Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Grand Rapids, MI

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324 FXUS63 KGRR 070715 AFDGRR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Rapids MI 315 AM EDT Fri Jun 7 2024 .KEY MESSAGES...
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- Breezy Today, Showers This Morning and Saturday - Diminishing Showers Saturday Evening - Monday looks like the coolest day next week - Still looks like a warmup for the end of the week but it trending more toward a gradual temperature increase
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&& .DISCUSSION...
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Issued at 312 AM EDT Fri Jun 7 2024 - Breezy Today, Showers This Morning and Saturday The main driver of our weather through this evening is a deep upper- low across the region visible on mid-level water vapor imagery. This low is driving isolated instability driven showers north of I96 which will diminish through the morning as the upper-low pulls away. The northwest flow will support deeper mixing today, and when combined with the isallobaric addition to the wind behind the departing low will make it breezy today. The best winds/gusts will be near and south of I94 where winds around 20 mph gusting to 30-35 mph (isolated gusts near 40 mph) are expected. Across the northern CWA winds will be lower around 10-15 gusting to 25 mph. Highs today will be in the upper 60s to near 70. Skies clear out tonight as dry air makes its way in along with surface and upper-level ridging with lows around 50. Near daybreak Saturday, showers will arrive north of M46 as a shortwave tracks into the area. They then expand during the afternoon across the rest of the area. Highest QPF of 0.25-0.5" will be north of I96 due to deformation on the north side of the surface reflection, with up to 0.25" south. As 850mb temps climb above 10C Sunday, highs climb back into the low 70s. - Diminishing Showers Saturday Evening A 700 mb trough is advertised by most models to shift through the CWA Saturday evening. Forecast soundings show fairly saturated conditions through 500 mb with some lift noted in Bufkit overviews. As a result, we will bump up the POPs for Saturday evening across the CWA to account for the passage of this feature. The atmosphere is shown to dry out on the backside of this system so after 06z Sunday we will feature mainly dry conditions. - Monday looks like the coolest day next week Models are advertising fairly significant 850 mb temperature anomalies on Monday. Ensemble surface max temperatures have trended downward. Deterministic values and ensemble values suggest we will struggle to reach 70 degrees as the 850 mb thermal trough tracks through. We will nudge the max temperatures slightly downward for Monday and feature most locations topping out in the 60`s. - Still looks like a warmup for the end of the week but it trending more toward a gradual temperature increase Previous runs of the Canadian model have featured hot weather arriving by Thursday, but the 00z run has trended a degree or two lower. The ECMWF has trended up with the temperatures slightly Thursday and now has values topping 80 degrees, while the GFS is showing 70`s then. Blending the values suggest we may struggle to top 85 degrees on Thursday. Thus I will lower values slightly and feature most of the CWA in the 80 to 85 degree range, which is still above normal.
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&& .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 119 AM EDT Fri Jun 7 2024 The main impact to aviators will be the winds today. West to northwest gusts will occasionally top 25 knot, primarily during the daylight hours. A few showers will track through the sites, mainly north of a KAZO to KJXN line. Any cloud cover is expected to remain at VFR levels. The mixing heights will decrease during the evening hours and that is when the winds will diminish. && .MARINE...
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Issued at 312 AM EDT Fri Jun 7 2024 Gusty winds of 20-25 knots gusting to 25-30 knots will continue through the morning with associated 3-5 foot waves (highest between South Haven and Muskegon) before subsiding this afternoon. The Beach Hazards Statement and Small Craft advisory currently in effect cover this well so no changes will be done. Lower winds and waves continue into the weekend as gradient winds are weaker so no headlines are expected.
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&& .GRR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MI...Beach Hazards Statement through this afternoon for MIZ037-043- 050-056-064-071. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 4 PM EDT this afternoon for LMZ844>849. && $$ DISCUSSION...MJS/Thomas AVIATION...MJS MARINE...Thomas