to push inland with temperatures dropping into the upper 60s to lower 70s as it moves through. Meanwhile inland temperatures have warmed into the upper 70s to lower 80s! Overall a nice late spring day across the area! Quiet weather is in store through tonight as surface high pressure gradually shifts east of the area. Expect temperatures to drop into the upper 50s to around 60 overnight. Petr Friday through Sunday night: Friday-Early Friday Evening: A vigorous upper low over the northern High Plains will result in strong to severe t-storm development over the central Plains into this evening. This activity will likely congeal into an MCS, tracking east across the Cornbelt tonight, and will likely play a significant role in our weather on Friday. The current more likely scenario is for the MCS timing to be slow enough for either weakening convection or remnant MCV arriving into our western counties later in the morning/mid day. This would allow for more heating and destabilization across our CWA and result in either a reinvigoration of ongoing weaker convection or renewed convective development during the afternoon. While we certainly can`t take CAM simulated reflectivity as gospel at this range, note that the most recent extended HRRR runs generally favor the maintenance and/or reinvigoration of ongoing convection. This evolution is more concerning from a severe weather perspective centered on tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, as the steep mid-level lapse rate regime with dew points in the 60s will be conducive for strong destabilization contingent upon more solar insolation through the morning and early afternoon allowing temps away from the IL north shore to reach the 80-85F range. The aforementioned vigorous, negatively tilted upper trough/closed low is expected to remain far enough northwest to only bring our area a glancing blow of stronger mid-upper level flow and resultant shear. However, given moderate instability (1500-2000 J/kg of MLCAPE, modest shear (up to 30 kt) would likely still support multicell storms with an attendant threat of damaging winds. In support of damaging winds as the primary threat from a multi-cellular/quasi-linear mode will be steep, near 9C/km low-level lapse rates and 1000-1500 J/kg of DCAPE resulting in pronounced cold pool development. Contingent upon embedded or lead supercellular mode, there may be just enough deep layer shear given the progged steep mid- level lapse rates for an isolated severe hail threat. Finally, while brief tornadoes certainly can`t be rule out, it appears that low-level shear will be lacking, amidst a more deeply mixed (high LCLs) regime to keep the threat lower end. This being said, if the anticipated MCS tonight develops into a more organized MCS, spawning a stronger MCV, then that feature could result in locally stronger shear and a localized more concentrated meaningful severe weather threat, including tornadoes, given a corridor of backed south-southeasterly and breezy boundary layer flow. The likelihood of robust pre cold-frontal convection Friday afternoon-early evening does cast doubt on recovery and redevelopment of deep convection toward and beyond sunset Friday evening ahead of the true cold front. While there should be enough forcing around for showers and scattered embedded thunderstorms, coverage may end up even lower than implied by the official forecast PoPs, which were already nudged lower from the previous forecast. The front will sweep across the area late Friday evening and early overnight, quickly drying things out. Saturday: For "unofficial start of summer" activities over the Memorial Day Weekend, Saturday continues to look like the best weather day with sunny skies, seasonable high temps in the 70s, and low humidity (dew points in the 40s). Weak high pressure overhead and initial light northwest winds under it will quickly "flop" over to northeasterly synoptically and due to lake influence in the late morning and early afternoon, keeping highs along the lakeshore in the upper 60s to around 70F. Saturday evening will be pleasant, dry, and seasonably cool. Timing of lead showers and embedded thunderstorms has slowed enough that arrival in the southwest 1/3 or so of the CWA appears to be toward dawn Sunday, so for all intents and purposes, Saturday night will be a dry night for most if not the entire area. Sunday-Sunday night: Another strong short-wave trough is progged to move across the Plains Saturday and into the mid Mississippi Valley and western Great Lakes Sunday. There remains some spread in timing and track of the attendant surface low, which will dictate how far north the warm front (and stronger instability) will get following morning and mid day convection (which may be fairly extensive). Concerningly, the EPS (ECMWF ensemble) has shown a northward jog in the track of the deepening surface low (low-mid 990s mb at peak, quite strong for late May), with a majority of members tracking the surface low across northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin Sunday afternoon or evening. Only a few EPS members showed a farther south track on the 12z run. This is in line with the overall run to run trend of the operational ECMWF, which has indicated a track across southern Wisconsin