480
FXUS63 KMQT 192012
AFDMQT

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Marquette MI
412 PM EDT Sun May 19 2024

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Elevated fire weather conditions continue through this
  evening, especially on the Keweenaw and across the eastern UP.

- Showers and isolated thunderstorms Monday, especially in the
  morning and early afternoon.

- Strong storm system will bring rain and thunderstorms late
  Tuesday into Tuesday night.

- Windy conditions develop behind the system on Wednesday.

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
Issued at 411 PM EDT Sun May 19 2024

Abundant morning sunshine is giving way to upper level clouds
streaming northeast across Upper Michigan. Increasing clouds
suggests high temperatures have already occurred as of 330 PM with
values ranging from the upper 60s to mid 70s. Winds and humidity
have varied substantially across the area today with Houghton
consistently gusting near or above 30 mph since sunrise whereas
Escanaba has stayed at or below 10 mph all day. To make matters
worse, dew points have mixed about as low as forecast with values
below 20% across the eastern UP and below 30% elsewhere. The
combination of stronger than expected winds and low RHs has
increased fire weather concerns and resulted in a special weather
statement issuance for the Keweenaw and eastern UP. Fortunately,
winds diminish and RH recovers quickly as we lose surface heating
this evening.

The area of high pressure that brought sunny skies to the UP today
slides east tonight allowing for increasing albeit still light
southerly winds. The combination of increasing clouds and southerly
flow implies temps may struggle to cool below 50F tonight,
especially for the southerly downslope areas that may stay in the
mid/upper 50s. The other feature of interest is an approaching upper
level shortwave that spreads northeast across the area on Monday.
However, rain chances don`t arrive until the very end of the short
term and thunder is not expected with the early morning rain.

&&

.LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...
Issued at 350 PM EDT Sun May 19 2024

Southwesterly midlevel flow between deepening troughing over the
northern/central Rockies and ridging extending form the Deep South
through the Northeast will result in the preferred storm track being
located over the local area through midweek. This will lead to
periods of rainfall through at least Wednesday. Shortwave ridging
favors a drier period to end the week Thu/Fri, with precip chances
reentering the picture to start the holiday weekend Saturday. Aside
from a brief cool-down Thursday, temperatures look to average near
to slightly above normal for the upcoming week into the start of
next weekend.

Initial shortwave of concern looks to touch off convection over the
Central Plains today, and may itself be convectively enhanced as it
ejects northeastward to the upper Great Lakes by Monday. Low-level
jet strengthening to 30-40 kt at 850 mb will enhance moisture
transport into the region, with PWATs increasing to 1.25-1.50
inches, or +1 to +2 stdev. High confidence in an area of rainfall
continuing over the western UP by the start of the period (12Z/7 am
CDT Mon), continuing into the central UP by mid-morning, and likely
reaching the eastern UP by early afternoon. Although a couple rumbles
of thunder will be possible, the corridor of better instability
should remain well to the south. Confidence is lower on what happens
during the afternoon and evening hours. It`s reasonable to expect
some subsidence on the back of this initial wave to dry things out
for the afternoon, especially west/central. However, some CAMs,
namely the 12Z.19 NAM3 and HRW-ARW have a trailing convectively-
generated wave bringing in another round of rainfall for the
afternoon central and east. Reduced PoPs a bit here for the
afternoon/evening as I feel that this scenario is not the most
likely. Forecast soundings suggest some lower clouds may linger
through the day which would limit surface-based instability to
redevelop; however, should the convectively generated wave
materialize, some elevated convection would be possible. Monday
night should be quiet and partly to mostly cloudy in the wake of
Monday`s rain.

Tuesday morning will start out quiet, then attention turns to the
highest potential impact portion of the period, late Tuesday into
Wednesday. The culprit is a negatively tilting, vigorous shortwave
trough ejecting out of the central Plains into northern MN/Lake
Superior. This will foster an unseasonably strong cyclone. The 00Z
NAEFS mean has this low bottoming out at 996 mb near the Keweenaw at
12Z Wed, which is below the 1 percentile relative to climatology.
However, the 12Z EPS/GEFS mean have this low at 992 mb, and several
members (and the 12Z ECMWF) have this low down in the mid/lower
980s, which is highly anomalous for this time of year. There is
still considerable uncertainty on the track, with generally a
stronger storm favoring a westward and slightly slower track.
Regardless, this storm will feature incredibly strong dynamics and
moisture transport, with PWATs likely above 1.50 inches Tuesday
night. Showalter values go negative Tuesday night as steeper
midlevel lapse rates move in. With at least modest instability
coupled with very strong wind shear, there is potential for large
hail along with heavy downpours, as SPC has included portions of the
central and southern UP in a Slight Risk (level 2/5). Thinking it`s
unlikely that we get into the warm sector with model soundings
showing convection being elevated, especially as the strongest
forcing is likely to arrive after sunset, so wind threat is more
uncertain at this time. Heaviest rainfall looks to favor the western
UP, with EPS probabilities of 2"+ at 20-30%. However, potential for
a more widespread flooding event should be mitigated due to ongoing
drought conditions in the region.

A westerly track of the system (e.g., 12Z ECMWF) would open the door
for synoptic-scale wind concerns on Wednesday in the favorable
location beneath the midlevel dry slot. If low-level moisture scours
out, strong mixing could occur and tap into the strong low-level
wind field. ECMWF EFI values exceeding 0.8 signify potential for
unusually strong winds. EPS mean wind gusts are widespread 40 kt
here. Something to monitor in the coming days, and will wait until
storm track becomes more certain to message this threat more
strongly.

Cold advection on the back side of this system will keep things on
the cool and dry side for Thursday, with a modest warming trend
Friday and the next system possibly (40-60% chance) bringing rain
back Friday night into Saturday.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z MONDAY/...
Issued at 225 PM EDT Sun May 19 2024

VFR cigs/vsby prevail through this evening at all terminals. Gusty
west winds continue at CMX until closer to sunset when light and
variable winds spread across all terminals. Conditions deteriorate
late tonight into Monday morning as a wave of rain and perhaps a few
embedded thunderstorms lifts north across Upper Michigan. Model
guidance drops cigs down to IFR/LIFR on Monday as this area of rain
moves through and am most confident in this occurring at CMX/SAW due
to east/southeasterly upslope flow.

&&

.MARINE...
Issued at 350 PM EDT Sun May 19 2024

With the exception of some locally higher gusts of 20-30 kt along
the tip of the Keweenaw and in the vicinity of Isle Royale through
early this evening, winds should remain around 20kt or less through
Tuesday morning. Main period of interest is Tuesday afternoon
through Wednesday as an unseasonably strong low pressure system
tracks from the central Plains across Lake Superior and into
southern Ontario. There are still important model differences that
will dictate peak wind speed and direction, but right now the
highest probabilities for northeasterly gales are Tuesday night over
the western and north-central part of the lake, with 30-60 kt
probabilities here. Winds remain elevated as they shift to a
westerly component on Wednesday with 25-30 kt expected. If the low
track ends up being further west than anticipated, Tuesday night
northeasterly gales would be less likely, but Wednesday
southwesterly gales would be more likely, possibly lingering into
Wednesday night.

&&

.MQT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Upper Michigan...
None.
Lake Superior...
None.
Lake Michigan...
None.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...EK
LONG TERM...Thompson
AVIATION...EK
MARINE...Thompson