Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Quad Cities, IA IL
Issued by NWS Quad Cities, IA IL
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237 FXUS63 KDVN 210842 AFDDVN Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 342 AM CDT Tue May 21 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Moderate Risk (level 4 of 5) for severe weather has been expanded today to include all except the far eastern portions of Bureau and Putnam counties. Large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes will all be possible. Some significant wind gusts over 70 mph may occur this evening. - Flood watch issued for a portion of the CWA for flash flood potential today. - Drying out Wednesday and Thursday with more seasonable temperatures and humidity. - Shower and thunderstorm chances return Friday through Sunday as a more humid air mass builds back into the region. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 302 AM CDT Tue May 21 2024 Early This Morning...elevated convection has for the most part remained to our west and northwest thanks to the 850mb LLJ and moisture transport vectors oriented SSW to NNE into north central IA. This activity may clip our far northwestern counties over the next 1-3 hours. Frequent lightning, gusty winds up to 50 mph, and heavy rain will be the hazards. MRMS 1-hr rainfall amounts to our west have been in the 1-2.5" range and if this continues into our CWA, an isolated flash flood threat may exist especially if storms train over the same location. For this reason and with collaboration from neighbors, have issued a flood watch for the two western tier of counties north of I-80. This area received 1-2 inches yesterday and with FFG values in the 1.5-2" range it wouldn`t take much to cause issues. Rises on creeks and for some rivers can be expected this morning on the upper portions of the Iowa, Cedar, and Wapsi Rivers. See hydrology section for more details. Mid Morning Through Early Afternoon...a strong shortwave remains on track to move from the Central Plains into the Upper Mississippi Valley by 00z tonight. This wave will become negatively tilted by the late afternoon, which will lead to a deepening surface low down to ~988mb as it reaches central Minnesota. A lull in the precip chances is forecast for this period as the main forcing moves north and the region remains fully in the warm sector. The question then becomes will convection develop before the main show along the cold front later in the evening. Forecast soundings from the latest HRRR/RAP suggest a rather strong CAP will be in place that may keep a lid on things through 21z. However, outflow boundaries from this morning`s convection may provide a focus for storm initiation in this period and the day shift will need to watch for this possibility. In addition, it will become quite breezy with wind gusts over 35 mph at times. Early Afternoon-Evening...a very unstable atmosphere evident by SBCAPEs over 2500 J/Kg, deep layer shear over 45 kts, and PWs around 1.4" will be in place over our area and this all points to a classic setup for severe weather. Latest CAMs and 00z HREF progs suggest convective initiation to occur just west of I-35 in Iowa around 21z with discrete supercells. Very strong dynamics (70kt 500mb speed max and 60kt 850mb winds) will support activity quickly growing upscale into a QLCS with embedded supercells. 0-3 km shear vectors will be oriented line normal to the front supporting bowing segments with strong mesos capable of producing tornadoes. This will be a high end severe threat with all hazards possible, including large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes (a few of which could be strong -- EF2+). SPC has expanded the Moderate (level 4 of 5) risk across most of the CWA with the greatest risk probabilities coming from wind (45% or greater). There is also a risk of significant wind gusts greater than 74 mph this evening. Pay close attention to the weather, have multiple ways to receive warnings, and to take appropriate action if a warning is issued for your location. In addition to the severe threat, a very moist atmosphere with PWATs near 1.75" will support hourly rain rates of 1-2" with the strongest storms. While storm motions will be very fast and residence time for heavy rain will be low along the front, have kept the flood watch going in our west until 9pm this evening for ponding and an isolated flash flood threat. To reiterate, the greatest severe risk today will be from early evening (5pm) to late evening (11pm) as widespread storms along a cold front track west to east through the outlook area. Once the front moves through, the severe threat will quickly diminish. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 302 AM CDT Tue May 21 2024 Wednesday...latest forecast models have been trending drier for this period and have adjusted PoPs accordingly in collaboration with neighbors. A secondary wave is still expected to track east across IA but now only bring an increase in clouds during the day. Afternoon highs will top out in the low to mid 70s, with much more comfortable humidity levels. After the wave passes on Wednesday, flow aloft becomes split again with the northern US under the influence of the northern branch of the jet stream. High pressure is forecast to lift across the area at the surface and aloft and bring quiet weather to the area Wednesday night through Thursday. High temperatures on Thursday will be warner with temperatures in the mid to upper 70s. Friday through Monday, a series of disturbances will move across the area as shortwave energy from a trough in the Pacific Northwest moves across the area. This will bring daily chances of showers and storms through the holiday weekend, The weekend will not be a total washout, but there will be periods of showers and storms. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1217 AM CDT Tue May 21 2024 A warm front will lift north through eastern IA and northwest IL before 12z, with scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms developing primarily north of I-80 early this AM. This may bring some MVFR vsbys to CID/DBQ. After 15z, south winds will begin to increase with gusts over 30 kts at times this afternoon. Latest guidance is mixed on another round of showers/storms occurring in the afternoon hours, but confidence remains low on placement and timing at this time and left out any mention. Strong storms, possibly severe will track along a cold front moving east across Iowa late this afternoon and evening. Current guidance has these arriving in the 22-02z time frame at the terminals and have included PROB30 groups with this TAF cycle. Winds will switch out of the northwest behind the fropa late this evening. && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 905 PM CDT Mon May 20 2024 River flood watches have been issued for portions of the Wapsipinicon, Skunk and Iowa rivers. These river forecasts incorporate forecasted rainfall for the next 24 hours. Significant rainfall of 2+ inches is being forecasted in the headwaters of these basins. This combined with generally 0.5 to 1 inch of forecasted rainfall across the channels of these rivers into E Iowa is leading to significant rises, and the potential for minor to moderate flooding on portions of these rivers over the next 2-7 days. Additional rises are possible on other rivers, likely mostly within bank. However, the response on area rivers will all depend on how much rain occurs in the coming 24-48 hours and the location of the heaviest rains. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...Flood Watch through this evening for IAZ040-041-051-052-063- 064. IL...None. MO...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Gross LONG TERM...Gross/Cousins AVIATION...Gross HYDROLOGY...McClure