Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME

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712 FXUS61 KCAR 221625 AFDCAR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Caribou ME 1225 PM EDT Sat Jun 22 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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A stationary front will remain stalled near the coast this afternoon. The front will lift north as a warm front tonight into Sunday as low pressure approaches. Low pressure will cross the area Sunday night into Monday followed by high pressure on Tuesday. A cold front will approach on Wednesday.
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&& .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
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12:25 PM Update...Impulses continue to ride along a boundary stalled near the coast. Showers associated with these impulses have been confined to the Bangor region and Downeast. PoPs were adjusted for the remainder of the day to reflect latest trends. Previous Discussion... A stationary from remains stalled along the coast dividing relatively cooler and drier air to the north from warmer and more humid air to the south. A band of light showers extends along the frontal boundary near the coast. The front will remain nearly stationary today. Moisture streaming east well ahead of low pressure in the Upper Midwest will begin approaching along the front today increasing chances of showers over southern areas. The north will have a mix of sunshine and patchy high clouds well north of the frontal boundary. Temperatures will become warmer well north of the front due to more sunshine with highs over the far north approaching 80. Clouds and showers will keep southern areas cooler with highs only near 70 inland and the 60s near the coast. The stalled frontal boundary will begin to lift north as a warm front tonight as the Midwestern low gets closer. Showers along the front will evolve into a more widespread stratiform rain as the front lifts north with the bulk of the rain beginning over the highlands and western areas. Patchy light rain may begin to reach the north early Sunday morning. Lows will be in the upper 50s across the region.
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&& .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... The stationary front, which lingers across Penobscot Bay into the Gulf of Maine early Sunday morning, will begin to lift northwards as a warm front through the day on Sunday, bringing a plume of rain across the forecast area. This feature will be enhanced by the left entrance region of a 250 mb jet streak of around 120 to 130 kts. The parent low to the lifting warm front will be tapped into moisture sourced from the eastern Gulf of Mexico, feeding moisture into rainfall across the state of Maine. The result is for PWATs to surge up into the 1.5 to 1.7 inch range by Sunday evening, which exceeds the 90 th percentile for this time of the year across northern and eastern Maine. Combined with a deep warm cloud layer of 11 to 12 kft, efficient rain processes are the name of the game Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening: a recipe for heavy rainfall, especially across the northern half of the forecast area, which will be closer to the synoptic forcing at this time. Some weak CAPE will also be present, though the textbook long skinny CAPE typically seen in heavy rainfall setups presents more as a short skinny CAPE on forecast soundings, in part due to a strong surface inversion with the overrunning setup and weak low to mid level lapse rates within the warm sector. This presentation will also limit the threat for thunder on Sunday, though isolated thunderstorms remain possible. With all these factors in place, total rainfall amounts with this storm could easily exceed 1 to 1.25 inches, and locally much more. One hindrance to this setup will be the mid level flow, which will bring this rain into the area from the southwest, over the Notre Dame and Longfellow Mountains, and downsloping into the forecast area. Though rainfall could be locally heavier on the upslope into the Longfellows in the North Woods, the downslope may limit the full potential of this rain event. Rain amounts will be less Downeast through the coast, as the surface boundary clears the area which may receive a dry slot as the low pivots through the area. A cold front will clear through the area on Monday, pushing the steadier rain offshore and lessening rain chances throughout the forecast area. The GFS has been suggesting that the center of the low will linger over the area, persisting rain showers through Monday night, but this remains an outlier among guidance. High pressure will quickly move in behind this area of low pressure late on Monday, providing enough subsidence to limit thunder threat. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... The forecast area should remain at the northern edge of a ridge of high pressure Monday night through Tuesday night, keeping a drier pattern in place. Another low pressure will approach the area through the middle of the week, bringing the next threat for rain to the region. Consensus across guidance is that a robust cold front will gross the area late Wednesday through Wednesday night. Ahead of the front, a pre-frontal trough is possible, which could lead to thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon. The cold front Wednesday night will reset the air mass once more, with high pressure and seasonable temperatures returning to the CWA through the end of the week. && .AVIATION /18Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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NEAR TERM: VFR conditions are expected across the north today and tonight. Mainly MVFR BGR southward with some IFR at coastal terminals through this evening. Conditions will deteriorate to IFR BGR southward late tonight. Winds will be light southerly today and very light southerly over the north and southeasterly over the south tonight. SHORT TERM: Sun - Mon: IFR with areas of fog early, followed by scattered rain showers at southern terminals and steady rain at northern terminals. Winds SE at 5 to 10 kts Sun, shifting NE on Mon. Strong LLJ around 2-3 kft could result in LLWS of 40 to 45 kts at southern terminals through Sun night. Mon night - Tues night: Improving conditions to VFR, with winds N to NW at 5 to 10 kts. Wed: VFR early, possibly becoming MVFR at northern terminals as rain showers move in. Winds shifting S early Wed morning and increasing to 5 to 15 kts.
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&& .MARINE... NEAR TERM: Wind and seas will be below SCA today and tonight. Some fog is likely overnight as increasingly humid air lifts back north over the waters. SHORT TERM: Winds and seas will begin below SCA criteria on Sun, though areas of fog could limit visibility. Winds aloft will increase into Sun night, which could lead to surface gusts approaching 25 kts Sun night into Mon morning. Seas will also approach 6 to 7 ft with a system crossing the area into the day on Mon. Conditions will improve Tues into Wed. && .CAR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. MARINE...None. && $$ Near Term...Bloomer/Clark Short Term...AStrauser Long Term...AStrauser Aviation...Bloomer/Clark/AStrauser Marine...Bloomer/Clark/AStrauser