Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Albany, NY

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602 FXUS61 KALY 291754 AFDALY AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Albany NY 154 PM EDT Wed May 29 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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Fair and mostly dry weather will persist this afternoon especially north of the mid Hudson Valley. A disturbance passing to the south will bring rain showers south of I-90, and most likely along the I-84 corridor. Cooler temperatures behind the cold frontal passage persist through Thursday night, before a warming trend Friday into the weekend.
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&& .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
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.UPDATE...as of 153 PM EDT...A weak secondary cold front continues to move across southern NY and west-central New England. A short-wave is moving eastern OH and western PA. The latest CAMs trends continue to depict isolated to widely scattered pop-up shower or a stray thunderstorm this afternoon in the mid Hudson Valley, but until the short- wave arrives the day should be mainly dry with fair weather cumulus north of Interstate 90. A few light showers have popped up on the radar. The SBCAPEs are at or around 500 J/kg on the latest SPC RAP Mesoanalysis. PWATS are 0.70-0.90". The 12Z KALY sounding is drier with a PWAT down to 0.86" and the profile is drier/more stable than yesterday with only 190 J/kg of MUCAPE. We retooled the PoPs and weather and tried to keep any isolated or scattered threat for the mid to late afternoon and into tonight from the mid Hudson Valley. West to northwest winds will increase 10-20 mph with some gusts 25-30 mph. Humidity levels will be comfortable and max temps will be seasonable with 60s to lower/mid 70s. .PREV DISCUSSION [0655 EDT]...As an initial upper shortwave is exiting eastward into New England while a second impulse digs over the Upper Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic through tonight. As this second shortwave passes to the south, a region of rain showers will spread from west to east, primarily to the south of I-90 and most likely along the I-84 corridor. Sufficient instability (MLCAPE around 500 J/kg) will allow for embedded thunderstorms, particularly in the afternoon. While storms may result in a brief heavy downpour, no severe weather is expected. North of I-90 and farther from the synoptic forcing for ascent, showers will be much more isolated or altogether absent, while skies trend clearer through the evening and overnight. Enhanced cloud cover early this morning will allow for a mild start to the day, but cooler air aloft within upper troughing with keep temperatures near to slightly below normal, reaching afternoon highs in the upper 50s to mid 60s in high terrain and upper 60s to mid 70s at lower elevations. A surface wind shift boundary will sink across the region overnight tonight, with developing cold advection in northerly flow allowing for cooler temperatures as lows fall to the upper 30s to low 40s in high terrain and mid 40s to low 50s at lower elevations.
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&& .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... The upper trough axis passes overhead on Thursday while cold advection on low-level northerly flow keeps temperatures slightly below normal, rising to afternoon highs in the upper 50s to mid 60s in high terrain and upper 60s to low 70s at lower elevations. Rain showers associated with surface troughing finally exit south and east from the Mid-Hudson Valley and northwestern Connecticut by mid-morning, as dry weather returns across the region. Surface high pressure to the west and weak surface troughing offshore to the southeast will result in potentially gusty winds as high as 20 mph along north-south oriented valleys and in areas of high terrain. The cooler airmass will additionally feature much drier air, with dewpoints falling into the mid 30s to mid 40s by Thursday evening. This combination of dry air and gusty winds may promote a brief period of marginal risk for fire spread; see additional details in the Fire Weather discussion below. Cloud coverage will increase with diurnal heating in the afternoon, before rapidly rising heights aloft result in a robust clearing trend through Thursday evening and night. As narrow but high amplitude upper ridging and associated surface high pressure approach from the west, light winds and largely clear skies will result in ideal conditions for radiational cooling, resulting in cool overnight lows in the upper 30s to upper 40s across the region. Building ridging and surface high pressure will yield continued dry weather through Friday and Friday night. Temperatures will trend upward beneath mostly sunny skies, reaching afternoon highs in the 60s to mid 70s, and falling to overnight lows in the 40s to near 50 across the region. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Upper level ridging over the weekend will be replaced by general flat/zonal upper level flow by early next week. Overall, much of the long term will feature mostly dry and summerlike weather. There remains some uncertainty on when upper-level shortwave perturbations will pass through the flow bringing chances for some showers. Currently, next Tuesday may be the more favored day during this period. Humidity levels will slowly increase through the period as well. Temperatures will trend upward through the period with highs starting out in the 70s to around 80 on Saturday rising to the upper 70s to upper 80s by Tuesday. Lows will also trend upward starting out in the upper 40s to lower 50s Saturday night to the mid-50s to lower 60s by Monday night. && .AVIATION /18Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
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Through 18z Thursday...Flying conditions are currently VFR at all TAF sites. Mainly VFR conditions should persist well into tonight at all TAF sites, with the only exception being if a stray shower moves over POU this afternoon then brief vsby reductions would be possible. Tonight, an upper-level disturbance will bring a period of showers to POU with MVFR cigs and vsbys with any rain. Some showers may make it to PSF as well late tonight, but confidence is lower on how far north showers get so will address this with a prob30 group for now. ALB/GFL should remain VFR through the entire night. Any showers taper off by 12-13z tomorrow morning with a return to VFR conditions at all TAF sites with just a few passing mid-level clouds through the end of the TAF period. Winds will be from the west/northwest at 5-10 kt this afternoon, becoming northwest to northerly this evening and eventually northerly overnight at around 5 kt. Winds tomorrow morning increase to 5-10 kt from the north/northwest after sunrise through at least 18z. Outlook... Thursday Night to Monday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX.
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&& .FIRE WEATHER...
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For Thursday, a dry airmass and deep mixing will result in surface dewpoints falling to the mid 30s to mid 40s across the region, while temperatures in the mid 60s to mid 70s will lead to minimum RH values around 30 to 40%. Wind gusts now look to max out around 15 kt. Furthermore, most areas saw at least a quarter to half inch of rain earlier this week. In portions of the Mid Hudson Valley where rainfall amounts were lower earlier this week (northeast Ulster, northwest Dutchess, southwest Columbia Counties), additional rainfall amounts tonight of around a quarter inch should mitigate fire weather concerns. Therefore, special weather statements for enhanced fire weather spread are not currently being considered. Friday will also feature RH values of 30-40% and wind gusts potentially of 15-20 mph. However, the appreciable rainfall of the previous several days should once again limit fire weather concerns.
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&& .ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. MA...None. VT...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Picard/Wasula NEAR TERM...Picard/Wasula SHORT TERM...Picard LONG TERM...Rathbun AVIATION...Main FIRE WEATHER...Main/Picard