Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Jackson, KY

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813 FXUS63 KJKL 260912 AFDJKL AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Jackson KY 512 AM EDT Sun May 26 2024 .KEY MESSAGES...
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- There is a potential for severe thunderstorms today and tonight, with damaging winds, large hail, and isolated tornadoes possible. - Showers and thunderstorms are possible through the middle of the week, mainly during the afternoon. - A cold front will usher cooler air into the area from Tuesday through Friday.
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&& .SHORT TERM...
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(Today through Monday) Issued at 4 AM EDT SUN MAY 26 2024 High resolution guidance continues to signal the potential for several rounds of showers and storms today and tonight. For early this afternoon, warm air advection will pick up in the low levels. Mass convergence ahead of this will cause scattered storms to develop. There is some uncertainty as far as coverage, so kept PoPs in the likely category for now. Despite moderate instability, bulk shear remains rather low, so severe potential remains modest. There may be a weakening convective system diving southeast through the region late this afternoon into the evening. This will likely be accompanied by some gusty winds and will be followed by a cooler, more stable airmass. Finally, a third line of convection will likely impact eastern Kentucky late tonight. Wind fields will be much stronger with this convection, leading to the potential for strong to severe thunderstorms. However, while bulk effective shear lifts to 40-50 knots, instability should remain somewhat modest due to the previous convection during the day. Will need to monitor this closely with future updates. The cold front itself will finally make its way through the area Monday. By then, wind fields will have decreased some... but there remains enough instability for scattered showers and storms. Suppose a strong gust or two cannot be ruled out with this frontal convection, particularly in the southeast during the afternoon. .LONG TERM...(Monday through Saturday) Issued at 552 PM EDT SAT MAY 25 2024 We will start off the period on Monday on the heals of an impactful weather system Sunday and Sunday night. By Monday morning, the cold front associated with this strong surface and upper level system will quickly traverse KY, exiting the east side of the state by ~18Z. A line of showers and thunderstorms will likely be present along the frontal boundary, one of several lines that will impact the CWA through Monday morning. Precip should taper off behind the front by Monday evening, giving way to drier wrap around air from the surface and upper level low. This influx of drier air will help to clear out clouds, and will also advect in a cooler airmass from our north, despite surface winds remaining from the W to SW. Overnight lows will settle in the 50s, around 5 to 10 degrees less than the previous night. The strong and broad-reaching upper level trough axis will persist across the state through midweek before finally starting to shift eastward Thursday, where it will stall again through the remainder of the period. During this time, several other upper level lows will rotate through the trough, bringing unsettled weather to the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes at times. The first of these will be on Tuesday. All the models have a different solution on how this will play out, with the ECMWF and NAM keeping eastern KY mostly dry. However, the GFS brings the shortwave farther south and precip moves across much of the state late in the day. The NBM has trended down on pops related to this system, only bringing in some slight chances in the far east and northeast of the CWA Tuesday afternoon with peak heating. Didn`t see any reason to increase it at this point, and models are still evolving on Day 4. A similar situation arises on Wednesday afternoon as a shortwave moves through the trough as the axis begins to shift eastward. Models show the potential for precip to graze eastern KY during this time, mainly during afternoon peak heating. The NBM followed suit by another day of isolated pops for a few hours in the afternoon in the NE CWA. During the time that the trough is impacting the Ohio Valley, strong N to NW flow will be in place aloft. This will keep temperatures at or just below seasonal normals for this time of year during the day. During the overnight, good radiational cooling with light winds will help to quickly drop temperatures. It will also lead to some decent ridge/valley differences in temperatures as well. Expect temperatures to generally be in the upper 40s and low 50s, some 5 to 10 degrees below normal. A gradual warm up will be on tap again as we close out the week and head into the weekend. The trough will continue to shift east, introducing a strong but short-lived ridge across the region, and surface high pressure. Rising heights and the imposing high pressure system should keep conditions dry both Thursday and Friday. From this point forward there is quite a bit of disagreement. A storm system generally over the Plains seems to stay in place through the end of the forecast period, keeping high pressure across JKL through the end of the period. The NBM, however, shows a quicker progression of this system eastward, introducing pops into the CWA by Friday night and continuing into Saturday. The fact that they are only isolated, however, is hopefully a trend towards the drier solutions.
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&& .AVIATION...
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(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Sunday afternoon) ISSUED AT 241 PM EDT SAT MAY 25 2024 Largely VFR conditions are forecast during the period, with a couple of localized exception. A few showers/thunderstorms with sub-VFR conditions are possible late this afternoon and evening. Valley fog is also expected to develop late tonight and last into Sunday morning before dissipating. MOS guidance is hitting the fog fairly hard at TAF sites. However, if precip does not occur, it would seem to be more questionable. A TEMPO group for IFR conditions has been used in the TAFS for several hours around sunrise.
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&& .AVIATION...
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(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Sunday afternoon) ISSUED AT 241 PM EDT SAT MAY 25 2024 Largely VFR conditions are forecast during the period, with a couple of localized exception. A few showers/thunderstorms with sub-VFR conditions are possible late this afternoon and evening. Valley fog is also expected to develop late tonight and last into Sunday morning before dissipating. MOS guidance is hitting the fog fairly hard at TAF sites. However, if precip does not occur, it would seem to be more questionable. A TEMPO group for IFR conditions has been used in the TAFS for several hours around sunrise.
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&& .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ SHORT TERM...HOGUE LONG TERM...JMW AVIATION...HOGUE