Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Cheyenne, WY

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359 FXUS65 KCYS 182143 AFDCYS Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 343 PM MDT Tue Jun 18 2024 .SHORT TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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Issued at 303 PM MDT Tue Jun 18 2024 Well below normal temperatures remain entrenched across the area this afternoon. Light rain showers were present earlier, but have propagated to the east. Surface observations show relative humidity readings in the teens and 20% range for several areas, despite the cooler temperatures. Satellite imagery shows a growing grass fire in the central NE Panhandle as of 21Z. Breezy northwest winds will continue to be an issue for that location as the day progresses. Another interesting feature on the radar this afternoon was a small meso-high just south of the WY border close to I-25. This was largely influenced by the terrain, and converging air from surface highs and the surface lo to our south in CO. Cloud cover will keep temperatures elevated overnight, but we will remain under the influence of cold air advection. Several areas will see overnight low temperatures bottom out in the upper 30s to lower 40s. It will certainly cause folks to bring an extra layer of clothing with them if planning on doing outdoor activities shortly after sunrise. Weak upslope flow the remainder of Wednesday for the I-80 corridor east of the Laramie Range will keep temperatures chilly for the majority of the day. A shortwave trough will move onshore from the California coastline during Wednesday. This will influence lee cyclogenesis across the Central Rockies. While we will not see a direct influence from the synoptic surface low, wrap around moisture and overrunning will cause an uptick in chances for rain showers and thunderstorms for portions of the NE Panhandle and South/Central Laramie Range. Thursday will bring WAA to the area as we begin to be influenced by the northern periphery of an amplified upper level ridge further downstream. There will be a partial phasing of the subtropical jet stream and the Polar jet stream on Thursday across the Intermountain West. This will cause our chances for convection to increase by the afternoon. PWATs, bulk effective wind shear, dew points and modest instability should all assist with diurnal heating and thunderstorms. SPC Day 3 doesn`t have more than a general risk of Thunder at this time, but that could change if consistency with models occurs as CAMs come into play the next 24 hours. A couple strong to potentially severe thunderstorms may become favored if model consistency holds true. Overall, expect the cool temperatures today and tomorrow to be short-lived as we have much warmer weather begin by Thursday across the region.
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&& .LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/...
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Issued at 303 PM MDT Tue Jun 18 2024 Thursday evening could be an interesting setup especially with regards to severe/heavy rainfall potential. The models are in similar agreement on the position of the upper level jet moving through northwest Wyoming, southeast Montana and the Dakotas, placing us in the right entrance region of the upper level jet. The other concern is the position of the lee side trof and the associated frontal boundary. At this juncture, it appears like the best forcing will be along and north of a Torrington to Alliance line which is the approximate depiction where the low level boundary will be in place. South of this boundary, there appears to be quite a bit of capping potential. However, if some storms can break the cap in the southern panhandle they will most likely become explosive discrete supercells with any right mover having the potential of producing large hail, torrential rainfall due to the slow movement and isolated tornadoes. Meanwhile, along and north of this boundary we could see the potential for all modes of severe weather with multicell clusters of showers and thunderstorms, damaging winds and hail,due to higher effective shear values (40-60kts) and decent instability with MUCAPES of 1500-2000j/kg. The bulk of these storms should move out of this region by midnight or so with the frontal boundary shifting south into the southern panhandle or northern Colorado. Friday-Saturday: Another shortwave is expected to push through the northern Rockies into the Plains on Friday. This shortwave will tend to flatten the upper level flow on Friday which will mostly likely weaken the cap. As a result, we may see more scattered showers and thunderstorms on Friday. A few of these storms may also become severe, but the instability will most likely be more limited compared to Thursday. On Saturday, the upper level ridge is expected to build over Rockies which may put is in more of northwest flow regime with really warm temperatures. Cannot rule some isolated showers and thunderstorms developing along the northern periphery of our CWA due that area being in closer proximity to the stronger flow aloft. We can also not rule an isolated storm or two developing along the Laramie Range. Sunday-Monday: The models/ensembles/WPC clusters are displaying the upper level ridge continuing to build over the area which will bring more anomalous temperatures with only isolated convection chances. In fact, this timeframe may need to be watched for potential heat advisories. Stay Tuned!
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&& .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1138 AM MDT Tue Jun 18 2024 Cool high pressure will continue to filter into the area during the next 24hrs. As a result, gusty north-northwest winds will continue to decrease as the day progresses. Cannot rule out a few isolated light showers today, but for the most part the cloud cover will gradually increase through the course of the night. There is a possibility for some MVFR/IFR ceilings along the southern Laramie Range and foothills and may even clip KCYS during the mid morning tomorrow. Otherwise, VFR ceilings will be the rule with east-northeast winds flipping around to southeast by 15z. && .CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WY...None. NE...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...BW LONG TERM...REC AVIATION...REC