Area Forecast Discussion
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000 FXUS61 KPBZ 161942 AFDPBZ AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 342 PM EDT SUN JUN 16 2013 .SYNOPSIS...
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A FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL SAG SOUTHEASTWARD INTO THE AREA TONIGHT...BRINGING SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM INTO MONDAY...WITH A LOW CHANCE OF SHOWERS THROUGH THIS PERIOD. THE FRONT WILL PUSH SOUTHEAST OF THE AREA LATE ON TUESDAY AND HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BUILD IN FROM THE NORTHWEST AND ALLOW FOR A DRY MID-WEEK.
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&& .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY MORNING/...
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THE LATEST RAP UPPER LEVEL ANALYSIS INDICATES THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY IN A ZONAL FLOW WITH A 300MB 100KT JET AXIS CENTERED OVER SOUTHERN ONTARIO. AT THE MID-LEVELS...A 500MB SHORT WAVE IS WEAKENING AS IT SHIFTS INTO CENTRAL PA. AT THE SURFACE...A 1004MB SURFACE LOW IS LOCATED NORTH OF LAKE SUPERIOR WITH A ILL- DEFINED FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDING SOUTH OF THIS FEATURE INTO NORTHERN OHIO. SHOWERS INITIALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE MID-LEVEL WAVE HAVE MOSTLY DIMINISHED AND SHIFTED EAST OF THE AREA. THIS EVENING...THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL SAG SOUTHEASTWARD INTO THE AREA. EXTENSIVE UPSTREAM CLOUD COVERAGE WILL CONTINUE TO MOSTLY LIMIT CONVECTIVE TEMPS FROM BEING REACHED. THUS...HAVE GONE WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WORDING TO NOT COMPLETELY DISCOUNT THE HRRR/WRF-NMM SOLUTIONS WHICH INDICATE A CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING. WITH ALL OF THIS IN MIND...THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER STILL HAS THE AREA MENTIONED IN ITS SEE TEXT. TEMPS HAVE BEEN LOWERED A FEW DEGREES CLOSER TO LAMP GUIDANCE...WITH HIGHS RANGING FROM THE LOWER TO MID 70S ACROSS THE AREA. TONIGHT...THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL CONTINUE TO EDGE SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE AREA...WITH ANY LINGERING COVERAGE OF SHOWERS MOSTLY DIMINISHING BY 06Z. MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WILL BEGIN TO GIVE WAY TO MORE BREAKS IN CLOUD COVERAGE WITH SHOWERS COMING TO AN END AS A POCKET OF DRIER AIR ADVECTS IN FROM THE NORTHWEST. CLOUD COVERAGE FOR MUCH OF THE NIGHT WILL SERVE TO MODERATE LOW TEMPS. FORECAST IS CLOSEST TO THE WARMER MAV...WITH LOWS RANGING FROM THE LOWER TO MID 60S ACROSS THE AREA.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
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GFS/ECMWF SOLUTIONS ARE IN AGREEMENT THAT THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY WILL CONTINUE TO BE IN A ZONAL MID-LEVEL FLOW ON MONDAY WITH THE POORLY DEFINED SURFACE FRONTAL BOUNDARY BECOMING NEARLY STATIONARY NEAR THE MASON-DIXON LINE. WITH THE BOUNDARY SERVING AS A FOCAL POINT FOR POSSIBLE AFTERNOON CONVECTION...HAVE LEFT THE SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST FOR MONDAY. HIGHS ON MONDAY ARE A FEW DEGREES ABOVE GFS/NAM/ECMWF GUIDANCE...RANGING FROM THE UPPER 70S ACROSS THE ALLEGHENY FRONT TO THE MID 80S IN EASTERN OHIO. ON MONDAY NIGHT...POP FORECAST INCREASES TO CHANCE AS THE ECMWF INDICATES A WAVE MOVING IN FROM THE WEST. STILL QUITE A BIT OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE