Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Marquette, MI
Issued by NWS Marquette, MI
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657 FXUS63 KMQT 020537 AFDMQT Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Marquette MI 137 AM EDT Sun Jun 2 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Spotty shower activity continues especially across the western half of the UP through the evening hours, ending late. Some thunder is possible. - Patchy fog, possibly dense at times, is expected to develop tonight across much of the UP. - Frequent opportunities for showers and thunderstorms over the next 7 days, with a break expected on Sunday and Tuesday. - Above normal temperatures through the first half of next week, then turning cooler. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 302 PM EDT Sat Jun 1 2024 A couple features of interest will keep in spotty shower activity the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. Quite apparent on water vapor imagery and RAP analysis is a deep midlevel low moving into northern Ontario. This is currently dragging a weak cold front through northern MN. To the east, a weak wave rippling from NE WI into northern lake Michigan has brought in some hit and miss, light rain showers to the south-central UP. With dry lower levels across the eastern UP, little by any way of accumulations are expected east of hwy 41. Dry midlevel air is apparent on water vapor imagery behind this wave, and more breaks in the clouds are apparent across the western UP on satellite. However, additional convection is firing ahead of a weak boundary that has been draped somewhere over western Lake Superior today. Though some higher cloud tops are apparent on visible imagery, they still remain fairly warm. Still, though we haven`t had any thunder just yet, will not totally rule this out given several hundred j/kg of SBCAPE analyzed over the western UP. Heading into the evening hours, as the cold front over MN works eastward, the spotty convection over the western UP may organize more into a broken line of showers and storms, reaching the central UP by 00Z and largely falling apart while continuing its eastward trek through the first half of the night. With quite a bit of clearing throughout northern MN behind the front, would expect skies to likewise quickly clear out from west to east across the UP tonight. Winds turn calm, and with clearing skies and plenty of ambient moisture closer to the surface, not to mention a sharp temperature inversion apparent in model soundings, we could be looking at a good night for patchy fog across the UP. This would be most likely in areas where we will have picked up some rain. Otherwise, expect a quiet night while temperatures fall back into the lower 50s and perhaps upper 40s in some of the typically cooler spots. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Issued at 431 PM EDT Sat Jun 1 2024 Expect dry conditions to return to the U.P. early Sunday morning as the cold front currently tracking across the western UP exits into Ontario. Weak sfc ridging returns to the area for Sunday with light winds and abundant sunshine allowing temps to warm to around 80F amidst deep mixing to around 6-7 kft across the interior west. Even though there isn`t an extremely dry layer to mix into, min RH values dipping below 30% seem likely but light winds and recent rainfall preclude a greater fire risk. Warm temps and light winds also instigate lake breezes that should converge across the eastern UP. Lingering low level moisture may be sufficient for converging lake breezes to initiate a few showers, with around 30% of HREF members highlighting a small area around Newberry with lower chances around 10% across the remainder of the eastern UP. The NAMnest was one of the models that developed a shower around Newberry and soundings indicate equilibrium levels around 10 kft and initially deep inverted-v profiles that may evaporate most of the precipitation. All that`s to say any rain that occurs will be tough to measure. Moving into Sunday night, expect mostly clear skies early before decaying convection across the Northern Plains sends clouds our way late. There`s also a chance for a few rain showers or perhaps a thunderstorm across the far west, but latest model guidance continues to be trend toward a slower onset of showers. In addition, the model consensus shows little -if any- CAPE to work with, probably due to cloud cover and southeast flow off the cold waters of the lower Great Lakes. The better chance for showers and thunderstorms is Monday afternoon/evening during peak heating if the slower cold front is still across our area. Bulk shear values around 20-25 knots could result in a few stronger pulsey storms, but thunderstorm chances are closely linked with frontal timing. A drier air mass follows the cool front for Tuesday, but pwat values stay above normal with due southerly flow extending all the way to the western Gulf of Mexico. By Tuesday afternoon, a negatively tiled shortwave or perhaps closed low develops across the Northern Plains or Canadian Prairies with an associated ~990 mb surface low west of Lake Winnipeg. As with the previous system, timing the frontal boundary will be important for any associated thunderstorm chances and there doesn`t appear to be a model trend at this time. However, the most likely outcome appears to be strong to severe thunderstorms develop to our west across the Northern Plains on Tuesday with the decaying remnants moving into our area Tuesday night. EFI guidance is hinting at potential for seasonably unusual CAPE and QPF Tuesday into Wednesday across the west while NAEFS is highlighting pwats >90th percentile implying heavy rain may be a prescient hazard. Once the cold front passes through, the vertically-stacked low sits over northern Ontario and brings cold air advection across our area. As this occurs, expect additional weak shortwaves rotating around the parent low to move across the Upper Great Lakes, bringing additional rain shower chances to finish out the work week. Think CAA and loss of Gulf of Mexico moisture limit thunder chances, but a few rumbles can`t be ruled out around peak heating. CAA also results in temperatures trending below normal late next week with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/... Issued at 136 AM EDT Sun Jun 2 2024 Main impact this TAF period will be flight restrictions due to fog formation. VFR conditions will initially prevail early in TAF period, but expect an abrupt deterioriation sometime in the 07-09Z time frame as fog forms with light winds. Model guidance is pinpointing CMX for LIFR (possible VLIFR). But, will also carry tempos for MVFR/IFR at IWD and SAW as well through at least 12Z. Look for a return to VFR in the 12-14Z time frame. && .MARINE... Issued at 431 PM EDT Sat Jun 1 2024 Light winds of 20 knots or less continue across Lake Superior through the weekend. Winds become southeasterly Sunday night and increase to 20-25 kts by Monday morning ahead of a cold front slowly tracking east across the lake on Monday. A southerly low level jet accompanies this period of stronger winds and stable conditions across the lake indicate potential for stronger winds at higher elevation platforms. Behind the front, expect a return to light winds Tuesday before the next chance for stronger winds arrives with another cold front Tuesday night into Wednesday. Southeasterly gusts ahead of the front and southwesterly behind the front are forecast to gust to around 20 kts, but cold air advection may reduce stability and allow for better mixing and stronger winds behind the front. Thunderstorms are possible across the south central and eastern portions of Lake Superior this afternoon and evening as a weak cold front moves through. Thunderstorm chances return from Monday morning through early Tuesday morning as the second cold front tracks across the lake. Additional thunder chances return late on Tuesday and continue through Wednesday as yet another cold front pushes through from west to east across the lake. No severe weather is expected from thunderstorms at this time. && .MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Upper Michigan... None. Lake Superior... Dense Fog Advisory until 8 AM EDT /7 AM CDT/ this morning for LSZ162-263-264. Lake Michigan... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...LC LONG TERM...EK AVIATION...TDUD MARINE...EK