Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS La Crosse, WI

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218 FXUS63 KARX 141140 AFDARX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service La Crosse WI 640 AM CDT Fri Jun 14 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Quiet and seasonable today. - Becoming more active with multiple chances for showers and thunderstorms Saturday into next week. Best chances (40 to 90%) for widespread precipitation is Saturday through Saturday night. - Becoming hot and humid Sunday through Tuesday with max temps near 90 and dewpoints in the 60s to low 70s. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 309 AM CDT Fri Jun 14 2024 Today and Tonight: Seasonable and Quiet Weak high pressure will transit the area today bringing quiet and calm conditions across the area. Expect ample sunshine with highs in the mid 70s to low 80s as diurnal cumulus develops by mid day. High pressure shifts east to the Great Lakes tonight with low-level SErly winds on the back side of the exiting high. Temperatures may initially drop off before increasing late in the night as winds increase west of the river. Typical cool/sandy soil spots could dip as low as 50, otherwise expect mid 50s to low 60s. Saturday through Saturday night: Heavy Rain Potential in MN and northern/central WI Behind the exiting high pressure, weak ridging builds across the Upper Midwest with increasing moisture and warm air advection into the region. Look for increasing clouds early through the day on Saturday, with shower chances (20 to 60%), mostly west of the river, through the day. Moisture and warm air advection continues to build and brings in instability Saturday night as a wave shifts west to east across the area. PWATs climb into the 1.75 to near 2.00 range along the I35 corridor into central MN, which is near climatological max for MPX sounding, with freezing levels climbing into the 3.5km range. While the best chances for the heaviest rain exists along and to the NW of our local area, WPC will retain a slight (risk level 2 out of 4) excessive rainfall outlook along a line from roughly Decorah to Wisconsin Rapids northwestward for Saturday night`s heavy rainfall threat. A 100-member ensemble (30 GEFS, 20 GEM, 50 ECMWF) shows a 20% chance of exceeding 1.0 inches of precipitation in 24 hours from 7am Sat to 7am Sun at Rochester, but those chances increase to over 50% for the Twin Cities. It`s important to note the aforementioned models are not convective-allowing, meaning they make assumptions on how thunderstorms develop, so expect some changes to these probabilities with the 12Z Friday HREF. Sunday into next week: Hot, Humid, Continued Precipitation Chances The pattern over the CONUS will evolve into a western CONUS trough with an amplified ridge building across the eastern CONUS. The result will bring our local area in the persistent SW flow with elevated dewpoints/humidity and continued precipitation chances throughout the week. The entire forecast period in the longer term will feature some chance of precipitation as there is some uncertainty in the upper level height pattern...and in turn, where the best moisture/forcing slides north along the trough/ridge axis. A weaker ridge would favor a slightly more southern track for the best precipitation chances, which roughly 30% of the GEFS/EC/GEM members suggest; however, roughly 70% of their combined members suggest the best storm track remains just off to our NW, where central MN would see the best chances throughout the week. Expect some variability in temperatures throughout the week depending on thunderstorm development/evolution, but a favored eastern CONUS ridge should support above-normal temperatures through the period. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/...
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Issued at 640 AM CDT Fri Jun 14 2024 VFR conditions through the TAF period.
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&& .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 309 AM CDT Fri Jun 14 2024 An active period of weather is expected over the next week with chances of precipitation across the region expected virtually every day beyond Saturday. While the best chances of heavy precipitation remain off to our NW, there are still small chances of heavy rainfall across our area Saturday night (best chances along and north of an Austin, MN to Medford, WI line). Mean precipitation amounts through Wednesday range from around 2.5 to 3.5 inches to our NW across central MN and around 0.75 to 2.0 inches across our local area. While much of this precipitation is expected across multiple rounds, it will eventually route into the Mississippi River, which will likely keep the river elevated through at least the next two weeks. There is a 10% chance that the Mississippi River reaches Minor Flood Stage over the next 10 days through Winona (and roughly 25 to 30% chance at Wabasha). && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. IA...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...JAW AVIATION...Zapotocny HYDROLOGY...JAW