Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Portland, ME

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293 FXUS61 KGYX 302230 AFDGYX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Gray ME 630 PM EDT Thu May 30 2024 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure building towards the region through Friday will bring clearing skies...cool nights...and seasonable day time temperatures. A warming trend will begin this weekend with any chances for showers remaining minimal. These mild and generally dry conditions are expected to persist through at least the first half of next week. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM FRIDAY MORNING/...
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630 PM Update...The going forecast remains on track as showers are now well offshore. Clouds are still draped over the coastal plain, but will be slowly clearing. Also delayed clearing up north for a few hours as clouds are streaming in from across the International Border. Otherwise, very minor tweaks to temperature, dewpoints, and winds just to load in observations and smooth trends over the next couple of hours. Previous Discussion... High Impact Weather Potential: Frost potential across the north...otherwise minimal. Pattern: Compact shortwave responsible for this morning shower activity across southern areas is pushing east as broader longwave troughing settles overhead. Through this Evening: Residual shower activity will quickly come to an end this evening as northwesterly flow advects drier air into the region. Expect skies to continue to clear from the northwest with 8pm temperatures ranging from the mid 50s north to around 60 in the south. Tonight: With low pressure departing to the east...drier northwesterly flow becomes established for the overnight which should bring clearing skies to the entire area as advertised by short term mesoscale ensemble guidance. 1000 mb geostrophic wind speeds remain about 20kts through the overnight which suggests that the hilltops should remain coupled overnight while the deeper valleys go calm. In these valleys...Thursday PM dewpoints will have fallen into the 30s /even upper 20s/ which should allow temperatures to fall quickly. Previous forecast followed the MOS guidance closely and see no reason to deviate from this trend. The result will be a frosty night across our northern tier of zones and will hoist a frost advisory for this expectation. Further south...most other locations will fall into the lower and middle 40s...warmest on the hills.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... High Impact Weather Potential: Minimal. Pattern: Longwave trough axis just to our east early Friday will continue to push east through the short term period with a longwave ridge building in from the west. This will perpetuate dry... northerly flow across the region with our primary forecast focus being on whether we can spawn any showers Friday afternoon. Friday: While mid level heights gradually build during the day...the core of the height rises actually passes southwest of our region...into the Mid Atlantic. At the same time...the cold core aloft /T5s around -25C/ will brush us as it crosses eastern Maine. This will result in some weak instability /100-200 J/kg/ of SBCAPE though with rather dry boundary layer conditions /inverted V/ as surface dewpoints will likely be in the upper 30s. A few of the mesoscale ensemble members have a few light showers developing in the afternoon though any of the activity is very light. Given the dry boundary layer conditions...have some doubts that this will materialize...and will go no higher than a 20% PoP over our far eastern zones in the afternoon as most locations will likely remain dry. Deep mixing is expected...with T8s around +6-8C and some downslope assistance expect highs in the upper 60s in the mountains to the lower/middle 70s to the south and east. Friday Night: Surface high pressure ridge axis overhead with mid level ridging building into the region from the west should allow for a quiet night with column drying allowing for any evening mid level cloudiness to clear out with another clear and cool night expected. Boundary layer moisture is slightly higher than on Thursday night with Friday`s temperatures a bit warmer than Thursday`s. Therefore...despite the good radiational cooling conditions...expect that we/ll not be quite as cool as on Thursday night...but some northern valleys will likely again drop into the upper 30s. Otherwise...40s north to around 50 south/coast looks good for overnight lows. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... A rather quiet weather pattern in the long term with moderating temperatures. Next chance of widespread showers will hold off until late next week. In the dailies: On saturday high pressure will build south of the region off the Southeast Coast. On Sunday a weak warm front will lift north. This may bring a period of mid to upper level clouds but moisture appears to be limited. High pressure establishes itself overhead Monday and Tuesday. The high pushes offshore on Wednesday as low pressure moves to the Western Great Lakes. As that low moves into Southern Canada on Thursday, a cold front will pivot around the low and approach the region during the day. This will result in an area of showers and possible thunderstorms later in the day and beyond. Have added patchy marine fog each night starting Monday Night. High temperatures will range from the 70`s to lower 80`s with seabreezes cooling immediate coastal areas and islands. Low temperatures will moderate from the upper 40s to low 50s Sunday morning to the mid 50s to around 60 by Thursday morning. && .AVIATION /00Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... Short Term... Summary: Generally quiet weather is expected through the period with clearing skies this evening behind departing low pressure...with high pressure then building towards the region through Friday night. Restrictions: VFR attm across the terminals and this will dominate the period through Friday night. There is some limited potential for some fog at HIE tonight...but confidence in occurrence is not high enough at this time for inclusion in the TAF. Winds: Northerly winds 5-10kts today will diminish to 5kts or less tonight before rebounding to around 10G15kts from the northwest for the day on Friday. Winds will go calm/light-variable again Friday night. LLWS: LLWS is not expected through Friday night. Lightning: Lightning is not expected through Friday night. Long Term... Expect VFR to MVFR throughout the period. && .MARINE... Short Term...A few gusts 20-25kts will continue off the NH coast for another couple of hours before diminishing. Beyond this...northwesterly winds 5 to 15kts through the period will allow both winds and waves to remain below SCA levels through Friday night. Long Term...Wind and waves to remain below SCA conditions through the extended forecast period. Patchy fog mainly at night starting Monday Night. && .GYX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...Frost Advisory from 2 AM to 8 AM EDT Friday for MEZ007>009. NH...Frost Advisory from 2 AM to 8 AM EDT Friday for NHZ001>003. MARINE...None. && $$ UPDATE...Baron NEAR TERM...Arnott SHORT TERM...Arnott LONG TERM...Lulofs AVIATION...Arnott/Lulofs MARINE...Arnott/Lulofs