Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Jackson, KY

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234 FXUS63 KJKL 220632 AFDJKL AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Jackson KY 232 AM EDT Sun Sep 22 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - A potential for showers and thunderstorms will persist through much of the next week. - High temperatures will approach 90 degrees tomorrow, then trend lower as time goes by during the week. && .UPDATE... Issued at 1103 PM EDT SAT SEP 21 2024 Forecast is generally on track. Still expecting fog and stratus to develop overnight, especially in areas that saw the most rainfall. Regional satellite microphysics channel does show fog developing in some of these areas, particularly in our northern river valleys. Tweaked hourly grids to bring them in line with current observations. Will update the zones to freshen up wording. No other changes to the forecast package at this time. UPDATE Issued at 753 PM EDT SAT SEP 21 2024 Brought temperatures grid in line with trends in recent surface obs. Surface frontal boundary has stalled across our northern zones this evening, and models show some pooling of moisture along and south of the front through the remainder of the night. Also noticed model guidance trending towards fog through the overnight. Seeing some weak subsidence just above the boundary layer and winds continue to slacken off as skies clear across the area. Ensemble guidance also showing more likely probabilities for the development of fog and stratus over a large part of the forecast area as well. Considering the more favorable conditions for radiative cooling conditions, the proximity of the surface front, and the trends in guidance, decided to beef up the fog across the area through the overnight period. Updated grids and zones have been issued. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Sunday night) Issued at 543 PM EDT SAT SEP 21 2024 Aloft, ridging in place across the Ohio Valley and Midwest is gradually being worn down and suppressed by a combination of short wave energy lifting out of the Four Corners and tracking across the Northern Tier and Great Lakes during the short term. This results in some significant height falls across our area as the eventual lowering of H850 temps from 18-20C to around 16C by the end of the period. At the surface, a stalled out frontal boundary just north of our forecast area will lift northeast back towards the upper Ohio Valley tomorrow...all as another, stronger surface cold front approaches from the northwest reaches the Ohio River by late Sunday night or early Monday morning. Sensible weather features the beginning of a trend towards a more unstable or unsettled pattern. Showers and thunderstorms have dissipated across our area late this afternoon. But isolated convection continues to fire upstream to our northwest, one being quite healthy as of this writing. Met watch will continue in case they creep into our area over the next hour. However, the overall trend is for a continued weakening and activity over the next couple of hours. Overnight is expected to be mainly dry with at least some partial clearing, especially over our northern zones. This may set up favorable conditions for the development of some fog, especially for areas that saw some afternoon rainfall. Will be watching for this potential through the evening. Expecting one more day of above normal temps tomorrow. With clear to partly cloudy skies, temperatures should have no problem climbing back up into the mid to upper 80s. H850 temps are just slightly lower than the previous few days. That being the case, and especially with some rainfall over portions of the areas, thinking is that we may be spared the 90s. However, still would not be surprised if one or two location eked out a 90 degree reading somewhere. Otherwise, look for an increase in cloud cover and PoPs late in the day tomorrow. MLCAPEs increase to between 1000-1500 J/kg by Sunday afternoon. Mid level lapse rates steepen just a bit as well, particularly over our far southwest. Thus could not rule out some thunderstorm activity tomorrow afternoon through tomorrow night, though the best potential will be found over our southwest tomorrow afternoon where ensemble probabilistic data shows the highest likelihood of sufficient CAPE. .LONG TERM...(Monday through Saturday) Issued at 351 PM EDT SAT SEP 21 2024 The latest model runs are showing pretty much the same pattern in the extended as the previous few days. A trough of low pressure over the central Plains will be our primary weather maker to begin the upcoming work week. Another trough of low pressure is forecast to intensify over south central Canada and move north, with a cold front extending southward from it to the central Plains trough. The Plains trough and cold front will move through our region Monday and Tuesday and will bring showers and a few storms to eastern Kentucky to begin the week. Another more developed trough is expected to form over the northern Plains Tuesday night into Wednesday. This system is forecast to move slowly eastward into the central Mississippi Valley and western Tennessee Valley by mid-week. This system will likely bring another round of showers and storms to our area, along with cooler temperatures, Wednesday and Thursday. The wild card in this scenario will be whether or not a tropical system forms over the Gulf of Mexico. The latest runs of the GFS and GFS Ensembles have a tc forming over the southwestern Gulf and moving northward toward the central Gulf Coast Thursday and Thursday night. If this tropical system does form, its evolution and track will have a degree of influence on the second Plains trough. For now, we will go with the general pattern the models are showing, with repeated rounds of showers and storms moving through eastern Kentucky Monday through Wednesday, with the rain quickly tapering off to isolated showers and storms by the end of the week, but having the rain persist through Friday night. After a day of slightly warmer than normal temperatures across the area on Monday, the passing troughs, and their associated widespread cloud cover and rain, along with winds shifting to the west or north, will lead to below normal temperatures in the 70s for the rest of the week past Monday. The overall pattern looks to be chances of rain each day in the extended, with generally cooler than normal temperatures, especially during the daytime periods. The only weather hazard of note will be any cloud to ground lightning associated with some thunderstorms. && .AVIATION...
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(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Sunday night) ISSUED AT 232 AM EDT SUN SEP 22 2024 Fog was prevalent in most of the larger stream valleys at the start of the period. It will continue to expand in coverage through sunrise, and is expected to bring IFR or worse conditions to all TAF sites, at least at times. The fog will dissipate during the few hours after sunrise, leaving mainly VFR conditions to last into Sunday night. Isolated thunderstorms are forecast to develop on Sunday afternoon and last into the evening before dissipating. They will bring localized sub-VFR conditions.
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&& .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ UPDATE...RAY SHORT TERM...RAY LONG TERM...AR AVIATION...HAL