Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Boston, MA

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216 FXUS61 KBOX 112305 AFDBOX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA 705 PM EDT Sat May 11 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Increasing clouds tonight ahead of an approaching system across the eastern Great Lakes. A few showers possible late tonight with a hit or miss shower on Sunday, not expecting a washout. Another cooler than normal day is expected Sunday. Milder next week with the risk for showers increasing Tuesday into Wednesday, then mainly dry and seasonable toward the end of next week. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM SUNDAY MORNING/... Highlights: * Mixture of sun and clouds to wrap up this afternoon, but increasing mid and high clouds this evening to likely obscure the aurora overnight. Diurnal cumulus clouds this afternoon and cooler temperatures across southern New England. Many locations as of early this afternoon are in the 50s to mid 60s, warm spot in the CT River Valley. Southern New England is positioned between an area of high pressure near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and surface low pressure well to the southeast of Nantucket. Due to this setup, a northeast flow has kept our temperatures below normal... The normal high for today ranges between 65 to 70 degrees! Diurnal clouds dissipate late this afternoon/early evening, but a robust shortwave to our west will advect moisture and cloud cover for this evening and overnight hours. Not the best news for those seeking to get a glimpse of the aurora overnight. While there could be a few breaks in the cloud cover, do think there will be blanket of mid and high clouds aloft before midnight and remains with us into Sunday. A few showers are possible, mainly areas west of the CT River Valley as the shortwave moves in from the west. Otherwise a dry night. Temperatures aloft are fairly cold, 850mb temperatures are between +1C to -2C, which is -5C to -10C below the climatological normal. That said, a cooler night ahead despite the cloud cover, look for overnight low temperatures in the upper 30s to middle 40s. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... Highlights: * Another cooler day with a few showers possible. Sunday & Sunday Night: A weak surface low pressure develops around the eastern Great Lakes and moves southeast, promoting shower activity over New York, but a few showers are possible in western Connecticut and Massachusetts. While the day is mainly dry, an anomolously cold airmass aloft and shortwave pushes across southern New England, the cold pool could trigger a few spot/pop-up showers across all of southern New England as seen on the 12z CAMs. Good news, not a washout, showers will be isolated and brief. Winds are generally out of the southeast, but along the east coast of Massachusetts do think a seabreeze develops which will keep the wind direction out of the east. Another cooler afternoon with highs in the upper 50s and low 60s away from the coast, near the coast temperatures are in the mid 50s. Clearing sky overnight with high pressure settling back into the region, temperatures aloft are increasing, despite the clear sky don`t expect low temperatures to be much cooler than the night before, in fact a few degrees warmer int he low and middle 40s. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Highlights: * Warming up Monday and Tuesday with afternoon high temperatures near or above 70 degrees * A coastal low-pressure system is forecast to bring a period of substantial rainfall and gusty winds to the region Tuesday night into Wednesday * Drying out late week with more seasonable temperatures in the 60s and 70s Monday and Tuesday The week begins with an upper-level low and cold pool aloft shifting east of southern New England. Behind this system a broad upper-level ridge will build over the eastern US and replace the anomalously cool air mass currently in place with a warmer and more seasonable air mass for mid-May. 925 hPa temps rise to 10C on Monday afternoon and 15C on Tuesday afternoon. This should support warmer temperatures in the upper 60s on Monday afternoon and low to mid 70s on Tuesday afternoon. Sea-breezes may keep the coastal areas a bit cooler on Monday. Precipitation chance begin to increase late Tuesday in response to warm advect ahead of a fairly robust short-wave trough advancing over The Midwest/Ohio River Valley. Most areas stay dry on Tuesday, but can`t rule out a few spot showers Tuesday evening. Tuesday night and Wednesday By Tuesday night, the short-wave over The Midwest will be traversing east with a surface low-pressure system developing at the surface. This system is forecast to bring a substantial amount of precipitation