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000
FXUS63 KDLH 281758 AAC
AFDDLH

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
1158 AM CST WED JAN 28 2015

.UPDATE...
ISSUED AT 1158 AM CST WED JAN 28 2015

NEW 18Z AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW...

UPDATE ISSUED AT 1123 AM CST WED JAN 28 2015

LATE THIS MORNING...PERSISTENT LOW CLOUDS WERE FOUND ACROSS THE
NORTHLAND. HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANY REPORTS OF LOCAL
FREEZING DRIZZLE OR OR SNOW AS OF 11 AM. WILL HOLD OFF MENTIONING
FZDZ FOR ANY OF THE DAYTIME HOURS...BUT WILL ADD SOME TO THE
SOUTHERN CWA THIS EVENING FOR A TIME.

UPDATE ISSUED AT 654 AM CST WED JAN 28 2015

ADDED SOME PATCHY FOG THIS MORNING AS SEVERAL LOCATIONS ARE
REPORTING. SHOULD SEE THE FOG LIFT BY 15Z. REST OF THE FORECAST ON
TRACK.

&&

.SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY)
ISSUED AT 353 AM CST WED JAN 28 2015

LOW PRESSURE WAS ORGANIZING IN THE DAKOTAS AT 08Z WITH A FRONTAL
BOUNDARY EXTENDING NORTHEASTWARD INTO SOUTHERN MANITOBA AND INTO NW
ONTARIO. IN THE WAA AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM...SOME LIGHT SNOW WAS
FALLING OVER THE ARROWHEAD WITH LITTLE ACCUMULATION. NORTH OF THE
CANADIAN BORDER...SOME LIGHT FREEZING RAIN WAS OCCURRING RIGHT NEAR
THE FRONT FROM WINNIPEG TO NEAR DRYDEN. LATEST SHORT TERM HRRR AND
RAP KEEP THIS FREEZING RAIN NORTH OF THE BORDER. THE LIGHT SNOW OVER
THE ARROWHEAD IS EXPECTED TO SLOWLY END BY NOON. LITTLE ADDITIONAL
ACCUMULATION IS ANTICIPATED.

BY THIS AFTERNOON...THE SFC LOW MOVES EASTWARD WITH THE LOW CENTER
BEGINS TO REORGANIZE AND DRIFT INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA BY 00Z THURSDAY.
MEANWHILE...A MID LEVEL LONG WAVE TROF MOVES OVER THE WESTERN GREAT
LAKES. SOME MODEL DIFFERENCES BEGIN TO REVEL THEMSELVES WITH RESPECT
TO QPF PLACEMENT AND THE AMOUNT OF COLD AIR FORECAST TO DROP INTO
THE FORECAST AREA. THE GFS IS THE MOST ROBUST AND FURTHEST SOUTH
WHILE THE ECMWF HAS LIMITED QPF AND KEEPS IT NEAR THE CANADIAN
BORDER. HAVE USED A BLENDED APPROACH AND KEPT POPS TO THE NORTHERN
HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA BY LATE AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION TYPE WILL
BE ALL SNOW. LATEST FORECAST SOUNDINGS ARE NOT SUPPORTING THE
MENTION OF FREEZING RAIN OR FREEZING DRIZZLE AND HAVE REMOVED.

TONIGHT...THE MID LEVEL LONG WAVE TROF MOVES EAST OF THE FORECAST
AREA BY 12Z THURSDAY. THIS PUSHES THE SFC LOW EAST OF THE AREA AS
WELL. BEHIND THIS SYSTEM...A TIGHTENING PRESSURE GRADIENT MOVES OVER
THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE WESTERN
DAKOTAS. MADE SOME MINOR CHANGES TO THE POPS AND THEIR TIMING ACROSS
THE AREA...WITH THE SNOW ENDING LATE TONIGHT OVER THE SOUTHWEST
PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA TO THE TWIN PORTS LATE TONIGHT.
FORECAST SOUNDINGS INDICATE THAT THE PRECIPITATION TYPE WILL BE ALL
SNOW AND HAVE REMOVED THE MENTION FREEZING RAIN/FREEZING DRIZZLE AND
SLEET. SNOW AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS OF AROUND
ONE HALF INCH FOUND ALONG THE CANADIAN BORDER.

