


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Buffalo, NY
Issued by NWS Buffalo, NY
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307 FXUS61 KBUF 061815 AFDBUF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Buffalo NY 215 PM EDT Sun Jul 6 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Ahead of a slow-moving cold front, hot and humid air will flow into the region with many areas reaching Heat Advisory criteria this afternoon. The front will bring showers and thunderstorms to the region Monday with locally heavy rainfall possible. Mostly dry and more comfortable weather for Tuesday through Wednesday before becoming unsettled again in the latter half of the week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/... Southwesterly flow behind a departing sfc high and ahead of an approaching sfc low and cold front will result in hot and humid conditions today. Heat index/apparent temperatures will reach 90+ degrees Fahrenheit today for most of the forecast area, with the usual warmer locations reaching the mid to upper 90s. These areas have a Heat Advisory in place from 11am until 8pm this evening, this includes all of the southern Lake Ontario shoreline counties plus Genesee, Livingston and Ontario counties. A few scattered showers/storms will also be possible today, mostly confined to the North Country where a LLJ will cross the area, providing some forcing to initiate a few showers/storms. For the rest of the forecast area, can expect mainly dry weather today. With a tightening pressure gradient over the region and the above mentioned LLJ, breezy conditions will be possible through the first part of the evening. Tonight, as the sfc low, pre-frontal trough and cold front approach the region, shower and thunderstorm potential will increase some across the northwestern portions of the area toward daybreak. Guidance is still split with the potential for showers/storms within a few hours of daybreak, with global models and regional models still bringing showers/storms close to the extreme northwestern portion of the forecast area by around 12Z. CAM guidance is further west with the showers by 12Z with little to no potential for showers to move into the forecast area through the tonight period. It will be a warm and humid night with lows only dropping down to the upper 60s to mid 70s, with some higher spots down to the mid 60s. Monday, the sfc low will track northeast across southern Ontario and into southern Quebec through the day. Its trailing cold front will track toward and cross the forecast area during the late morning and through the afternoon. The pre-frontal trough associated with the system looks like it will weaken and get taken over by the cold front early in the day, just west of the forecast area. This is what the higher resolution guidance is trending with and the reason why they are also trending drier for the first half of the morning on Monday. The front will track through the area in pieces with the sfc portion moving into far WNY by the mid to late morning time and track through the eastern portions of the forecast area through the late afternoon. The rest of the front will lag behind by a few hours. Showers and thunderstorms will be possible ahead of the front as the warm and moist airmass remains in place, and as any remnant form of the pre-frontal trough moves into the area and interacts with lake breeze boundaries. Most of the shower and thunderstorm activity should remain just ahead of or along the cold front as it crosses the area. With high PWat values of around 2.00", weak flow aloft and near parallel flow with the front, heavy rain is expected within some of the showers and thunderstorms with the potential for training of thunderstorms. This will increase the potential for areas of localized flooding in some areas, with the greatest potential expected for areas of the western Southern Tier and the western/northern Finger Lakes. As a result of the heavy rain potential, there is a `Marginal Risk` for excessive rainfall on Monday for the entire area, but the best potential is expected for areas mentioned above. There is also a `Marginal Risk` for severe thunderstorms on Monday across the entire area. While CAPE values look favorable for thunderstorms (1,000+ J/kg), shear looks generally weak, but a few storms may produce some gusty winds. DCAPE values of around 500-750 J/kg would support this potential for some gusty winds that will be possible. Temperatures on Monday will be a little cooler than today with highs in the mid 80s for far western NY and the North Country, with areas of the western and northern Finger Lakes remaining a bit warmer in the upper 80s to low 90s. && .SHORT TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... General broad troughing will set up across the Great Lakes Monday night and last through much of the week. Heading into Monday night, a cold front will be in the midst of crossing the eastern portions of the forecast area with a weak shortwave trough crossing overhead of the lower Great Lakes nudging it along. As such, this will result in the last few convective showers to exit the area early in the evening, before cooler and drier air arrives late in the night. While the general troughing pattern remains overhead Tuesday and Tuesday night, zonal flow with in the base of the broad trough will support a bubble of surface high pressure to ridge into the region from the Ontario Province. With high pressure overhead, mainly dry weather will persist, though a few spotty showers will be possible along the far east/southeastern portions along the periphery of the surface high. Meanwhile, temperatures will be more seasonable Tuesday with highs int he upper 70s to low 80s. The next more defined shortwave trough will travel through the base of the longwave trough Wednesday and Wednesday night, sliding across central Great Lakes. While high pressure will most likely dominate across the lower Great Lakes Wednesday, a surface low passing east along a stationary front across the Ohio Valley will introduce a slight chance for a few showers and thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon across the western Southern Tier before spreading northward across the remainder of the area Wednesday night. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... The later half of the week, will feature a longwave trough axis overhead of the central Great Lakes to traverse east into New England by this weekend. Overall this will continue to support the chance for showers and thunderstorms Thursday through Friday. Then as the next trough enters the northern Great Lakes Saturday, the ridge axis of a skinny ridge will slide east across the lower Great Lakes this weekend. Guidance continues to struggle with the timing of these features for the weekend and therefore the current forecast resembles the National Blend, keeping a chance for rain showers and afternoon thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday. Otherwise with the troughing pattern overhead, temperatures will be near to slightly above average early to mid July. && .AVIATION /18Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... Mainly VFR through tonight. Some afternoon fair weather clouds across the area, but limited to FEW/SCT at around 5kft. A LLJ over the Niagara Frontier and the North Country is causing some gusts to around 25 kts this afternoon. Both wind and cloud will weaken/dissipate this evening. Monday, mainly VFR to start the day, but flight conditions will deteriorate through the day. First with showers and thunderstorms ahead of and along a cold front that will cause heavy rain at times. The best chance for heavy rain is expected mainly for the inland areas south of Lake Ontario, but at least a heavy downpour for any location in the forecast area is possible. Flight cats in heavier downpours down to MVFR expected and even IFR possible at times, mostly for VSBY, but lower CIGs also possible. CIGs will then lower to lower end MVFR and some IFR by the late afternoon as the cold front crosses the area in pieces. Outlook... Monday night...Mainly MVFR to IFR with decreasing chances for showers and thunderstorms. Tuesday and Wednesday...Mainly VFR. Thursday...A chance of showers and thunderstorms with MVFR restrictions possible. Friday...early restrictions should improve to VFR. && .MARINE... A tightening pressure gradient over the lakes today between high pressure in the western Atlantic and a cold front to the northwest has led to breezy southwest winds in some areas approaching SCA levels. Confidence is low to moderate as the setup looks very marginal, though the two main areas of concern are the St. Lawrence and Upper Niagara rivers, as the relatively cool lakes should inhibit mixing of stronger winds across the open waters. Winds will also be breezy over the southwestern end of Lake Ontario, though the offshore direction should preclude the need for SCA headlines. While strong winds aloft will remain overhead tonight, limited mixing should allow sfc winds to diminish this evening. Otherwise, a few thunderstorms will also be possible across or just north of the St. Lawrence River through the day today. More widespread chances for tstorms across the waters will arrive Monday, before the cold front finally moves through the region later Monday. Post-frontal winds will become northwesterly into early Tuesday, though sub-SCA conditions are expected through the rest of the week. && .BUF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NY...Heat Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for NYZ001>006-011- 013-014. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for LEZ020. Small Craft Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for SLZ022. && $$ SYNOPSIS...PP NEAR TERM...SW SHORT TERM...EAJ LONG TERM...EAJ AVIATION...SW MARINE...PP