the past few cycles. The GEFS has also shown a run to run northward nudge, albeit with more north to south spread. Ultimately, it is still too soon to say with much certainty exactly how far north the low and warm front will get, there is always potential for prior convection to keep effective boundary farther south. Synoptically, the global guidance suggests there will be a coupled upper jet structure with strong synoptic ascent. The nose of the mid-level jet has also trended farther north, and regardless of its exact positioning, there should be sufficient deep layer shear to support a meaningful severe weather threat Sunday afternoon and evening in the warm sector of the cyclone (however far north it gets). It does appear that instability will be a limiting factor with northward extent, with higher instability I-80 and south or thereabouts. Whether close to the surface low and warm front or farther south in the warm sector, wind profiles and low-level hodograph curvature are concerning from a tornado threat perspective on Sunday. The main issue is that if instability is indeed minimized farther north, there may be primarily a brief tornado threat and not much else farther north (with right-moving low-topped supercells). Meanwhile, farther south, there may be enough instability for an all-hazards type of threat, some of which could be significant. While the outer range of the NAM model is typically less reliable and prone to large run to run swings, its 12z solution can be seen as a realistic, though less likely, outcome ceiling wise, if the potentially available ingredients are maximized. Our main message for Sunday is to pay close attention to subsequent forecast updates regarding the potential for thunderstorms and severe weather. SPC has 15% probs in its day 4 outlook up to roughly I-88, which appears reasonable. Based on current thinking, this may be our first more favorably (or unfavorably) timed strong synoptic system of this exceptionally active severe weather spring across the greater region. While the entire day probably won`t be a washout, most of the CWA should see at least one or two rounds of showers and thunderstorms Sunday through Sunday afternoon and evening. Regardless of the magnitude of the severe weather threat, outdoor events will likely be affected by lightning nearby. It does appear that the cold front passage will be early enough Sunday evening to wind down the thunderstorm coverage and attendant severe threat fairly quickly, however. It will be breezy and cooler with diminishing shower coverage behind the cold front. Castro/Izzi Monday through Thursday: GEFS and EPS both suggest the upper trough responsible for Sunday stormy weather will deepen and hang around the northeastern U.S. early next week. There are growing indications that this could result in our first several day period of solidly below average temperatures in quite some time. Can`t rule out a subtle northwest flow low amplitude shortwave rippling down the backside of this trough and maybe bringing a brief period or two of a few showers to the area, but overall Monday-Wednesday looks to be fairly dry. The day to day chance pops early next week are just slightly above climo pops and reflect that small chance of a few brief showers at some point early next week. - Izzi && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 624 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Forecast concerns include... Scattered thunderstorms Friday late morning/afternoon. Gusty southeast winds Friday. The main concern this period is thunderstorm chances and timing Friday. There remains two possibilities. The first is the current convection across NE continues moving east tonight and reaches northwest IL and RFD in the late morning and continues across the Chicago terminals in the early/mid afternoon. The second possibility is this activity weakens and dissipates and new thunderstorms develop across northwest IL in the mid/late afternoon and move across the terminals through early Friday evening. There remains too much uncertainty to determine which is more likely or if both may possibly occur. Trends will need to be monitored later tonight with changes with the 06z tafs likely. For now, have maintained prob mention and added an hour in the late afternoon for the Chicago terminals to account for the second possibility/later thunder timing. A lake breeze is moving west of ORD/MDW and will dissipate with sunset with light southeast winds areawide tonight. These will increase mid morning Friday with gusts into the 20kt range expected Friday afternoon. Wind directions are somewhat dependent on when thunderstorms occur and its possible that winds may turn more southerly by late afternoon. Eventually, winds should turn more southwest Friday evening and then shift northwest early Saturday morning with a cold front. cms && .LOT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...None. IN...None. LM...None. && $$ Visit us at weather.gov/chicago
Area Forecast Discussion...Updated Aviation
National Weather Service Saint Louis MO
