


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Marquette, MI
Issued by NWS Marquette, MI
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569 FXUS63 KMQT 110814 AFDMQT Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Marquette MI 414 AM EDT Fri Jul 11 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and evening, mainly along the MI/WI state line. - More showers and thunderstorms are expected Saturday. Some of these storms may produce strong winds and heavy downpours. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 413 AM EDT Fri Jul 11 2025 Upper air pattern over the northern CONUS and southern tier of Canada per RAP analysis consists of primarily zonal 500mb flow interrupted by a shortwave trough extending from southern MN to eastern Nebraska and deteriorating ridging over northern Ontario as well as a trough over Saskatchewan. For now, weak high pressure is prevailing in the sensible weather over the UP this morning with the 1014mb high centered over southern Ontario keeping weather dry this morning, though some scattered clouds over various portions of the UP and Lake Superior are showing signs of the subsidence weakening in favor of the lift just upstream. A few patches of fog are seen on various METAR reports but nothing with particular spatial or temporal consistency thus far. A few spots in the east have already fallen into the mid 50s for lows, though lows in the west half are expected to remain in the 60s (with Ontonagon still at 68 at almost 08Z with light warming downslope flow off of the Porkies). PoPs have taken a considerable trend downwards with respect to today`s precipitation outlook. CAMs now show only sufficient forcing for precipitation with the first upstream shortwave remaining to the south of the UP with the exception of a couple of CAMs showing some diurnal convection over the western UP and another couple that show the southern and eastern UP getting a glancing blow from precipitation late this evening (though most of the other CAMs confine that wave of precipitation to the Lower Peninsula). Thus, today looks to be another warm day across the UP with warm southerly flow allowing highs to continue to trend upwards, around the 80 degree mark. CAMs for the most part do resolve another Lake Superior lake breeze, though the background southerly flow will result in fairly shallow inland penetration of such a breeze, perhaps around 5 miles. Tonight, attention turns upstream to the aforementioned trough currently over the Canadian Prairie as it approaches the Great Lakes basin. The trough will support a weak surface low pressure, which will lift a weak warm front towards the region around 12Z Saturday. Of particular note however will be the cold front draped south of the low, which the available CAM guidance shows approaching or being over the western arm of Lake Superior by 12Z Saturday. Forcing looks to be stronger with the cold front, so severe thunderstorms ahead of its arrival are not expected, though Euro ensemble MUCAPE values around 250 J/kg will be sufficient for a few rumbles of thunder (conditional on the presence of showers). Another warm night is expected with lows in the lower 60s expected. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 207 PM EDT Thu Jul 10 2025 Beginning Saturday, phasing split flow over the Upper Great Lakes with the passage of a cold front from west to east will result in showers and thunderstorms moving through the forecast area for a majority of the day. Increasing jet dynamics in the afternoon and evening, alongside deep layer shear of 35-45kts and MUCAPE growing potentially to 1000-1500j/kg should support upscale convective growth ahead of the front, posing a strong to severe thunderstorm risk. Location of this risk will depend on the rate of destabilization ahead of the front through the day. However, with 12z guidance leaning into the front pushing into the western counties near 12z, suspect shower and thunderstorm activity may begin early in the west, with strong to severe potential increasing by late morning and early afternoon interior west and central, then peaking in the mid afternoon and evening central and east. Mid-level lapse rates near 6C/km and DCAPE ~1000j/kg suggest mainly a severe wind risk, but should a stronger updraft get going, small hail can`t be ruled out. Shower and storms may have difficulty moving off the frontal boundary per MBE velocities, which with PWATs increasing to near 1.5 inches, the warm cloud layer increasing to 10-12k feet, and some guidance packages suggesting low corfidi vectors, heavy rain will be possible should backbuilding or training occur. Right now flash flood potential, per WPC, is marginal (5-14%), but deterministic guidance suggests potential of 1 to 2 inches of QPF will be possible for parts of central Upper Michigan. Shower and thunderstorms looks to exit east near midnight, with surface ridging building in afterwards. Should notable QPF occur Saturday with enough dry air afterwards to support clear skies overnight, overnight fog may develop. The surface high will dip southeastward through the day Sunday while maintaining ridging overhead. This keeps conditions mostly dry into Monday, although a secondary shortwave within the broad transiting trough may support an afternoon uptick in cloud cover, perhaps diurnally enhanced. In the past 24 hours, guidance on the next wave Monday into Monday night has trended more north, although some deterministic guidance solutions continue to resolve rain/storms. Further upstream, a deep trough and cold front moving through the Canadian Prairies and a shortwave lifting northeast from the Central Plains will shift toward Upper Michigan on Monday. 6z Euro suggest the two features may remain separate, while the GFS continues to suggest potential phasing overhead in the Tuesday and or Wednesday period. Given this uncertainty, confidence in the timing and position of when that batch of precip occurs is low. Daytime highs each day look to climb into the 70s to mid 80s. After next week`s cold front, daytime highs look to climb only into the upper 60s to near 70. Overnight lows are largely expected to be in the 50s and 60s, with potential for may interior locations to cool into the low to mid 40s behind next week`s front. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 149 AM EDT Fri Jul 11 2025 VFR conditions are expected at CMX/SAW through the duration of the 6Z TAF period while IWD likely lowers to MVFR early this morning for FG/BR development. SHRA/TSRA look to return late Fri afternoon/evening, continuing into Fri night at IWD/SAW. With precip onset timing near the end of the period and still some spread yet in guidance, opted to add a PROB30 group in at IWD, but left mention out at SAW for now. CMX likely holds dry until Sat. Otherwise light winds are expected with wind direction possibly impacted by a lake breeze this afternoon. && .MARINE... Issued at 155 PM EDT Thu Jul 10 2025 Winds generally remain around 15 kts or less into the weekend with the exception of some 15 to 20 kts over eastern portions of the lake. By Saturday though, 15 to 20 kt winds out of the southwest will become more widespread through Sunday before decreasing again late Monday. This will coincide with some disturbances moving through the Great Lakes Region over the weekend. With these disturbances, showers and thunderstorms will overspread the lake from west to east Friday through Saturday. Further out, additional shower and thunderstorm chances will accompany a Clipper system late Monday through Tuesday. Also of note, patchy fog could result in reduced visibilities across far western portions of the lake tonight. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Upper Michigan... None. Lake Superior... None. Lake Michigan... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...GS LONG TERM...JTP AVIATION...Jablonski MARINE...TDUD