248
FXUS65 KRIW 010859
AFDRIW

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Riverton WY
259 AM MDT Sat Jun 1 2024

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Isolated thunderstorms return to southern and western areas
  this afternoon and evening.

- Monday and Monday night will be the most active day, with the
  best chance of showers and storms along with strong wind.

- The warmest weather of the year moves in later next week,
  especially on Friday when the first 90 degree highs may occur.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 256 AM MDT Sat Jun 1 2024

I would like to welcome you to June today. And, welcome you to the
start of meteorological summer, which runs through August. And we
are only 19 days from the start of astronomical summer, which begins
on the June 20th, which is when the summer solstice occurs. And for
the next week, we will have things that are found in a Wyoming
summer, rather warm temperatures and a scattering of thunderstorms.

The day will start day today, although there could be some
virga over southern Wyoming this morning. A few showers and
storms will likely return to the area today, mainly over the
western and southern half of the state this afternoon as a
subtle shortwave moves through and a bit of mid level moisture
creeps into the area. The chance of an afternoon or evening
storm is small though, with a 1 out of 4 chance at the most. The
main and probably only threat from any storm or shower would be
strong wind gusts, given the inverted V sounding across the
area. This could end up being a "Little Green Blob" day, with
innocent looking showers producing strong wind gusts.
Temperatures should be comfortably warm, averaging near to about
5 degrees above normal.

A second shortwave then approaches for Sunday, With this one, the
best forcing looks to be across northern Wyoming so the bet chance
of showers will be found here. Again, not a ton of moisture to work
with, so coverage will be small again, generally around a 1 out of 3
chance in the mountains and 1 out of 5 in the lower elevations. And
again, strong wind gusts will be the main threat with any shower or
storm. This looks to be an earlier show though, with most convection
out of the area by around 6 pm.

The third and final wave will approach for Monday. This waves looks
somewhat more potent, as it has a bit more moisture to work with and
also better upper level support as an 120 knot jet will be
associated with it. Chances for stronger storms look limited at this
time though. There will be decent cloud cover across the area,
limiting instability. The timing of the system is not ideal either
for strong convection. The best upper level forcing also waits until
nighttime to move through the area. With this though, we have kept
the chance of thunder in the forecast through the night on Monday
night. The main concern could end up being strong wind. This will be
in the usual areas, mainly ahead of the system in the southwest flow
areas like Casper and Rock Springs on Monday and Monday evening, and
then switching to areas favored by northwest flow later Monday night
and Tuesday like Greybull and Buffalo. The 700 millibar winds don`t
look sufficient for high winds, but there is a 3 in 4 chance of wind
gusts past 40 mph. As for fire weather concerns, humidity does not
look that low, and green up should keep things from being too bad.

Any lingering showers should end Tuesday morning. Following that,
ridging should build in from the south and bring the warmest weather
so far this year. Temperatures will rise on Wednesday and Thursday
but the warmest day will be Friday when some of the warmer locations
could see their first 90 degree highs of the year. The next chance
of convection may move in for Friday, with some moisture and a spoke
of energy in the form of a shortwave moves toward the area. Details
on placement of the convection is obviously uncertain this far out.
So, it looks like summer will arrive to the Cowboy State over the
next several days.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SUNDAY/...
Issued at 1007 PM MDT Fri May 31 2024

Light winds and clear skies will prevail overnight. On
Saturday, mid level clouds will spread across the southern half
of the state after sunrise, including for sites such as KRKS,
KPNA, and KBPI. During the afternoon, isolated showers and weak
thunderstorms are possible (20 to 30% chance) in the Upper Green
River Basin into Natrona County, and the main concern with
these would be brief, erratic wind gusts to around 40 kt. The
threat of this shower activity ends around sunset, with a
return of light and variable winds for Saturday night.

&&

.RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...Hattings
AVIATION...VandenBoogart