1044 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Thunderstorms are expected to move across the area on Friday ahead of a cold front. A few of these thunderstorms could become severe with damaging winds and large hail being the primary threats. - After a dry Saturday, two potential rounds of showers and thunderstorms are possible Saturday night and Sunday. Both rounds could bring strong to severe thunderstorms will locally heavy rainfall. && .SHORT TERM... (Through Late Friday Night) Issued at 245 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Scattered showers and thunderstorms have been locally strong earlier today over southeast Missouri. This activity will diminish as another shortwave ridge will build over Missouri and Illinois late this afternoon into this evening. This ridge will keep most of the area dry tonight before we see rain return to the area tomorrow. There better chances for showers and thunderstorms during the day on Friday as the latest GFS/NAM is showing a cold front moving southeast across CWA during the afternoon. The majority of the CAMS including the HRRR show thunderstorms moving into the CWA by late morning and progressing southeast during the afternoon into the early evening hours. MLCAPES ahead of the line tomorrow afternoon will be in the 2000-3000 J/kg range with 0-6km shear only around 30- 40 knots which favors some organized multicell and a few supercells. The primary threats will be a few storms capable of producing large hail and damaging winds and perhaps a brief tornado. The chance for showers and thunderstorms will end from west to east by late tomorrow evening as the front moves east of the area. Highs tomorrow will climb into the mid 80s ahead of the front. Lows tomorrow night will begin to cool down a bit behind the front. Britt && .LONG TERM... (Saturday through Next Thursday) Issued at 245 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Saturday still looks like the most quiet day of the holiday weekend as a large surface anticyclone moves across Missouri and Illinois. The focus then turns toward Saturday night into Sunday when the deterministic model suite is showing a trough moving out of the Rockies into the Midwest. There is fairly good agreement that the lead shortwave will move across the area on Saturday night which will bring a warm front north through the area. Given the strength of the forcing, will keep likely/categorical PoPs late Saturday night into Sunday morning. Consensus of available model guidance is showing MLCAPES over 1500 J/kg with deep layer shear >40 knots suggesting the potential for strong to severe storms on Saturday night and Sunday morning. The bigger question is whether there will be a second round in the afternoon and evening. This will be dependent on how quickly the morning convection will clear out of the area allowing recovery of instability. There is also some uncertainty between the models with the timing of the secondary shortwave that will move across the area during evening that will determine how quickly the cold front moves through the area during the afternoon. Models are showing varying timing on the front moving across the area during the afternoon with weak convergence along it. Will maintain likely PoPs for showers and thunderstorms with the potential for the an additional round for strong to severe thunderstorms. There could also be some areas with locally heavy rainfall as the LREF is showing PWATS near 1.5". The LREF continues to shows a pattern shift into early-mid next week with a trough deepening over the eastern CONUS and a ridge building over the Rockies which will lead to northwest flow aloft. There will still be a few shortwaves moving southeast through the area which will bring a chance of showers and thunderstorms on Memorial Day, but we look dry as we head into Wednesday as the upper ridge moves east into the Midwest. There will be quite a variety in temperatures over the weekend with highs in the 70s and 80s on Saturday and then some question on just how warm will it be on Sunday depending on how quickly the morning convection and clouds moves out and how quickly the cold front moves through the area. Highs could climb well into the 80s over the southern half of the CWA in the warm sector on Sunday ahead of the cold front if we clear out. Then temperatures looks to be closer to late May normals behind the cold front next week. Britt && .AVIATION... (For the 06z TAFs through 06z Friday Night) Issued at 1038 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Dry and VFR conditions exist at the terminals tonight, and other than a few low clouds that may not be widespread enough for impacts, there are few aviation concerns until convection returns to the forecast. The threat for thunderstorms will return to the region from west to east Friday, but exactly when convection will impact any one area is still mildly uncertain and depends on convection to our north and west tonight. Two scenarios still look plausible: - One where an undisturbed line of thunderstorms tracks through the region during the late morning and early afternoon, ending any threat for later. - Another where the line deteriorates and leaves instability untouched for later in the day. Either way, conditions improve by 03Z when a cold front advances through. More benign conditions prevail from then on through the end of the TAF period. MRB && .LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...None. IL...None. && $$ WFO LSX