TIMING OF SHOWERS IN A ZONAL FLOW. DESPITE THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVING SOUTHEASTWARD ON MONDAY NIGHT...WEAK ISODROSOTHERMAL GRADIENT WILL ALLOW TDS TO REMAIN IN THE UPPER 50S TO LOWER 60S AND THUS LOWS ARE A ECMWF/NAM BLEND IN THE LOWER 60S ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. WEAK SHORT WAVE VORT ENERGY WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA ON TUESDAY AS THE AREA IS IN MORE OF A WEAK MID-LEVEL CYCLONIC FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH A BROAD TROUGH IN SERN CANADA. THE GFS IS INDICATING WEAK INSTABILITY (SBCAPE <1000 J/KG) WITH MODERATE SHEAR (0-6KM BULK SHEAR 30-35KTS) DURING THE PASSAGE OF THE WAVE. THE NAM TAKES A MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVE APPROACH WITH THE CONVECTIVE ENVIRONMENT THAT IS CURRENTLY BEING DISCOUNTED. THE FORECAST LEANS CLOSER TO THE GFS...WITH THE CHC OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA. AT THIS TIME...AM NOT ANTICIPATING A SEVERE THREAT...BUT WILL CONTINUE MONITOR THIS DUE TO THE FACT THAT IF THE NAM SOLUTION IS REALIZED A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. WITH THE LOSS OF HEATING AND THE BOUNDARY SLIDING SOUTHEAST OF THE AREA...THE FORECAST WILL BECOME DRY TUESDAY NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE ALONG WITH A DEEP LAYER OF DRY AIR WILL BUILD IN FROM THE NORTHWEST ON WEDNESDAY AND ALLOW FOR A BREAK FROM SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES. DESPITE THE ABUNDANT SUNSHINE ANTICIPATED...COOLER/DRIER AIR MASS WILL LIMIT HIGH TEMPS TO A FEW DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.
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&& .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... LATEST GFS AND ECMWF DETERMINISTIC SOLNS AGREED GENLY IN DEPICTIONS OF THE PROGGED FLOW PTN OVR THE ERN CONUS FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK...WITH ECMWF AMPLIFYING THE PTN CLOSER TO GFS WITH A RIDGE AXIS EXTENDING FM THE SRN PLNS ACRS THE GREAT LAKES. THE LONG TERM FORECAST THUS CONSERVATIVELY FEATURES TEMPS GRADUALLY WARMING TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE SEASONAL AVERAGES BY THE WEEKEND. PCPN CHCS WERE FORECAST AOB CLIMO NMBRS...BUT WERE GENLY INCRSD USING A GFS/ECMWF BLEND FOR SHRTWV TIMING INTO THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION /20Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
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CURRENTLY GENERAL MVFR CONDITIONS AT MOST SITES WITH RAIN SHOWERS. GRADUALLY IMPROVING CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED AS A WEAK COLD FRONT CONTINUES MOVING SOUTHEAST THROUGH REGION. CIGS SHOULD GRADUALLY IMPROVE TO VFR EVERYWHERE THIS EVENING WITH PARTIAL CLEARING TONIGHT. SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR GRADUALLY MOVING IN BUT WITH WET CONDITIONS OVER THE AREA AND DEWPOINTS ONLY DROPPING SLIGHTLY WILL LIKELY SEE SOME FG/BR TO DEAL WITH MONDAY MORNING AT SOME TAF SITES. .OUTLOOK.../MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... PERIODIC RESTRICTIONS ARE ANTICIPATED THROUGH TUESDAY AS ANOTHER LOW APPRCHS AND CROSSES THE REGION. BLDG HIGH PRES SHOULD RTN VFR CONDITIONS FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.
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&& .PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MD...NONE. OH...NONE. PA...NONE. WV...NONE. && $$ SYNOPSIS...WOODRUM NEAR TERM...WOODRUM SHORT TERM...WOODRUM

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