Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Amarillo, TX
Issued by NWS Amarillo, TX
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854 FXUS64 KAMA 222348 AFDAMA Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Amarillo TX 648 PM CDT Wed May 22 2024 ...New AVIATION... .SHORT TERM ... (This evening through Thursday night) Issued at 231 PM CDT Wed May 22 2024 Dry weather continues to hold behind the cold frontal passage from yesterday night. Winds are expected to stay slightly breezy for what remains of the afternoon before slowing late this evening. As we head into the overnight, look for a more easterly to southeasterly surface flow to settle into the eastern and central portions of the Panhandles. With this flow set up, expect low- level moisture to begin moving into the Panhandles with dewpoints rising overnight in coloration. Given the presence of the moisture at the lower-levels, potential is present for low- level stratus decks or fog to form during the early morning hours of tomorrow, which will also aid to inhibiting storm development for that afternoon. Getting more into this storm potential for tomorrow, latest model agreement is expecting a trough to move through well north of the Panhandles that evening. However, this passage will be enough to strengthen the present lee-side surface low and push the dryline back east alongside good ingredients to produce strong severe storms. As it stands, latest CAMs are seeing decent MLCAPE values with some areas peaking around 3500 J/kg along our eastern most border. Shear is also present with effective bulk shear pushing 30 to 40 kt at times. However, development of storms continues to lean more to being very conditional for the day with most models not expecting any activity at all. One of the main factors in halting development continues to be the presence of very dry and stable air at the mid to upper-levels of the atmosphere. This air pocket will keep the atmosphere very well capped for the day making it hard for storms to develop convectively that afternoon and evening. The dryline also will not be much help either as most models are expecting it to stay right along the eastern border with Central Oklahoma. Still, any development that does occur will have to be monitored given the ingredients are present for all hazards. Meanwhile in the westerner half of the Panhandles, elevates fire weather remains possible as latest guidance expects 20-25 mph sustained winds with gusts nearing the 35 to 40 mph mark. Relative humidity values between 10-15% will also be present that afternoon. Otherwise a weak cold front will move in from the north Thursday night following that northerly trough. Breezy winds behind the cold front are favored as there are some decent surface pressure rises. Scoleri && .LONG TERM ... (Friday through next Tuesday) Issued at 231 PM CDT Wed May 22 2024 This Memorial Day weekend will kickoff with a passage of a cold front early on Friday. This will see the winds shift to the north and be gusty following the passage of the cold front. Going into the afternoon these winds will weaken then shift to a more SE direction. While the winds are northerly it will push slightly cooler air across the panhandles causing near normal highs of 70s to 80s expected. Saturday will see a trough develop over the desert SW which then pushes eastward rapidly across the the plains. This will cause gusty SW winds across the panhandles pushing warmer air back into the panhandles. This will see the highs once again increase to mostly 90s across the panhandles. This system is not expected to produce active weather as there will be little to no moisture to work with. Once the system pushes to the east it will set up a broad NW flow across the panhandles. This will cause the winds to shift to a more northerly direction for Sunday and Monday bringing a slight cooling trend that will see highs drop back to the 80s for Memorial Day. The general lack of moisture looks to continue so the skies should remain mostly sunny. For next Tuesday and Wednesday the pattern becomes harder to pin down but overall indications suggest that a trough should influence the panhandles. This should shift the winds to a more southerly direction being gusty during the daytime. There is indications that these winds will finally push some moisture into the panhandles which opens up a small chance for rain showers and thunderstorms. Highs during this time have better odds then not to warm with the southerly winds with 80s to 90s looking most probable. SH && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 635 PM CDT Wed May 22 2024 Conditions should remain generally VFR at all sites, although some low cigs and/or fog may make it as far west as KAMA. Winds will veer to more southerly and eventually southwesterly tomorrow at 10-20 kts, with higher gusts up to 30 kts during the afternoon hours. Again, some low clouds may move in, but confidence in impactful low cigs reaching any given terminal remains too low to include in the TAFs at this time. Harrel && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 250 AM CDT Wed May 22 2024 Elevated fire weather conditions are possible Thursday afternoon into the early evening for the western combined Panhandles, especially the far western Texas Panhandle. The day will start with very high relative humidity values, as high as 100%, but those values should quickly drop through the day. Sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph with minimum relative humidity values between 10% to 15% are favored. Thus, RFTI values between 3 to 4 are present with a brief period of values reaching as high as 6 to 7. A cold front is expected to move in from the north Thursday night with breezy winds behind the front. Elevated to critical fire weather conditions are possible again Saturday afternoon into the early evening for the western combined Panhandles. Currently forecasting surface winds between 15 to 20 mph with minimum relative humidity values between 5% to 10%, but sustained winds may be as high as 20 to 30 mph with gusts between 40 to 45 mph. Scoleri && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Amarillo TX 57 92 54 82 / 0 0 0 0 Beaver OK 53 93 54 81 / 10 10 0 0 Boise City OK 51 88 46 77 / 10 0 0 0 Borger TX 58 96 56 84 / 0 0 0 0 Boys Ranch TX 56 93 53 85 / 0 0 0 0 Canyon TX 56 92 54 83 / 0 0 0 0 Clarendon TX 57 92 57 81 / 10 10 0 0 Dalhart TX 51 88 48 80 / 10 0 0 0 Guymon OK 53 92 49 79 / 10 0 0 0 Hereford TX 56 92 53 85 / 0 0 0 0 Lipscomb TX 55 92 57 81 / 10 10 0 0 Pampa TX 57 92 55 82 / 0 10 0 0 Shamrock TX 57 91 57 83 / 10 20 0 0 Wellington TX 58 92 57 84 / 10 10 0 0 && .AMA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...None. OK...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...11 LONG TERM....98 AVIATION...38