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Marquette MI
756 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Another shortwave and low pressure system will bring a round of showers and a slight chance (around 20% chance) for some thunder to Upper MI late Friday into early Saturday. - There will be more opportunities for rain next week although model uncertainty leads to low forecast confidence on timing/extent. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 344 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 Current RAP analysis shows the mid level low along the southern end of James bay with it`s associated 995 mb low pressure center still over James bay, but just northwest of the mid level low. With weak sfc high pressure at around 1012 mb building over the CWA, mostly sunny skies have been the predominant sky conditions for much of the UP this afternoon. This has allowed for temps to warm up into the 60s for much of the UP; onshore flow has kept cooler temps along Lake Michigan between Manistique and the Mackinac Bridge as well as near Lake Superior. The sunny skies have also helped mixing yield a breezy day with west to northwest gusts up to 20-30 mph, strongest in the Keweenaw. Winds will gradually diminish into this eveing as high pressure continues to build in. Some diurnal cumulus has developed over the southern UP and will continue to increase this afternoon with the support of a mid level shortwave moving east through northern WI. Afternoon highs are expected to peak in the mid 50s to mid 60s near Lake Superior, 60s along Lake Michigan east of Manistique, and upper 60s to mid 70s elsewhere. Some slight chances for showers return to the forecast along the WI/MI state line with the best chances for showers in Menominee County late this afternoon where there is better instability (5/23 12Z HREF mean MUCAPE up to 250 j/kg in south central). Accumulations will likely be only a few hundreths at best, but showers moving through Menominee county could bring up to 0.1" to 0.2" of rain on the high end if the NAM Nest solution is favored. As daytime heating ends and high pressure continues to build in tonight, skies will mostly clear out helping temps settle slightly cooler than normal into the upper 30s to upper 40s. While mostly clear skies are expected with dry weather, cloud cover increases late into Friday ahead of the next low pressure system. This approahcing low will also turn light winds northerly then eventually easterly by Friday morning. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Issued at 344 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 Wet, active weather continues on and off through the extended period before we briefly dry out for the middle of next week. By Friday, the focus will shift to the next shortwave emerging from the western CONUS mid-upper level trough. This shortwave lifts NE through the Plains and Upper Great Lakes, eventually swinging into Manitoba and Ontario phasing once more with the broader troughing over the western CONUS/Canadian Prairies. Increasing isentropic ascent, 850 mb theta advection and moderate q-vector convergence out ahead of the shortwave will lead to another quick round of showers across the area beginning late Friday afternoon in the western UP and spreading eastward during the evening. Instability off soundings looks pretty minimal, with just a few hundred j/kg of CAPE indicated in HREF plots, so thunder should be fairly limited. Otherwise, guidance continues to favor widespread rain amounts of 0.10-0.25in, but EPS ensembles also show probabilities of 40-60% for amounts of 0.50in or more south central and southeast. Showers quickly exit eastward during the pre-dawn hours of Saturday with clearing skies expected as drier air works in. Saturday should be dry with ridging/subsidence behind the exiting shortwave. Expect partly cloudy skies and seasonable temperatures for the rest of the day with highs mostly in the 60s with a few cooler mid 50s readings near Lake Superior. There remains quite a bit of uncertainty in the Sunday-Tuesday time frame regarding the track/strength of the next western CONUS wave and developing cyclone. This ejects NE from the lee of the southern Rockies into the Great Lakes region late weekend into early next week, but many of deterministic models (particularly the GFS, UKMET and Canadian) as well as ensembles continue to flip-flop on the exact track with some runs taking a deep system as far north as the Straits, and others suppressed more over the southern or central Lower Peninsula and coming in comparatively weaker. A more southerly route would have little if any wind and rain impacts to the UP, while the more NW route would bring a chance for more significant rainfall as well as gusty winds. The ECMWF, on the other hand, has been the most consistent of the models advertising generally a more phased and deeper system for the last several runs with a more northern/western track through the Central Great Lakes, and thus, greater rain and wind impacts for Upper Mi in the late Sunday into Memorial Day time frame. Given the huge spread depicted in the tracks of the ensemble members it`s still too soon to latch onto any one model solution with great certainty, thus leading to poor forecast confidence during this time frame. For now, will continue to lean on the model blend for forecast details and wait a bit longer for models to sort out their continuity/consistency issues and hopefully come into better agreement over the coming days. PoPs persist into Tuesday as the system moves into Quebec, and associated wraparound moisture curls into the area while another shortwave ripples through. Most of the models and ensembles do seem to be in general agreement showing a trend toward ridging and drier conditions for Wednesday into Thursday next week. Otherwise, expect more or less seasonable temperatures through the forecast period. