Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Albany, NY

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388 FXUS61 KALY 031706 AFDALY AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Albany NY 106 PM EDT Mon Jun 3 2024 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure builds across the region into tonight. Fair weather persists into Tuesday, though minor increases in instability and humidity could lead to widely scattered showers and thunderstorms over higher terrain regions in the afternoon and evening. A strong upper-level system will then move in from the west by late Wednesday, bringing periods of widespread showers and scattered thunderstorms through the remainder of the work week. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/...
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.UPDATE...Obs indicating temperatures have warmed into the 70s to lower 80s, with the cooler readings west of the Hudson Valley where there are still patchy mid level clouds in place. Increased cloud cover slightly in this area this afternoon. Will mention just a slight chance of a rogue shower/T-storm over the eastern Catskills, but overall coverage looks very sparse due to the continued dry air mass in place. .PREV DISCUSSION[1030]...No significant changes with this update. Temperatures have warmed at a slightly quicker rate than expected, so have raised hourlies late this morning into early afternoon. Otherwise, dry conditions in place with satellite showing some thicker patches of mid level clouds mainly west and northeast of the Capital District. Even in these areas, there will be a trend for more breaks of sunshine developing by afternoon as upper ridging starts to build. Shortwave disturbance will push fully through the region later this morning, giving way to surface high pressure building in across the region from the northwest and shortwave ridging nosing in aloft. As a result, subsidence will begin to entrain dry air into the mid and upper levels throughout the day such that skies will gradually follow along a clearing trend. Subsequently, little in the way of precipitation will be expected today outside of a stray shower or sprinkle in upslope regions of the Southwest Adirondacks and Eastern Catskills later this afternoon. With the building high providing clearing and 850 mb temps remaining around +13 to +14 C, high temperatures today will reach the upper 70s to mid 80s with pockets of mid 70s above 1500 ft.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Clouds continue to decrease into this evening with any shower/sprinkle that develops over the higher terrain regions of the Eastern Catskills and Southwest Adirondacks swiftly dissipating upon the loss of diurnal heating. The aforementioned shortwave ridge will amplify across the region slightly overnight tonight allowing radiational cooling to drop temperatures into the mid to upper 50s across the region. Throughout the day Tuesday, the surface high will begin to drift eastward, leading the ridge aloft to begin to weaken. Clouds will begin to increase a bit from northwest to southeast as an upper-level system begins to take shape and strengthen upstream, but plenty of sunshine will still be present throughout the morning and even into the afternoon as skies only become partly cloudy. Humidity will increase a bit throughout the region Tuesday as winds take on a more southerly direction, but with highs anticipated to reach the mid/upper 70s to mid (and pockets of upper) 80s and dewpoints rising into the mid 50s to low 60s, conditions will still be relatively comfortable. While most areas will remain dry Tuesday, some additional high- terrain, scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms are possible in the afternoon. Breaks of sun paired with higher humidity will aid in instability maximizing at about 500-1000 J/kg, but shear looks to be low. Therefore, the probability of severe convection is very low. However, any thunderstorms that develop could be capable of producing a brief downpour and lightning that could pose a threat to outdoor activities. Once again, any showers or thunderstorms that develop will quickly dissipate with the loss of daytime heating Tuesday night. Skies will remain partly cloudy throughout the overnight period Tuesday, yielding more mild low temperatures primarily in the upper 50s to low 60s. Attention then turns to Wednesday as the aforementioned upstream system begins to approach the region from the west. High pressure at the surface and shortwave ridging aloft continue to make their exit east as heights fall ahead of potent troughing extending south and east ahead of its parent closed low deepening in Southern Canada. As a result, clouds remain prominent across the region with environmental moisture increasing as a southwest to northeast moisture fetch develops off the Gulf of Mexico. There remain some model discrepancies in the evolution of the system as a whole which has added some uncertainty in conditions Wednesday, but maintained scattered to chance PoPs to account for the possibility of some initial showers and possibly some embedded thunderstorms as the leading edge of the upper trough tracks into the region Wednesday afternoon into the evening. At this time, instability looks to generally fall within 500-1000 J/kg with pockets of 1500 J/kg or so and low shear. However, with lack of HiRes guidance coverage of the beginning stages of this event and medium-range model disagreement in some of the finer details that would allude to thunderstorm severity, confidence is low in the possibility of severe convection. For now, continuing to mention slight chance to chance thunder beginning Wednesday afternoon. Highs Wednesday will be a few degrees cooler than Tuesday given more extensive cloud cover. Anticipate mid 70s to low 80s. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... Unsettled weather expected through the period. A closed upper low will track out of the Great Lakes and into the northeastern U.S. This closed low will become an upper cut off low and drift very slowly through the northeastern U.S. Thursday through the weekend. Past CSTAR research suggests that there could be considerable strong thunderstorm activity ahead of the upper low and associated cold front, with strong to severe thunderstorms and locally heavy rain. However, there is a lot of uncertainty about where the upper low will cut off and track. If the upper low cuts off and drifts along the U.S./Canada border, then that would favor stronger thunderstorms in our region. If the upper cut off tracks over or just south of our region, then more showery with locally heavy rain and less chances for severe weather. Once the upper cut off and associated upper cold pool is in our region, breaks in the clouds at night but instability and considerable coverage of showers and thunderstorms during the day, especially in the afternoon, each day Thursday through the weekend. Highs Thursday and Friday in the mid 70s to near 80 with around 70 higher terrain. Highs Saturday and Sunday around 70 to mid 70s with mid 60s higher terrain, with again, showers and thunderstorms developing in the daytime instability. && .AVIATION /18Z MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Weak high pressure controls the weather through tonight. Intervals of ceilings around 9000-12000 feet this morning. Clouds will tend to become scattered by midday, remaining scattered through the afternoon and night. Visibilities should remain VFR as well. Light to near calm winds through about 14Z-15Z. Then, winds become north to northeast at 6 Kt or less and continue through the afternoon and evening. Winds will go calm again for tonight. Outlook... Tuesday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Wednesday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA...TSRA. Wednesday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA...TSRA. Thursday: High Operational Impact. Definite SHRA...TSRA. Thursday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA...TSRA. Friday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA...TSRA. Friday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA...TSRA. Saturday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA. && .ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. MA...None. VT...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Gant/Wasula NEAR TERM...Gant/JPV SHORT TERM...Gant LONG TERM...NAS AVIATION...Frugis/NAS