Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wilmington, OH

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000 FXUS61 KILN 231043 AFDILN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 643 AM EDT THU MAY 23 2013 .SYNOPSIS... AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES EAST THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES...RAIN SHOWERS WILL BE LIKELY THROUGH THE DAY TODAY. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION TONIGHT...WITH COOL AND DRY AIR MOVING IN FROM THE NORTH THROUGH FRIDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN THROUGH SATURDAY. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/... ALTHOUGH A WEAK AND ALMOST INDISCERNIBLE COLD FRONT HAS PASSED INTO THE REGION TONIGHT...THERE REMAINS A SMALL AMOUNT OF ELEVATED INSTABILITY...AND THE ATMOSPHERE IS STILL RATHER MOIST. WITH HEIGHTS STILL FALLING AND WEAK SYNOPTIC LIFT OVER THE REGION...SOME SHOWERS (AND EVEN A COUPLE WEAK THUNDERSTORMS) HAVE MANAGED TO KEEP ON GOING OVERNIGHT. POPS WERE INCREASED IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS PRECIPITATION...ALTHOUGH THE OVERALL TREND (AND DIURNAL TIMING) WOULD ARGUE AGAINST MUCH ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE MORNING. BY EARLY AFTERNOON...ATTENTION WILL TURN TO THE STRONGER COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE NORTH. AS THIS FRONT MOVES CLOSER TO THE ILN CWA...THE MAIN AXIS OF THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL ALSO BE PIVOTING OVERHEAD. THIS WILL LEAD TO A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN TEMPERATURES ALOFT...WELL BEFORE THE SURFACE FRONTAL BOUNDARY ARRIVES. THUS...SOME WEAK INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP. COMBINED WITH THE FORCING FROM THE TROUGH...ALL INDICATIONS ARE FOR FAIRLY WIDESPREAD CONVECTIVE SHOWER DEVELOPMENT BY AFTERNOON...WITH THE GREATEST COVERAGE (AND PERHAPS INTENSITY) IN THE NORTHERN AND NORTHEASTERN PARTS OF THE CWA. POPS WERE INCREASED TO LIKELY FOR THE ENTIRE CWA...AND CATEGORICAL IN THE NE. THE INSTABILITY WILL BE NARROW AND SHALLOW...SO THE CHANCES OF THUNDER MAY NOT BE ESPECIALLY HIGH. THIS FORECAST PACKAGE WILL KEEP THUNDER GOING IN THE GRIDS FOR A WHILE IN THE AFTERNOON...BUT THIS IS NOT PARTICULARLY CERTAIN...AND THUNDER MAY NOT OCCUR AT ALL IN THE NW CWA. ALSO...WHILE THESE COLD UPPER-LEVEL SYSTEMS CAN SOMETIMES ALLOW FOR CONVECTIVE SHOWERS TO DEVELOP SMALL HAIL...THE CAPE ON BUFKIT SOUNDINGS JUST DOES NOT SEEM TO REACH HIGH ENOUGH (OR COLD ENOUGH) TO MAKE THAT VERY LIKELY EITHER. MAX TEMPS HAVE A BIT OF A GRADIENT TODAY...AS THE SURFACE COLD FRONT BEGINS TO GET INTO THE NORTHERN CWA BY THE END OF THE AFTERNOON...PERHAPS LIMITING HEATING BY A COUPLE HOURS THERE. THERE MAY BE LESS CLOUD COVER IN THE SOUTHEAST EARLY IN THE DAY...SO MAX TEMPS ARE A BIT HIGHER THERE. OVERALL THE FORECAST WAS NOT CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE PREVIOUS GRIDS...AND NO MAJOR DISCREPANCIES WERE NOTED IN THE MAIN SUITE OF MODEL GUIDANCE. && .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... SUBSIDENCE WILL BEGIN IN EARNEST BEHIND THE COLD FRONT ON THURSDAY NIGHT...WITH A SWITCH TO NORTHERLY WINDS ALLOWING FOR COLD ADVECTION TO BEGIN AT THE SURFACE. THE MIN TEMP FORECAST BRINGS THE ENTIRE CWA INTO THE LOWER TO MID 40S...WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR 40 (OR EVEN AROUND 38-39) IN THE FAR NORTHERN COUNTIES. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE SHOULD BE CENTERED OVER THE REGION ON FRIDAY...AND THIS AIR MASS APPEARS QUITE DRY. 850MB TEMPS WILL ALSO BE AT THEIR COLDEST ON FRIDAY...LEADING TO A RATHER COOL MAX TEMP FORECAST THAT KEEPS THE ENTIRE CWA IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 60S. ALTHOUGH THE SURFACE WILL STILL BE IN AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE BY FRIDAY NIGHT...THE UPPER FLOW WILL SWITCH TO THE NORTHWEST. THE SURFACE HIGH IS FORECAST TO WEAKEN BY SATURDAY...BUT THE IMPACT OF UPSTREAM MOISTURE ALOFT LOOKS SOMEWHAT UNCERTAIN. SOME MODELS CONTINUE TO ALLOW FOR A NARROW STRIP OF QPF BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY IN THE SW CWA...BUT THIS WOULD HAVE TO FALL THROUGH A VERY DRY AIR MASS IN THE LOWEST SEVERAL HUNDRED MB. IN FACT...AT THE TIME OF PRECIPITATION...GFS SOUNDINGS SHOW CLOUD BASES OF AT LEAST 7000 FEET. KEEPING THE FORECAST DRY APPEARS THE BETTER OPTION FOR NOW...WITH THE SURFACE HIGH AND DRY AIR ARGUING AGAINST MUCH OF AN IMPACT FROM WHATEVER MAY BE COMING IN ON THE NORTHWEST FLOW. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... GFS IS STILL SHOWING THESE H5 DISTURBANCES UNDERCUTTING THE RIDGE AND NOSING INTO THE REGION MON/TUES WHERE EUROPEAN IS SOMEWHAT SIMILAR WITH AN ELEVATED CONVERGENT LAYER BUT MUCH FURTHER SOUTHWEST AND OUT OF CWA. SURFACE HIGH MOVES OFFSHORE EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH DRYING SOUTHEAST SURFACE WINDS OVER THE OHIO VALLEY. UPPER LEVEL FLOW IS SHOWING A BROADENING OF THE H5 RIDGE AS IT MOVES OVER THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE COUNTRY. HAVE INCREASED THE CHANCES FOR MID LEVEL DISTURBANCES TO UNDERCUT THE RIDGE AT THIS TIME BUT KEEP THE THREAT FOR SHOWERS LOW AT 20% TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. EXPECT A GRADUAL WARMUP EACH DAY...STARTING IN THE UPPER 60S TO AROUND 70 SATURDAY...WARMING TO NEAR 80/LOW 80S BY WED. PM LOWS WILL BE COMFORTABLY COOL IN THE 40S THROUGH MON MORNING UNDER A DRY AIRMASS AND THEN WARM TO THE CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMS IN THE MID 50S BY MID WEEK. && .AVIATION /12Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
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UPPER LEVEL LOW CENTERED OVER THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES THIS MORNING WILL PIVOT SOUTHEAST ACROSS OUR REGION THROUGH THE DAY. THIS FEATURE WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A MORE VIGOROUS DISTURBANCE IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH A STRONGER COLD FRONT WHICH IS FORECAST TO PASS SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE TAF SITES LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. FROM LATE THIS MORNING INTO THIS AFTERNOON...LARGE SCALE ASCENT ASSOCIATED WITH THE MAIN UPPER LOW WILL COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING/INSTABILITY TO PRODUCE SHOWERS. CAN NOT RULE OUT SOME EMBEDDED THUNDER...BUT THIS WILL BE TOO SPORADIC TO PINPOINT IN THE TAFS AT THIS TIME SO HAVE LEFT OUT. SHOWERS SHOULD BECOME A LITTLE HEAVIER OUT AHEAD OF THE SECONDARY COLD FRONT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AND WITH MOISTENING LOW LEVELS...HAVE GONE WITH PREDOMINANT MVFR CONDITIONS. FOR TONIGHT...COLD FRONT WILL SLIDE SOUTHEAST AND WILL RESULT IN WINDS SWITCHING TO THE NORTH...WHICH WILL BECOME GUSTY AROUND 25 KNOTS. DILEMMA IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE COLD FRONT IS HOW LOW CEILINGS WILL DROP IN THE CAA PATTERN. SOME DETERMINISTIC AND ENSEMBLES SUGGEST THAT CEILINGS COULD DROP INTO IFR FOR A TIME...ESPECIALLY UP IN THE KCMH/KLCK AREA. HAVE KEPT CEILINGS IN THE 1000-1500 RANGE...EXCEPT FOR KCMH/KLCK WHERE CEILINGS WILL BE DROPPED TO IFR FOR A TIME...AROUND 8 HUNDRED FEET. OTHERWISE...ONCE THE SECONDARY DISTURBANCE PASSES SOUTHEAST...MUCH DRIER AIR WILL FILTER INTO THE REGION UNDER STRONG SUBSIDENCE BETWEEN 09Z AND 12Z. AS SUCH...ANY LOW LEVEL STRATUS SHOULD SCOUR OUT AND/OR PUSH SOUTHEAST AWAY FROM THE REGION...LEAVING MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES BY 12Z FRIDAY. OUTLOOK...NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EXPECTED.
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&& .ILN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...NONE. KY...NONE. IN...NONE. && $$ SYNOPSIS...HATZOS NEAR TERM...HATZOS SHORT TERM...HATZOS LONG TERM...FRANKS AVIATION...HICKMAN

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