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 754 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 Dry air mass associated with sfc high pres ridge drifting across the area tonight will allow VFR to continue at IWD/CMX/SAW. Winds will also diminish to aob 5kt during the evening. On Fri, low pres lifting across the Northern Plains will swing an occluded front to the ne. That front will be approaching western Upper MI at 00z. Although some shra well ahead of the front may push into the w half of Upper MI mid and late aftn, the main area of shra and isold tsra will hold off until early evening. So, for now, fcst only reflects shra and MVFR cigs arriving at IWD around 22z. Shra/MVFR conditions will reach CMX/SAW just beyond this fcst period. During the aftn, E to SE winds will increase and become gusty to around 25kt at IWD/CMX and to around 20kt at SAW. LLWS will also be possible at IWD in the aftn. && .MARINE... Issued at 344 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 Low pressure that impacted the area over hte past couple of days continues to weaken over James Bay while a weak high pressure ridge builds over the Great Lakes. Winds have been on the decrease today in response, still gusting to 20-25 knots out of the west in the eastern portions of the lake, but dropping below 20 knots to the west. Winds finally fall below 20 knots to the east later this evening. The period of light winds doesn`t last long over the western lake, however, as northeast winds will begin to ramp up to 30 knots late tonight into Friday in advance of another low pressure lifting from the Northern Plains towards Lake Winnipeg. Guidance indicates around a 60-70% chance for gales Friday afternoon through the early evening over the western quarter of Lake Superior. East to southeast winds gradually increase over the east half of the lake on Friday but generally stay 20 knots or less, but 25kt gusts will then become possible for a brief period into the evening and overnight hours. Winds over the west half becoming southwest behind the low and the passage of its cold front late Friday night into Saturday and generally stay in the 15 to 25 knot range. Winds decrease late Saturday behind the exiting system, then expect light winds of 20 knots or less across Lake Superior for the rest of this weekend as a high pressure ridge builds over the area. Looking ahead to early next week, another system moving out of the Plains will head towards the Great Lakes. This could present another opportunity for gusty winds, but confidence is low given quite a bit of uncertainty on the exact storm track. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Upper Michigan... None. Lake Superior... Gale Warning from 11 AM EDT /10 AM CDT/ to 8 PM EDT /7 PM CDT/ Friday for LSZ162. Lake Michigan... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Jablonski LONG TERM...LC AVIATION...Rolfson MARINE...LC
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Morristown TN
1023 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 ...New UPDATE... .UPDATE... Issued at 1006 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 Active evening across the region due a strong upper jet moving across the Tennessee valley. Satelittle and radar shows a MCV moving across east Kentucky. The upper forcing has produced widespread thunderstorms with a good deal of organization with the convection. Effective shear up to 35 knots and 0-1km shear near 15 knots were favorable to produce supercells especially over southeast Tennessee and southwest North Carolina. Reports of possible funnel clouds also reported as well as PingPong hail. Continued upper forcing continues to produce strong convection over southeast/central east Tennessee, generally south of interstate 40. This activity will move east out of the area soon after midnight. Latest HRRR shows widely scattered to scattered showers continuing through the early morning so will continue with low chance PoPs. Some fog development is possible. && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Friday) Issued at 307 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 Key Messages: 1. Strong to severe storms this evening with the main threats being wind gusts and hail, mainly affecting locations along and west of I- 75. 