to southern New England Tuesday night into much of Wednesday. This system appears as though it will take a coastal- storm track south of southern New England. This would presumably support more stable conditions across the region and limit any potential for spring convection. Nonetheless, strong synoptic forcing/FGEN and PWATs approaching 1.5" will allow for precipitation around an inch or greater by Wednesday night. Ensemble probabilities of an inch or greater are about 50 percent across southern New England with a 10 to 20 percent chance of up to 2 inches over the south coast. Accumulations will be heavily dependent on storm track and just how much moisture is available, but confidence is increasing in a substantial precipitation event during this time frame. Winds may be gusty at times as well with 20 to 30 mph gusts possible Tuesday night and Wednesday. Latest guidance supports this system being east of the region by Wednesday night leading to a dry day on Thursday. Thursday and Friday Northwest flow behind a departing area of low-pressure will advect a drier air mass over southern New England to end the week. This will support plenty of sunshine on Thursday with highs in the upper 60s to low 70s. A ridge axis overhead should keep the region dry with warm/seasonable temperatures to end the week as well. As the ridge axis shifts east late week, return flow from the south will support increasing cloudiness and precipitation ahead of our next low- pressure system which may bring more precipitation to the region early next weekend. && .AVIATION /23Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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Forecast Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Moderate - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. 00Z TAF Update Tonight... High confidence. VFR for most with MVFR cigs over The Cape/Islands and at BAF/BDL. Sunday... Moderate confidence. VFR, areas of MVFR and scattered showers are possible across western Massachusetts and Connecticut. Southeast wind 5-10 knots with sea breezes developing after 14z. Sunday Night... High confidence. VFR. Patchy fog possible in prone radiator locations. Light southwest winds. KBOS TAF...High confidence in TAF. VFR. Low chance for a spot shower overnight, but otherwise dry runways. East-northeast winds this afternoon and evening, becoming light and variable after 04z. Seabreeze possible after 14z. KBDL TAF...High confidence in TAF. MVFR conditions become possible after 08z. East wind becomes southeast tonight less than 5 knots. MVFR CIGS Sunday morning becoming VFR by early tomorrow afternoon. Outlook /Monday through Thursday/... Monday: VFR. Breezy. Monday Night: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Breezy. Slight chance SHRA. Tuesday: VFR. Windy with local gusts up to 30 kt. Chance SHRA. Tuesday Night: Mainly MVFR, with local IFR possible. Windy with local gusts up to 30 kt. SHRA, isolated TSRA. Wednesday: MVFR/IFR conditions possible. Breezy. SHRA likely. Wednesday Night: Mainly VFR, with areas IFR possible. Breezy. Chance SHRA. Thursday: VFR. Breezy. Slight chance SHRA.
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&& .MARINE... Forecaster Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Medium - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. Through Sunday Night... Pressure gradient brings east/northeast winds this afternoon across the southern waters to 25-30 knots, becoming light and variable overnight with high pressure settling over the waters. Residual seas on the southern waters of 5 foot are the basis for the Small Craft Advisory through portions of Sunday. A few spot and brief showers possible Sunday morning then dry conditions into Sunday night. Outlook /Monday through Thursday/... Monday: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Monday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Slight chance of rain showers. Tuesday: Moderate risk for Small Craft Advisory winds with gusts up to 30 kt. Areas of seas approaching 5 ft. Slight chance of rain showers. Tuesday Night through Wednesday: Moderate risk for Small Craft Advisory winds with gusts up to 30 kt. Seas up to 5 ft. Rain showers likely. Wednesday Night: Low risk for Small Craft Advisory winds with gusts up to 20 kt. Areas of rough seas. Chance of rain showers. Thursday: Winds less than 25 kt. Areas of rough seas. Slight chance of rain showers. && .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. MA...None. RI...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 8 PM EDT Sunday for ANZ254-255. Small Craft Advisory until 2 AM EDT Sunday for ANZ256. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Dooley/RM NEAR TERM...Dooley SHORT TERM...Dooley LONG TERM...RM AVIATION...Dooley/RM MARINE...Dooley/RM