ON THURSDAY...ONLY MADE SOME MINOR CHANGES TO THE POPS AND WEATHER
AS MODELS ARE IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT. WILL STILL HAVE GUSTY WINDS AS
THE TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT REMAINS UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON WHEN THE
AFOREMENTIONED HIGH PRESSURE MOVES INTO THE RED RIVER VALLEY. A NW
WIND OVER LAKE SUPERIOR AND CAA WILL LEAD TO SOME LAKE EFFECT SNOW
ALONG THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE SOUTH SHORE. SNOW AMOUNTS WILL BE
LIGHT HOWEVER AS DEEP COLD AIR IS LACKING UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON.

.LONG TERM...(THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY)
ISSUED AT 353 AM CST WED JAN 28 2015

MUCH COLDER AIR ON THE WAY FOR THIS WEEKEND WITH A CHANCE FOR SNOW
FROM...YOU GUESSED IT...ANOTHER WEAK CLIPPER SYSTEM. THE LARGE SCALE
PATTERN WILL UNDERGO SOME CHANGES THROUGH THE LONG TERM THAT WILL
/AT LEAST TEMPORARILY/ PUT A STOP TO WHAT HAS BEEN A LONG PERIOD OF
WEAK /AND FRANKLY DISAPPOINTING FOR SNOW LOVERS/ CLIPPERS.
TEMPERATURES WILL DROP FROM WHAT HAS BEEN A VERY MILD PATTERN TO A
COLDER REGIME...ENDING THE LAST WEEK OF JANUARY WITH TEMPS SIMILAR
TO THE FIRST WEEK OF THE MONTH.

ON THE SYNOPTIC SCALE A SERIES OF STRONG ARCTIC AIR MASSES WILL DROP
DOWN INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND UPPER MIDWEST. LATE THIS WEEK AN
AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA THURSDAY NIGHT
FOLLOWED BY A WEAK CLIPPER ON FRIDAY/FRIDAY NIGHT. THEN LATE IN THE
WEEKEND A DEEP LONGWAVE TROUGH AT MID-LEVELS WILL DESCEND OVER THE
MIDWEST LEADING TO VERY COLD AIR ALOFT...850MB TEMPS APPROACHING THE
COLDEST 10 PERCENT OF CLIMATOLOGY IN THE MID -20S C /COMPARED TO 00Z
TODAY WHEN THEY WERE IN THE WARMEST 10 PERCENT OF CLIMO AT AROUND
0C/.

BEST CHANCE FOR SNOWFALL ACROSS THE REGION WILL BE LATE FRIDAY
AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY NIGHT A CLIPPER MOVES ACROSS. GFS AND ECMWF IN
GOOD AGREEMENT ON TIMING...WITH ECMWF PESSIMISTIC ON INTENSITY AND
GFS A LITTLE STRONGER WITH A DEEPER MOISTURE PROFILE. GEM WAS SLOWER
AND NOT AS INTENSE OVERALL...BUT THIS WAS A PRETTY BIG CHANGE FROM
12Z GEM WHICH WAS FASTER AND MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVE ON PRECIP. AT THIS
POINT IT LOOKS LIKE A QUICK INCH OR TWO FOR NORTHERN MINNESOTA NORTH
OF HIGHWAY TWO. OTHERWISE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANCES FOR PRECIP IN THE
SEVEN DAY FOR MUCH OF THE REGION...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF LAKE EFFECT
SNOWFALL ALONG PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR.

LAKE EFFECT SNOWFALL WILL BE PRESENT THROUGH MUCH OF THE LONG TERM
PERIOD. ON THURSDAY NIGHT CONDITIONS WILL BE GOOD FOR LAKE EFFECT
SNOWFALL ALONG THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF IRON/ASHLAND COUNTIES WITH
STEEP LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES THROUGH 850MB AND GREAT NORTH/NORTHWEST
FLOW OVER THE LAKE. ICE COVERAGE ON THE SOUTH SHORE MAY LIMIT THE
INTENSITY OF LAKE EFFECT SNOWFALL...AND OPTED TO LEAVE NORTHERN
BAYFIELD COUNTY OUT OF HIGHER CHANCES FOR LAKE EFFECT SNOWFALL DUE
TO WHAT WOULD BE A VERY LIMITED FETCH LENGTH. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
WILL ALSO BE A FACTOR AS NAM/GFS/ECMWF DEPICT A NEAR-SURFACE DRY
LAYER...SO IT MAY TAKE A WHILE TO SATURATE LOW LEVELS AND THUS LIMIT
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. LAKE EFFECT WILL TAPER OFF AS HIGH PRESSURE MOVES
OVER LAKE SUPERIOR ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON...BUT RAMP BACK UP AGAIN ON
SATURDAY AND THROUGH ABOUT TUESDAY DUE TO THE VERY COLD AIRMASS THAT
WILL BE IN PLACE.