2. Another round of showers/storms is expected Friday afternoon, but mainly in southern sections as an upper level disturbance moves through that area. A few strong to marginally severe storms are possible. Discussion: Convection is starting to blossom in the Plateau and southern portions of the TN Valley. Over the next few hours, this activity will expand and intensify as clouds clear out and surface heating builds. Mesoanalysis shows the best instability to our west, so the storms that are developing in Middle TN will have the best chance of becoming severe, and with a an effective shear max located over the northern Plateau/eastern KY, that area will have the highest severe chance as those storms track NE. Damaging wind gusts and large hail will be the primary threats, and locations that have repeated storms may experience localized flooding. Most of this activity should weaken or exit the area by midnight. Overnight, a moist low level air mass will be in place that will favor fog and low cloud development. The models show that this will be slow to lift in the morning, but by noon we should have some good surface heating to aid in destabilization. In the midlevels, a weak shortwave trough/500 mb vort max will be crossing northern AL and GA in the late morning and early afternoon, which may bring showers to the southern sections as early as 10 AM. CAMS are not in good agreement with the development of convection tomorrow, so confidence is low. But it does appear that areas south of I-40 will have the best chance of showers/storms, and that a few of these could be strong to marginally severe, with wind/hail being the main threats. && .LONG TERM... (Friday night through next Thursday) Issued at 307 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 Key Messages: 1. An unsettled period with multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms for much of the period. 2. Some of the storms may be strong to severe at times, with the higher chances for severe storms looking like Sunday and/or Monday. Localized flooding will also be possible. 3. Drier and cooler air moving in toward the end of the period, but a few additional showers and/or storms still cannot be ruled out. Discussion: Unsettled weather pattern will continue, as 500 MB flow remains somewhat flat through the weekend, with a series of disturbances touching off rounds of convection. By Sunday, deepening of a trough near the Great Lakes will usher through a cold front accompanied by organized convection around Monday morning that has caused SPC to put us in a 15+% area in the severe weather outlook. However, as the present Watch attests, chances of severe weather will not be limited to Sunday night/Monday. Furthermore, repeated rounds of rainfall will increase proneness to localized flash flooding from today through Monday. Post frontal precip chances on Tues and Wed will likely be scattered in nature and not likely to be heavy. Models are diverging that far out now anyway, with the ECMWF maintaining something of a blocking pattern, while the GFS has backed off of that solution and instead wants to continue with more of a northwesterly flow across the nation that keeps us impacted by another shortwave or two. We will cheer for the ECMWF`s quieter solution, but will have to wait and see what pans out. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 250 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 Showers and thunderstorms are developing in Middle TN and the Cumberland Plateau. They are expected to increase and spread into the northern half of East TN through the evening, impacting TYS and TRI. MVFR conditions with gusty winds of 30-40 kt are possible, possibly IFR if a storm moves directly over the terminal. Tonight, a moist air mass will result in fog and low clouds, likely MVFR at CHA and TYS but TRI may drop to IFR. Another round of showers and storms is expected late in this TAF period, mainly affecting CHA and TYS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Chattanooga Airport, TN 67 83 67 88 / 30 60 40 50 Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport, TN 64 79 64 85 / 70 60 50 50 Oak Ridge, TN 64 79 63 85 / 70 50 50 50 Tri Cities Airport, TN 61 79 61 81 / 60 50 40 60 && .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && $$ SHORT TERM...DH LONG TERM....GC AVIATION...DH
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Springfield MO
914 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Thunderstorms move into the area Friday morning. Some may be severe with large hail and damaging winds. - If enough instability remains, additional strong to severe storms may develop Friday afternoon along and south of Interstate 44 with large hail and damaging winds. - Additional severe weather and heavy rain chances Saturday night into Sunday. && .MESOSCALE... Issued at 847 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 The 00Z KSGF sounding showed a very unstable atmosphere with 2100j/kg of ML CAPE however a substantial cap remains at 800mb. A weak 700mb ridge has remained across the area today into this evening which has prohibited any storm development given the cap. A very moist airmass has moved in with dew points in the 65-70 degree range across the area. A low level jet was increasing across Kansas which was fueling a cluster of storms across Nebraska. Additional storms were forming across Oklahoma. Very little in the way of storm chances are expected for most of the overnight as we likely remain capped. Latest model guidance suggests the bulk of the Nebraska storms to move east towards northern Missouri and Iowa. However the low