Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Boston, MA

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043 FXUS61 KBOX 071436 AFDBOX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA 1036 AM EDT Fri Jun 7 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Warmer today with decreasing humidity levels but scattered afternoon and evening showers developing as an upper level disturbance approaches. Cooler tonight, then mainly dry and seasonable conditions Saturday. Unsettled conditions return Sunday through midweek with a few showers at times but it will not be a washout. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/...
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Forecast remained largely on track this morning, but did make some adjustments to account for observed trends. Fog had largely dissipated as of this writing, but the stratus clouds will take a little longer to break up. In fact, these could linger much of the day across the Cape and islands. Latest SPC mesoanalysis showed a lot of shear across southern New England, but not much buoyancy. MLCAPE values of < 100 J/kg and MUCAPE values of 500-700 J/kg does not raise alarms for strong thunderstorms later today. Likely to only be dealing with isolated to scattered showers this afternoon. The majority of these showers should be closer to the cold pool aloft over northern New England and the Great Lakes. Previous Discussion... Stratus and fog along eastern MA coast will lift this morning leading to plenty of sunshine, but sct-bkn diurnal cu will develop this afternoon as steep low level lapse rates develop with shallow moisture at the top of the boundary layer. Upper low sets up north of the Gt Lakes with shortwave energy rotating around the low which will likely result in scattered afternoon showers developing, especially north of the MA Pike closest to the cold pool aloft. While there is marginal instability with SBCAPES up to 500 J/kg, soundings show a pronounced mid level cap which will limit updrafts so not expecting any t-storms, just some low topped showers. Better chance of thunder will be to the north under the cold pool aloft. Fairly warm low level temps today with 850 mb temps reaching 12-14C which will support highs in the low-mid 80s, but 70s along the immediate coast as sea-breezes develop. Humidity levels will be dropping in the interior, especially this afternoon as dewpoints fall through the 50s.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH 6 PM SATURDAY/...
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Tonight... The upper low and cold pool will be moving into northern New England tonight with decent mid level cooling southward into SNE. This will help to continue the shower threat into this evening, then clearing overnight as cold front moves off the coast with drying W flow. Lows will settle into the 50s. Saturday... The upper low will be lifting to the north with warming 500 mb temps. Expect plenty of sunshine mixing with some clouds as diurnal cu develops. Shower threat will be less than today, with just a low risk for a spot shower across northern MA. Otherwise a dry day but becoming breezy with W winds gusting to 20-30 mph in the afternoon as we will have a well mixed boundary layer in post frontal airmass. Cooler and dry airmass with highs mid- upper 70s, but closer to 70 higher terrain. Dewpoints dropping to the upper 40s and lower 50s.
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&& .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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Highlights * Scattered showers on Sunday * Drier to start the week with a few spot showers possible on Monday * Lower than normal confidence for days 5 through 7 which could range from a long stretch of unsettled weather to a brief unsettled period on Tuesday followed by warmer and drier weather to finish out the week Sunday A robust short-wave disturbance aloft will traverse across the Northeast on Sunday. With sufficient moisture in place to the tune of 1 to 1.25 inch PWATs, we`re likely to see scattered showers across the region on Sunday afternoon. Even areas that miss out on rain are likely to experience overcast skies throughout the day with cooler temps peaking in the low 70s. Monday A cold front associated with the aforementioned upper-level disturbance pushes through the region Sunday night into Monday. This should support a drier day for most of southern New England, but with the quasi-stationary upper-level low still overhead there could be some unsettled weather as well. Latest suite of model guidance keeps the core of the cold pool aloft over northern New England where there will be higher precip chances. Can`t rule out the possibility for some spot showers at this time, but those details will be resolved as we edge closer to next week. Tuesday through Thursday Forecast confidence drops off substantially early next week as there is considerable spread in how the latest suite of forecast models are handling a short-wave embedded in the broader cyclonic flow over the eastern US. Several solutions favor this short- wave cutting off as it digs over The Great Lakes and into the Midwest. From there feature meanders near the northeast for several days which would support unsettled weather for much of next week. Other solutions keep the short- wave embedded in the larger flow which would support an unsettled day Tuesday followed by a mid-level ridge building over the eastern US to end the week. In this scenario we would see a warming/drying trend mid to late next week. Given the low confidence in the forecast , have leaned on the NBM for guidance for days 5 through 7 which places slight chance to chance PoPs across much of the region daily with seasonable temperatures.
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&& .AVIATION /15Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
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Forecast Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Moderate - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. IFR/LIFR across eastern MA, Cape Cod and the Islands continues to lift into this afternoon. It`s more questionable near ACK, where IFR may linger most of today. We continue to show some improvement to VFR after 18z as we`re hopeful that fog/stratus will burn off there as well, but it`s possible these lower conditions prevail all day. Even if there is brief improvement, LIFR is expected to return toward sunset across the Cape and Islands. Otherwise, VFR today through Sat. There may be some widely scattered showers this afternoon, especially across western and northern MA, but coverage should be limited. Light W/SW winds today through Sat. Coastal sea breezes develop later this morning. KBOS TAF...High confidence. KBDL TAF...High confidence. Outlook /Saturday Night through Tuesday/... Saturday Night: VFR. Breezy. Slight chance SHRA. Sunday: VFR. Breezy. Chance SHRA. Sunday Night through Monday: VFR. Slight chance SHRA. Monday Night: VFR. Tuesday: VFR. Slight chance SHRA.
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&& .MARINE...
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Forecaster Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Medium - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. High confidence through Saturday. S-SW winds developing this afternoon with locally onshore winds near the coast as sea-breezes develop. Winds become W tonight behind a cold front, then increasing W wind Sat with gusts to 20 kt, with potential for some 25 kt gusts over eastern MA nearshore waters. Lingering 5 ft seas over southern waters through tonight where SCA will continue. Areas of fog will reduce vsbys over the southern waters into this evening, improving overnight as winds shift to W. Outlook /Saturday Night through Tuesday/... Saturday through Saturday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Areas of seas approaching 5 ft. Sunday: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Chance of rain showers. Sunday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Slight chance of rain showers. Monday through Monday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Tuesday: Winds less than 25 kt. Slight chance of rain showers.
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&& .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. MA...None. RI...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM EDT Saturday for ANZ254>256. && $$ SYNOPSIS...KJC/RM NEAR TERM...Belk/KJC SHORT TERM...KJC LONG TERM...RM AVIATION...KJC/RM/JWD MARINE...KJC/RM