000
FXUS64 KLIX 221716
AFDLIX

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1216 PM CDT WED MAY 22 2013

.AVIATION...
18Z TAF DISCUSSION...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUE TO IMPACT SE LA AND S MS. OUTSIDE OF ANY CONVECTION...
EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS TO PREVAIL THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS. WITH
INCREASED MOISTURE AND LIGHT WINDS FORECAST OVERNIGHT...LOW CIGS
AND PATCHY FOG WILL ONCE AGAIN BE POSSIBLE. HAVE INCLUDED TEMPO
GROUPS AT NEARLY ALL TAF SITES FOR MVFR OR IFR CIGS AND/OR VSBYS.
EXPECT CONDITIONS TO IMPROVE AFTER SUNRISE.

&&

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 806 AM CDT WED MAY 22 2013/

SOUNDING DISCUSSION...
NO ISSUES WITH THE FLIGHT THIS MORNING. PW MEASURED AT 1.66
INCHES WITH MOISTURE MEASURED FROM THE SFC THROUGH 35K FT. MOIST
SOUTHERLY FLOW FROM THE SFC THROUGH 10K FEET THEN SW TO W UPWARD.
NOT A SEVERE SOUNDING BUT THERE IS SUPPORT FOR HEAVY RAIN
ASSOCIATED WITH THE CURRENT AREA OF SHOWERS AND STORMS ON THE
RADAR. FREEZING LEVEL MEASURED AT 12753 KFT. OVERALL SOUNDING IS
WARMER THEN 24 HOURS AGO.

SHORT TERM...
MODELS HAVING A TOUGH TIME WITH AMOUNT AND TIMING OF THIS MORNINGS
CONVECTION. UPDATED POPS AND QPF AS THE AREA OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS PUSHES EAST. RAINFALL RATES BEING REPRESENTED VERY
WELL ON THE WSR88D DUAL POL WITH OVER 2 INCHES IN MANY AREAS
OVERNIGHT. RAINFALL RATES ARE HIGH WITH AN INCH REPORTED AT KBTR
IN 7 MINUTES.

DECISION SUPPORT...

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 519 AM CDT WED MAY 22 2013/

SHORT TERM...
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY MOVED INTO ABOUT THE
NORTHWEST THIRD OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE ONLY MODEL THAT HAD A
DECENT HANDLE ON THIS WAS A HI-RES WRF RUN FROM YESTERDAY...AS
MOST OF THE OTHER MODELS ARE NOT FAST ENOUGH. THIS CONVECTION IS
IN ADVANCE OF THE WAKE SURFACE LOW NEAR THE TEXAS/LOUISIANA BORDER
AND THE MID/UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING FROM THE SOUTHERN
PLAINS INTO THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. THE ACCELERATION OF
CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY IS TYPICAL IN THIS VERY DIVERGENT UPPER LEVEL
PATTERN WHICH SHOULD PERSIST STRONGLY OVER THE FORECAST AREA TODAY
ALONG WITH DEEP MOISTURE PROFILES. THE BIG QUESTION AND FORECAST
PROBLEM TODAY IS WHETHER THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
ABLE TO BUILD BACK NORTH AGAINST THE MOMENTUM OF THE SOUTHWARD
MOVING OUTFLOW BOUNDARY...AND IF A SURFACE BOUNDARY WILL STALL AND
PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL. IT APPEARS IT IS MORE LIKELY A BOUNDARY
WILL STALL RATHER THAN MOVE BACK NORTH AT THIS POINT.

HEAVY RAIN AND FLASH FLOODING CONCERNS HAVE ALREADY STARTED IN
SOME AREAS NORTH OF BATON ROUGE EARLY THIS MORNING...AND LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME
WITH A FEW ISOLATED AREAS POSSIBLY SEEING 4 INCHES ARE EXPECTED
GIVEN THE CURRENT RADAR TRENDS. THESE HEAVIER RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE
MOST LIKELY DURING THE EARLY TO MID MORNING HOURS...THEN THE
HEAVIER RAIN AREAS SHOULD BECOME MORE ISOLATED AS CONVECTION
BECOMES MORE SCATTERED BY LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. GIVEN THE
HIGH FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE...WILL HOLD OFF ON ISSUING A FLASH FLOOD
WATCH AT THIS TIME. THE THREAT OF ORGANIZED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
IS LOW TODAY...HOWEVER...SOME OF THE STRONGER CLUSTERS OF STORMS
THAT DEVELOP MINI-BOW STRUCTURES COULD APPROACH SEVERE LEVELS AND
PRODUCE WIND GUSTS IN THE 40 TO 50 MPH RANGE AND POSSIBLY SOME
SMALL HAIL.

SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH FROM THE
WEST LATE IN THE AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT AS THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL
SUPPORT PUSHES EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA. ON THURSDAY...A
MID/UPPER TROUGH WILL AMPLIFY OVER THE EASTERN SEABOARD REGION AS
A MID/UPPER LOW/TROUGH PERSISTS OVER THE PACIFIC COAST. IN
BETWEEN...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. ON
THURSDAY WITH NORTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE CENTRAL GULF COAST. THERE
WILL BE A WEST TO EAST FRONTAL BOUNDARY SAGGING SLOWLY SOUTH OR
TEMPORARILY STALLING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST
AREA ON THURSDAY AS WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVE ACROSS THE
BOUNDARY. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL HAVE MUCH LESS MOISTURE CONTENT TO
WORK WITH WHICH MEANS A LACK OF CLOUDS AND FAIRLY HOT TEMPERATURES
WILL BE EXPECTED. MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES WILL BE RATHER COOL WITH
STEEP LAPSE RATES...SO INSTABILITY WILL BE HIGH. SINCE THE
DYNAMICS WILL BE WEAK...WILL ONLY CARRY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS AT THIS TIME.

THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY...THE DIGGING UPPER TROUGH OVER THE
EASTERN STATES WILL CAUSE SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE TO STRENGTHEN AND
BUILD SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST FROM THE MIDWEST INTO THE SOUTHEAST
STATES. THIS WILL PUSH A WEAK COLD FRONT WITH MUCH DRIER AIR SOUTH
THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA. THE BOUNDARY MAY BE HUNG UP JUST ENOUGH
FOR A FEW AFTERNOON SHOWERS NEAR THE ATCHAFALAYA RIVER...BUT MOST
AREAS SHOULD BE DRY AND LESS HUMID. TEMPERATURES WILL FALL TO MORE
COMFORTABLE AND BELOW AVERAGE LEVELS FRIDAY NIGHT AS THE SURFACE
HIGH CONTINUES TO BUILD IN FROM THE NORTH.

LONG TERM...
LITTLE CHANGE IN THE OVERALL WEATHER PATTERN IS EXPECTED FROM
FRIDAY THROUGH THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND AS THE UPPER SYSTEMS OVER BOTH
THE WEST AND EAST COASTS WILL ONLY SLOWLY PROGRESS EAST WHILE A
RIDGE PERSISTS OVER THE CENTRAL STATES. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL
GRADUALLY WEAKEN AND SHIFT EAST...BUT WILL MAINTAIN ITS GRIP ON
THE GULF COAST REGION. THIS MEANS THERE SHOULD BE NO THREAT OF
RAIN WITH ABUNDANT SUNSHINE. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NOTICEABLY
COOLER DURING THE NIGHTS AND MORNINGS OVER THE WEEKEND DUE TO THE
LOWER HUMIDITY...AND HAVE LOWERED THE FORECAST LOWS MORE IN LINE
WITH THE GFS TRENDS FROM THE LAST FEW RUNS. THE HIGH TEMPERATURES
ARE EXPECTED TO BE NEAR THE SEASONAL AVERAGES IN THE MID TO UPPER
80S.

THE NEXT SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN IS EXPECTED TO RETURN ABOUT NEXT
WEDNESDAY AS SOME MOISTURE RETURN FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO MAY
ALLOW FOR SOME ISOLATED DIURNAL SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS. 22/TD

MARINE...
WHILE HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE GULF...A WEAK FRONTAL
BOUNDARY WILL APPROACH THE COAST AND BECOME STATIONARY. HIGH
PRESSURE WILL BRIDGE ACROSS THE FRONT FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY...WITH
FLOW BECOMING OFFSHORE. THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL...ESPECIALLY IN
THE EASTERN WATERS...OF A PERIOD OF EXERCISE CAUTION CONDITIONS
FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING AS DRIER AIR WORKS IN. ONSHORE
FLOW RETURNS SUNDAY NIGHT AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF NEXT
WEEK. 35

DECISION SUPPORT...
DSS CODE...BLUE.
DEPLOYED...NONE.
ACTIVATION...NONE.
ACTIVITIES...SLURRY SUPPORT.
             MONITORING RIVER FLOODING.
             MONITORING CONVECTION AND HEAVY RAINFALL TRENDS.

DECISION SUPPORT SERVICES (DSS) CODE LEGEND
GREEN  = NO WEATHER IMPACTS THAT REQUIRE ACTION
BLUE   = LONG FUSED WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORY IN EFFECT OR HIGH
         VISIBILITY EVENT
YELLOW = HEIGHTENED IMPACTS WITH SHORT FUSED
         WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORY ISSUANCES; RADAR SUPPORT
ORANGE = HIGH IMPACTS - SLIGHT TO MODERATE RISK SEVERE; NEARBY
         TROPICAL EVENTS; HAZMAT OR OTHER LARGE EPISODES
RED    = FULL ENGAGEMENT FOR MODERATE TO HIGH RISK SVR
         AND/OR DIRECT TROPICAL THREATS; EVENTS OF NATIONAL
         SIGNIFICANCE

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
MCB  86  65  91  63 /  70  10  20  20
BTR  86  68  92  68 /  80  10  20  10
ASD  85  68  89  66 / 100  10  20  10
MSY  85  71  89  70 / 100  10  20  10
GPT  83  69  87  67 / 100  20  20  10
PQL  85  67  89  65 /  90  20  20  10

&&

.LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
LA...NONE.
GM...NONE.
MS...NONE.
GM...NONE.
&&

$$

AVIATION...95/DM
SOUNDING...KEG
PREV DISCUSSION...22/35