level jet will begin to veer and guidance suggests that a band of showers and thunderstorms may begin forming across eastern Kansas after 4am, entering western Missouri closer to 6-8am. Steep mid level lapse rates and adequate shear may allow for a few storms to become severe. These would likely be elevated with large hail the main threat. This band of thunderstorms looks to work its way through the area during the mid/late morning hours (8am- Noon) with that severe threat continuing. It is possible that storms attempt to become surface based if enough heating occurs. Most likely area for this would be east of Springfield. This area of thunderstorms would be ahead of an approaching cold front. Several questions remain with the afternoon and evening thunderstorm development. How much does the morning development work over the atmosphere? How fast does the cold front work through the area before additional storms form? From a synoptic standpoint, the area will be positioned in a favorable upper level jet location therefore lift should not be an issue. Some high res models and the RAP continue to show an impressive amount of instability during the afternoon ahead of the front (3000-4000j/kg of ML CAPE). IF this amount of instability were to develop then severe storms would be likely with large hail to the size of golf balls and damaging winds being the main threats. Hodographs look fairly straight with low level winds remaining southwesterly which would limit the tornado threat however increasing the threat for some splitting supercells with large hail. These higher severe chances are favored along and south of I-44. Therefore we will need to monitor how the morning development transpires. If clouds/precip linger longer than expected than instability/severe weather would be lower. The other factor is the speed of the front however most guidance has it reaching the I-44 corridor by 4-5pm. If its quicker than the severe threat would be more southeast of the area. Additional updates to come overnight into Friday morning. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY/... Issued at 251 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Short range forecast remains generally on track though timing has slowed with the system lifting into the Dakotas and associated trailing cold front advecting across the Plains. Through tonight - a warm front has progressed northward through the forecast area with a cap limiting convection from developing. With the shift of winds to the south, dew points have climbed into the middle 60s to near 70...with even more moisture streaming into the system as evident by the stratus on satellite. Thunderstorms are expected to develop in the highly unstable and sheared environment across the Plains this afternoon into this evening...though questions on cold pool development advancing the arrival time of thunderstorms overnight vs storms moving well ahead of the line and losing their organization. CAM model soundings in agreement that MLCAPES above 3000 J/KG will be in place over southeast KS this evening though some disagreement on whether the cap will break until forcing from the approaching outflow arrives so there may be a few scattered thunderstorms from evening into the night before the main band of strong to severe storms arrives over southeast Kansas into western Missouri toward sunrise. This band of storms will likely weaken and then strengthen once once again increase in coverage and strengthen Friday afternoon over the eastern half of the forecast as the front works its way east across the forecast area. While uncapped, the atmosphere ahead of the convection will loose some of its instability thanks to warming mid level lapse rates. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... Issued at 251 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 Southwesterly flow will resume as the western trough digs then advects eastward into the Plains Saturday. Progged soundings reveal an uncapped, highly unstable atmosphere. The veering profile lacks strong lower level winds at the present, though anticipate winds to strengthen as the surface low deepens rapidly over Kansas. Similar to the system tonight...the nocturnal elements may lead to severe threats diminishing and then redeveloping farther east on Sunday. Of concern with the Saturday night/Sunday system will be increasing precipital water leading to the potential for very heavy rainfall rates falling on moist soils from recent storms. A trailing shortwave will be monitored for the potential for showers Monday...otherwise the Holiday through midweek will be mild with highs in the 70s to near 80 and drier dew points. Dry weather will then prevail into midweek as a welcome surface high builds across the central US. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 543 PM CDT Thu May 23 2024 VFR conditions are expected through tonight and into early Friday. A line of thunderstorms will move into during the day on Friday, especially late morning and afternoon and may need to include prevailing groups in future updates. A period of MVFR ceilings looks to arrive by morning as well. Winds will begin to turn southwesterly by Friday afternoon with a switch to the northwest at the very end of the TAF period. Low level wind shear is likely tonight at JLN. && .SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...None. MO...None. && $$ MESOSCALE...Burchfield SHORT TERM...Runnels LONG TERM...Runnels AVIATION...Burchfield
