Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Dodge City, KS
Issued by NWS Dodge City, KS
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580 FXUS63 KDDC 012000 AFDDDC Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Dodge City KS 200 PM CST Mon Dec 1 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Dry weather will prevail for most of southwest Kansas for the next 7-10 days, through at least December 10th. - Moderating temperatures back to near normal Tuesday. - The next cold front brings strong north winds and much colder air Wednesday. - Light snow possible Wednesday night, especially west of Dodge City, but amounts will be light and impacts minimal. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 200 PM CST Mon Dec 1 2025 Positively tilted trough axis was passing over SW KS at midday, with the last of the snowbands exiting eastward through central Kansas. Strong subsidence behind the trough axis will continue to clear the sky rapidly from west to east through sunset. With light westerly downslope and sunshine, western zones will warm well into the 30s this afternoon. Most locations northeast of Dodge City will fail to get above freezing. Clear and cold tonight with light winds, and efficient radiational cooling will produce sunrise temperatures in the teens. Light SWly downslope will manage to keep a few locations in the 20s. Arctic air erodes Tuesday as midlevel flow backs to zonal, allowing for a noticeable increase in afternoon temperatures, back close to early December normals in the lower 50s. Northeast zones near Hays will remain in the mid 40s Tuesday as snowcover melts. After 9 am Tuesday, south winds will increase markedly as return flow fully establishes, with gusts near 30 mph. The next dry cold front is scheduled to sweep through SW KS by sunrise Wednesday. North winds Wednesday will be stronger than NBM guidance, and 12z MOS guidance is several degrees colder than NBM on Wednesday as well. Given a 1035 mb Canadian anticyclone building down the northern plains, over at least partial snowpack, the colder/windier solutions will likely verify Wednesday. Per coordination increased winds to the 90%ile of the NBM and lowered maximum temperatures 2-3 degrees. Model consensus places the next shortwave near the Four Corners 6 pm Wednesday. This shortwave, already quite weak, is forecast to weaken further as in enters confluent flow over the plains Wednesday night and early Thursday. There may be a period of light snow/flurries in the post frontal environment, favoring the western zones, Wednesday night. Any snow will be very light, and many models, including the 12z GFS and many GEFS ensemble members, are completely dry. As such, NBM pops are necessarily very low. Given the weakening system and limited moisture, any snowfall/impacts will be very limited to nil. Cold surface ridging over SW KS 6 am Thursday will deliver another cold morning in the teens, although cloud cover should be considerable associated with the weakening ejecting system, putting a deterent on radiational cooling potential. The pattern repeats, with return flow establishing again Thursday afternoon, but models suggest this will be recirculated continental polar air, with a cold afternoon in the 30s. Models fall into disarray with the timing details Friday through the weekend, but they do agree that 1-2 dry cold frontal passages will occur during this time. Gulf moisture will be cutoff from SW KS during this time, so have high confidence a dry forecast will continue through the weekend despite the cold fronts. Temperatures and wind direction will flucuate modestly as the cold fronts pass, but a quiet weather pattern with no impacts is expected beneath benign NWly flow aloft. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 1003 AM CST Mon Dec 1 2025 Remaining scattered snow showers ongoing at 16z Mon will either dissipate or move east of the airports over the next hour. MVFR/IFR stratus will clear rapidly from west to east this afternoon, with VFR returning to all airports by 21-22z. VFR/SKC is expected for the remainder of the TAF period. Winds will be light, less than 10 kts, for the balance of the period, with a W/NWly component. After 15z Tue, S/SW winds will increase at all airports, gusting 20-25 kts. && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Turner AVIATION...Turner