Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Dodge City, KS

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877 FXUS63 KDDC 230853 AFDDDC Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Dodge City KS 353 AM CDT Sun Jun 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES...
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- Monday and Tuesday will be the hottest days of the forecast period with widespread lower 100s likely Tuesday afternoon. - Heat Advisory has been issued for central and south central Kansas for Monday afternoon for forecast heat indices at or near 105 degrees. - Cold front likely Tuesday Night offering a reprieve in the heat and an increase in thunderstorm chances Wednesday Night and Thursday Night.
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&& .DISCUSSION...
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Issued at 350 AM CDT Sun Jun 23 2024 The focus for the forecast over the next several days will be the buildup of summer heat across the Central Plains, including our southwest Kansas region. The overnight water vapor imagery and RAP analysis revealed a rather zonal pattern in the mid-upper troposphere across much of the CONUS with a dampened ridge of higher pressure centered across the Great Basin. This result of this will be the continued increase in lower level thicknesses/temperature with influence expanding across the central Great Plains through early/mid week. As far as today is concerned, the sensible weather will be quite pleasant with light wind much of the day from east-southeast initially this morning...becoming south later in the afternoon as a new leeside trough develops across eastern Colorado. Low level convergence will increase along this new trough axis later in the day, and there is just enough of a signal from the 00Z suite of CAMs (i.e. HREF Prob of Composite Reflectivity > 40 dBZ above 10% along the CO line and some paintball clustering) to have some 10-20 POPs in the grids out west. The initial SPC SWODY1 for later on today keeps our western counties in "General Thunder", but it would not be surprising to see the Marginal (Level 1 of 5) extended down along the southern KS-CO line for 5% wind risk. As far as temperatures are concerned, the 12Z run of the HREF did a pretty good job with temperatures yesterday using the 50th percentile, so latest NBM (which incorporates much of the CAMs that also make up the HREF) was followed with little or no modifications. The heat dome across the West will begin spreading east across western Kansas on Monday along with an increase in southwest winds. The higher afternoon temperatures on Monday of 99 to 102F across much of our area continues to look like a solid forecast, with 103- 105F possible across the typically hotter Red Hills region. The more difficult forecast question will be dewpoint temperature Monday afternoon. Latest 100-member LREF/Grand Ensemble (combining GEFS, ECMWF-Ens, and Canadian-Ens) 50th percentile dewpoints are showing Monday afternoon dewpoints only in the upper 50s to lower 60s, even across our eastern counties, such that heat indices will not be much higher than actual air temperature, if at all. Regardless, in collaboration with neighboring WFOs GLD, GID, ICT, and OUN, we have hoisted a Heat Advisory for Monday afternoon for our two I-70 counties and easternmost column of counties from Ellis down through Stafford to Barber for heat indices approaching/touching 105F. Tuesday looks even hotter as latest NBM has widespread 101 to 104F temperatures for afternoon highs as a low level thermal ridge expands northeast across the western half of Kansas. We will likely need another heat headline for Tuesday, although a cold front pushing south Tuesday Night will offer at least a temporary reprieve from the 100-degree heat as we head in to Wednesday. The front coming down mid-week will offer an increase in thunderstorm chances, especially in the post-frontal easterly upslope regime, which is the typical pattern for organized thunderstorm activity across western Kansas in the summer. Latest global model suite maintains a formidable MCS pattern across the Central Plains through Thursday Night, until we return to a hotter west-southwest pattern aloft toward the end of the workweek.
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&& .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/... Issued at 1236 AM CDT Sun Jun 23 2024 Aviation weather will be tranquil this TAF period as climatological summer conditions will prevail with winds out of the south/southeast through this period. Flight category is forecast to remain VFR through the period at all terminals given the established warm air mass in place. Late in the afternoon/early evening, widely scattered showers and thunderstorms in vicinity of the Colorado line are expected to develop, however weak winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere will most likely prevent an eastward progression of any convection, so no thunderstorms are in any of the terminals for this synoptic TAF period. && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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Heat Advisory from 1 PM to 8 PM CDT Monday for KSZ030-031-046- 065-066-081-090.
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&& $$ DISCUSSION...Umscheid AVIATION...Umscheid