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Diego CA
852 PM PDT Thu May 23 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Cooling through Saturday with gusty southwest to west winds in the mountains and deserts. The strongest gusts are more likely on Friday afternoon into Friday night. Night and morning coastal low clouds will extend inland across all of the valleys and onto the lower coastal slopes of the mountains with slower daytime clearing for coastal areas. High pressure to the south will bring warming for Sunday through Wednesday. The marine layer will become shallower with night and morning coastal low clouds only extending inland into portions of the valleys by the middle of next week. && .DISCUSSION...FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE... SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES... .Evening Update... Onshore flow continues at this hour, with some mountain passes seeing wind gusts 40-60 MPH, mainly through the San Gorgonio Pass. Winds will briefly drop off through the morning, before ramping back up by Friday afternoon. As the trough progresses through the area, winds will become more widespread into the deserts. There is a low to moderate chance in seeing wind gusts over 45 MPH in the deserts per latest HRRR and NBM model runs this evening. Low clouds will continue to fill in the coastal basin through the nighttime hours. HREF gives most areas a low chance in 50%+ sky cover Friday afternoon, though with a deepening marine layer throughout the day, clearing may be short lived near the coast. Otherwise, minimal forecast changes through the cooler weekend and warmer parts of next week. .Previous Discussion (140 PM Thursday)... A low/trough embedded in the mean cyclonic flow over the western U.S. will move inland to our north tonight and Friday and will bring stronger onshore flow. The marine layer will deepen, cooling will spread inland, and there will be periods of gusty southwest to west winds for the mountains and deserts with the strongest winds for Friday afternoon into Friday night. The additional deepening of the marine layer to 4500-5000 feet Friday night into Saturday morning could bring patchy drizzle at lower elevations west of the mtns. There will be gusty southwest to west winds in the mountains and deserts, with the stronger winds on Friday and Saturday. The winds will peak Friday afternoon into Friday night with gusts mostly 40 to 50 mph except in the northern Coachella Valley below the San Gorgonio Pass where winds could gust to around 60 mph. High temperatures today will cool a few degrees from those on Wednesday. There will be further cooling on Friday. The deserts will continue to cool slightly on Saturday while the coast and valleys warm slightly. With the cooling, high temperatures for the mountains and inland valleys will be as much as 10 to 15 degrees below seasonal averages on Friday. For Sunday through Wednesday... Building high pressure to the south will compete for dominance with the low/trough to our north and could bring warming through the middle of next week. The greatest warming is expected for Sunday and Monday with slight additional warming for Tuesday and Wednesday. With the warming, high temperatures on Wednesday will be around average for the coast and valleys and around 5 degrees above average for the deserts, mostly in the 80s for the Inland Empire and the upper 90s to 104 for the lower deserts. The marine layer will gradually decrease in depth with night and morning coastal low clouds only extending inland into portions of the valleys by the middle of next week. && .AVIATION... 240400Z...Coast/Valleys/Foothills...BKN/OVC low clouds will continue to spread overnight, reaching all areas by 11Z Fri with bases 1800- 2500 ft MSL and tops 2500-4000 ft MSL. Higher terrain will be obscured but most VIS below the cloud bases will be 6+ miles. Slow clearing will occur Fri with valley partially clearing 17Z-21Z Fri with the coast partially clearing 18Z-22Z Fri, though bases will generally rise to 2700-3700 ft MSL Fri in areas that remain cloudy Fri afternoon. Stratus will become widespread again Fri evening. Mountains/Deserts...Clear skies with mostly unrestricted VIS will continue through Fri evening. Areas of winds from the west with surface gusts 25-45 knots will occur at times through Fri evening from the mountain crests east/north through the desert slopes and into the deserts, including near San Gorgonio Pass. Strongest winds will be after 00Z Sat. Local blowing dust could reduce VIS to 3-5 miles after 21Z Fri. && .MARINE... West to northwest winds will gust near or slightly over 20 knots in the outer coastal waters (30-60 NM from the coast) each afternoon and evening Friday through Sunday. && .SKYWARN... Skywarn activation is not requested. However weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions. && .SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...Wind Advisory from noon Friday to 2 AM PDT Saturday for San Gorgonio Pass Near Banning. PZ...None. && $$ PUBLIC...APR/PG AVIATION/MARINE...Maxwell