TEMPS WILL BE ON A DOWNWARD TREND...AND HAVE ADJUSTED SOME OF THE
USUAL COLD SPOTS A LITTLE COLDER THAN INITIAL GUIDANCE TO ACCOUNT
FOR THE ARCTIC HIGHS THAT WILL BE OVER NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA IN THE
LONG TERM. HIGHS IN THE MID TEENS TO MID 20S ON SATURDAY...THEN THE
SINGLE DIGITS ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY BEFORE RECOVERING TO THE TEENS
TUESDAY. LOWS NEAR ZERO TO TEN OR MORE BELOW ZERO ON THURSDAY
NIGHT...MILD FRIDAY NIGHT DUE TO WEAK SOUTHERLY WINDS...THEN 0 TO
-15 SATURDAY NIGHT AND 10 TO 20 BELOW ZERO ON SUNDAY NIGHT. MONDAY
MORNING WILL BE THE COLDEST PERIOD IN THE LONG TERM WITH WIND CHILL
VALUES OF 25 TO 35 BELOW ZERO...AND COLD SPOTS IN THE TIP OF THE
ARROWHEAD REGION NEAR 40 BELOW ZERO.

&&

.AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY AFTERNOON)
ISSUED AT 1158 AM CST WED JAN 28 2015

IFR/LIFR CIGS AND MVFR/IFR VSBYS WERE FOUND ACROSS THE AREA LATE
THIS MORNING...AND THAT TREND SHOULD CONTINUE INTO THIS AFTERNOON
AT ALL TERMINALS. AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW/FREEZING DRIZZLE/FREEZING
FOG HAVE BEEN REPORTED OVER NORTHWEST MINNESOTA AND PORTIONS OF
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO...AND EXPECT PRECIPITATION TO MOVE INTO INL
LATER THIS AFTERNOON. CONFIDENCE IN PRECIPITATION TYPE IS LOW...BUT
IT SEEMS FREEZING DRIZZLE/FREEZING FOG ARE MORE LIKELY THAN LIGHT
SNOW WITH THIS PACKAGE. AS DEEPER SATURATION EXPANDS ACROSS
REMAINING MN AIRPORTS THIS AFTERNOON...INTRODUCED A MIX OF
FREEZING DRIZZLE/LIGHT SNOW BEFORE 29.00Z. THE PRECIPITATION WILL
BE SLOWEST TO ARRIVE AT HAYWARD...WHERE ONSET SHOULD BE DELAYED
UNTIL THIS EVENING.

FOCUS THEN SHIFTS TO AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT LATER OVERNIGHT AND
COLD AIR POURING INTO THE AREA ON THURSDAY. WINDS WILL VEER
NORTHWEST THIS EVENING...BUT THE INCREASE IN SPEEDS WILL BE
DELAYED UNTIL LATE OVERNIGHT/EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES
WILL COOL SUFFICIENTLY TO SWITCH PRECIPITATION TO ALL SNOW AND THE
STRONG WINDS WILL RESULT IN MVFR VSBYS.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DLH  31  24  24  -1 /  10  50  10   0
INL  31  16  16 -10 /  10  60  10   0
BRD  34  22  22   5 /  10  40   0   0
HYR  32  27  28  -2 /  10  50  20   0
ASX  34  27  29   2 /  10  50  20  20

&&

.DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MN...NONE.
WI...NONE.
LS...NONE.
&&

$$

UPDATE...DAP
SHORT TERM...GSF
LONG TERM...JJM
AVIATION...HUYCK