Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Topeka, KS
Issued by NWS Topeka, KS
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791 FXUS63 KTOP 161045 AFDTOP Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Topeka KS 445 AM CST Sun Nov 16 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Relatively cooler today, but above average temperatures continue until mid to late week, at which point they look closer to seasonal. - Forecast continues to trend drier for Monday with rain chances increasing Wednesday night through Friday (40-70%). && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 307 AM CST Sun Nov 16 2025 Main upper jet goes through British Columbia and Alberta, then southeastward through the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest. A cut- off low continues to slowly meander across southern CA with another trough noted off the British Columbian coast. This flow pattern places a low-amplitude ridge over the Southern/Central Plains ahead of the cut-off low. Sfc high pressure just to our north is keeping tranquil conditions and yesterday`s cold front has brought a relatively cooler and drier air mass. Td depressions are 5-7 degrees as of 08Z, so despite light winds and clear skies, am not anticipating as much patchy fog this morning. If anything, perhaps the typical low-lying areas could see some brief, shallow fog around sunrise with continued cooling. Otherwise, today brings highs mainly in the 60s under sunny skies as the sfc high gradually slides east, advecting still drier air in as it does so. Heading into Monday, the aforementioned cut-off low is progged to evolve into a negatively tilted trough while attempting to merge into the main westerlies before splitting off again and redeveloping into a closed low over Nebraska. There seems to be better agreement among models on tracking the low at this point, with the forecast positioning the associated sfc low in the CO/NE/KS tri-state area Monday morning and eventually lifting northeast. This would firmly place the local area within the warm sector, allowing highs to be a little warmer than today, possibly reaching 70 in some spots. Isentropic lift and moisture advection increase through Monday morning, but the low-level moisture still appears to be quite shallow. HRRR forecast soundings indicate mainly a stratus deck around 850mb within the WAA regime with Td depressions near 20 degrees, so it would seem difficult to get much if any precip to reach the ground, despite a few CAMs trying to suggest light and spotty reflectivity Monday morning. By the time sfc-level moisture does improve, the best vertical lift is mostly east of the area. A few far eastern locations could get lucky with a quick shower in the evening before that happens, but that`s a low probability scenario (10-20%) at this point. The cold front moves through early Tuesday on the back end of the system, though CAA looks weak with little impact to temperatures. Highs are still forecast to reach the 60s area-wide. We keep an active pattern through mid to late week as a series of shortwaves become more amplified over the southwest CONUS and eject energy into the Plains. While a fair amount of uncertainty remains on how these waves will evolve, Wednesday night through Friday continues to be the focus for the next best rain chances in the area (40-70%). Thursday in eastern KS in particular appears to be the time/area of highest confidence at this time as the main vort max approaches. Models show greater variation by next weekend, as some solutions are more progressive than others, and this can be seen in the cluster analysis as well. Generally speaking, there seems to be a little better confidence in temperatures remaining above average through Thursday, with larger ranges becoming more apparent by Friday. That makes sense as temps would largely depend on how long clouds/precip linger with the late week system. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z MONDAY/... Issued at 444 AM CST Sun Nov 16 2025 Light winds from the NNE early turn to the east to SSE later this morning and remain there through the rest of the period. Clouds increase in the last few hours of the period, but remain VFR. && .TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Picha AVIATION...Picha