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000
FXUS63 KLMK 241713
AFDLMK

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1213 PM EST Sat Jan 24 2015

...Updated Aviation Discussion...

...Forecast Update...
Issued at 1000 AM EST Sat Jan 24 2015

Will let the Traveler`s Advisory expire at 10 AM. Better visibility
with the sun up should allow for easier travel this morning.
Temperatures are expected to warm above freezing late this morning
under plenty of sunshine, although areas with the heaviest snow pack
may not rise above freezing until early afternoon. Otherwise, expect
highs topping out in the upper 30s and low 40s over the snow pack,
with mid 40s elsewhere today. Will shift our focus to an approaching
clipper and rain chances tomorrow, and the potential for a change
over to snow Sunday night.

.SHORT TERM (Now through Sunday)...
Issued at 245 AM EST Sat Jan 24 2015

The synoptic pattern early this morning features a trough across the
eastern seaboard, with an upstream ridge situated just off the west
coast.  This trough will actually be reinforced by another strong PV
anomaly diving southeast on Sunday, which will bring another round
of precipitation to the Ohio Valley.

The deformation band continues to slide east this morning, just
about out of the LMK CWA.  Therefore, any additional accumulations
will only be a few tenths, and confined to extreme eastern LMK
counties in the northern Bluegrass and Lake Cumberland regions.
Will be expiring the Winter Weather Advisory and replacing it with a
Traveler`s Advisory for slick roads, as temperatures falling below
freezing coupled with partially snow covered/wet roadways will
likely lead to slick spots this morning.

Otherwise, southwesterly flow will commence today, helping to advect
in warmer temperatures.  This coupled with expected sunshine should
efficiently melt the snow, although areas with 4+ inches will likely
remain cooler than surrounding regions.  For this reason, have kept
those in the deeper snow confined to the upper 30s, with mid 40s
expected elsewhere.

Clouds will increase tonight especially across the Northern
Bluegrass as a weak system slides through OH and WV.  Otherwise,
additional cloud cover will push in/develop from the west out ahead
of the aforementioned PV anomaly by early Sunday morning.  With the
expected clouds, overnight lows should hold in the low to mid 30s.

The 24/00Z guidance suite has trended a bit further south with the
strong PV anomaly and associated surface reflection for Sunday.
Dprog/dt shows this trend has gone on for several runs now, so it is
something we will need to watch.  However, still appears any snow
chances on Sunday will stay off just to the north of the LMK CWA as
the boundary layer will warm too much to allow snow to reach the
ground. Therefore, expect showers within the warm advection regime
to develop by mid Sunday morning, especially across the northern
CWA.  The associated surface cold front will spread additional
showers in from the west by late Sunday into Sunday evening as the
surface low swings by.  Given the quicker/southern trend, cloud
cover looks to be more abundant on Sunday.  Therefore, have lowered
highs into the lower 40s over southern IN, with upper 40s/low 50s
expected across southern KY where there will be a few peeks of
sunshine for the first part of the day.

.LONG TERM (Sunday night through Friday)...
Issued at 310 AM EST Sat Jan 24 2015

Low pressure will be centered near Louisville at the start of the
long term, and will move off to the east Sunday night. Precipitation
will be widespread Sunday evening but will gradually shift from west
to east out of much of the region overnight.  Any lingering precip
on Monday morning would be in the far east and should end by mid
morning. Though precipitation will continue as rain early in the
evening, it will change over to snow from north to south as the
night progresses.  Some light accumulations will be possible,
especially in southern Indiana and north central Kentucky.  In
addition to the rain and snow, winds will be brisk from the
northwest, possibly gusting to around 20 mph.  The combination of
wind, light snow, and temperatures falling into the middle and upper
20s should lead to slick roads Sunday night, possibly into Monday
morning. Something to keep an eye on over the weekend to see how the
Monday morning rush is shaping up.

On the heels of the departing weekend system, low pressure will dive
southeast from the upper Mississippi Valley to the Carolinas Monday
night/Tuesday, bringing us our next chance of precipitation. If we
do get some precip from this quick-hitting system, it would be in
the form of light snow Monday night and a light snow/rain mix
Tuesday.  Again, some light accumulation will be possible,
especially late Monday night.

It should be noted that these two weather-makers are completely
different types of systems than what came through Friday evening.
The Friday snow was from a large southern stream storm with good
access to available moisture.  The Sunday night-Tuesday systems will
be more compact and coming in from the northwest with less moisture
available.  Still something to keep an eye on, though, as even light
amounts of snow can cause problems.

Models are in pretty good agreement late in the week as they bring
low pressure across the Plains and phase it with upper level energy
and moisture coming in from Canada.  Widespread precipitation is
expected to break out from the Ohio Valley northward Thursday and
Thursday night.  Precip on Thursday would be rain, but would then
transition to light snow Thursday night.

Overall, temperatures in the long term really won`t be too bad for
January.  The warmest afternoon will come on Thursday as the mercury
reaches the upper 40s and lower 50s.  Wednesday morning will be the
coldest time, with readings in the lower 20s.

&&

.AVIATION (18Z TAF Update)...
Issued at 1213 PM EST Sat Jan 24 2015

Visibilities have hung around the MVFR range over the snow pack so
far today, however do expect improvment through the afternoon as
steady SW winds take hold. LEX is currently holding onto an IFR
ceiling, however do expect this to improve as well.

Otherwise, expect VFR for the remainder of the day with a steady SSW
wind gusting up around 20 mph at times. Winds will slacken a bit
tonight, along with upper level ceilings working into the area ahead
of the next clipper. Ceilings gradually lower to the mid levels by
Sunday morning, with light rain possible at SDF by midday. Did want
to mention that there could be some fog tonight over what is left of
the snow pack, however light winds may keep things mixy enough.

&&

.LMK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KY...NONE.
IN...NONE.
&&

$$

Update.........BJS
Short Term.....KJD
Long Term......13
Aviation.......BJS