Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Buffalo, NY

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952 FXUS61 KBUF 232353 AFDBUF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Buffalo NY 753 PM EDT Thu May 23 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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High pressure building into the region will provide us with fair dry weather through Friday. On and off periods of showers and thunderstorms are then expected through the long holiday weekend with the most unsettled conditions expected Saturday and Monday... though Sunday should feature mainly dry and pleasant weather. Additional showers will then linger into Tuesday and Wednesday.
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&& .NEAR TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/...
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Surface-based ridging extending eastward from the Upper Great Lakes will provide us with tranquil weather tonight. Skies will be largely clear...save for some cirrus-level blowoff from Tennessee Valley convection that may brush the Southern Tier...and some limited mid-to-high level clouds attendant to a passing shortwave that will cross the Saint Lawrence Valley late. Overnight lows will be in the lower to mid 50s...with winds generally limited to around 5 mph out of the southwest during the latter two thirds of the night. On Friday the surface ridge axis will settle directly across our region...while sharp upper-level ridging will build eastward from the Upper Great Lakes. This will provide us with continued fair dry weather...with temps warming some over the western counties as warm air advection helps readings to climb back into the upper 70s to lower 80s there. Further east the warm air advection won`t start until later...resulting in cooler afternoon highs ranging from the mid 60s across the higher terrain to the mid 70s across the lower elevations.
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&& .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... Mid level ridge axis will slide across the eastern Great Lakes Friday night, continuing to support dry weather overnight. However the dry weather will come to an end as the next mid-level shortwave trough will slide across the central Great lakes late Friday night into Saturday supporting surface low pressure to slide east across the Upper Great Lakes and across southern Canada. While the surface low slides east to the north of New York State Saturday and Saturday night, a pair of fronts will slide across the area. Initially a warm front will slide from west to east mid-day Saturday and Saturday afternoon. Similar to Wednesday of this week, the later arrival time will support enough instability and moisture to advect into the area and support a few embedded thunderstorms within the showers associated with the front. Showers will then linger throughout the night as the cold front passes across the region Saturday night. In the wake of the front, shower will diminish and support a drying trend heading into Sunday. Sunday will be the driest day of the Memorial Day weekend holiday, as an area of high pressure will extend south across the region. Temperatures Sunday will topple off in the mid to upper 70s. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... Sunday night and Monday a warm front will lift across the region, bringing a return to a more humid airmass. Lift along the front, combined with diffluent flow aloft ahead of a mid level shortwave will bring a period of rain to end the Memorial Day holiday weekend. This diffluent flow and copious amounts of moisture (PWATS 1.5 to 1.75) could allow for heavier downpours of rain within thunderstorms. A cold front Monday night will continue showers for our region. Moisture wrapping around the initial shortwave may linger these showers into Tuesday. Warm southerly breezes Monday will be replaced by cooler westerly breeze for Tuesday. A shortwave ridge may bring a less active day Tuesday before a second shortwave deepening a longwave trough over our region continues chances for showers through at least Wednesday if not Thursday. Temperatures at 850 hPa will lower to around zero Celsius, and possibly below zero across Lake Ontario and points eastward Wednesday and Thursday. This cold air flowing over the now milder lakes may bring lake clouds or even some lake enhanced rain. && .AVIATION /00Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
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Unlimited VFR conditions will dominate the TAF period as surface- based ridging over the Upper Great Lakes continues building eastward across our region. Expect just some thin cirrus to brush the Southern Tier tonight...with some very limited diurnally-driven cumulus with bases of 5-6 kft developing during Friday. Generally light southwesterly winds tonight will become westerly to west- northwesterly and increase to around 10 knots on Friday. Outlook... Friday night...VFR. Saturday...VFR/MVFR with scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms developing. Sunday...Mainly VFR. Monday...Restrictions likely with showers and thunderstorms. Tuesday...Restrictions likely with showers.
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&& .MARINE...
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High pressure will build into the region through Friday with light to moderate winds prevailing...along with waves at or below 3 feet. Generally remain light to modest winds and minimal waves will then continue through most of the weekend as a weakening trough crosses the area on Saturday...followed by high pressure moving back into the region Sunday. The above said...the passing trough could produce some showers and thunderstorms capable of locally higher winds and waves Saturday.
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&& .BUF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NY...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...JJR/TMA NEAR TERM...JJR/TMA SHORT TERM...EAJ LONG TERM...Thomas AVIATION...JJR/TMA MARINE...JJR/TMA