Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Medford, OR

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994 FXUS66 KMFR 240324 AFDMFR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Medford OR 824 PM PDT Sun Jun 23 2024 .DISCUSSION...
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The forecast remains on track for this evening. Clear skies will continue over most of northern California and southern Oregon through the night. Another marine push is expected over Coos and western Douglas counties later this evening, but the effects will be limited to a stratus layer moving inland. Warm, dry, and sunny conditions continue during the day Monday. Please see the previous discussion for more details on the short- and long-term forecast. -TAD
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&& .AVIATION (24/00Z TAFs)...
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Conditions are VFR early this evening. A weaker marine push tonight is expected to bring a return of LIFR/IFR to the coast, and into the Coquille and lower Umpqua valleys. Patchy IFR is also possible in the southern Umpqua Valley, around Canyonville, toward sunrise. Elsewhere, conditions will remain VFR with gusty afternoon westerly winds on Monday expected to be slightly weaker than those from Sunday. /DW
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&& .MARINE...
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Updated 800 PM Sunday, June 23, 2024...The thermal trough is at a peak of strength this evening, but steep seas will persist for much of the waters south of Cape Blanco into Monday evening, with very steep and hazardous seas south of Pistol River. The approach of another front then disrupts the pattern with improving conditions Monday night into early Thursday. The front is expected to provide a deep layer of low clouds and a slight chance of showers Wednesday night. A return of the thermal trough pattern is expected Thursday into at least Friday night, with steep seas possible south of Cape Blanco. -DW
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&& .FIRE WEATHER...
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Updated 200 PM Sunday, June 23, 2024...Overall, warm (above normal) and dry conditions are forecast through next week with only a slight break Thursday. Temperatures are likely to be about 10+ degrees above normal for many locations through this period. However, Thursday we get a cooler airmass, and we will be near normal with great humidity recoveries both Thurs and Fri morning. Fire weather conditions will unfortunately remain around elevated to near critical until this cool down occurs. The overlap of low RH (<20%) and breezy winds (>15mph) will be most notable today (Red Flag for Modoc County). Conditions do improve slightly tomorrow (Monday), but we could still see elevated fire weather conditions across the eastside. Fuels are of course tricky this time of year in transition to summer, and this may be the limiting factor regarding fire weather conditions until fuels transition over to "high". At this time, elevated to critical fire weather conditions should be anticipated through at least Wednesday. Even with the passage of the front, we are only expecting a slight cool down with RH values staying on the low side. Another dry front approaches the area Tuesday and moves onshore Wednesday. Currently, Tuesday looks like the driest day with afternoon RH values dropping down to around 10% east of the Cascades. Winds pick up again in the afternoon, but probably not widespread critical levels. Best chances for elevated to critical thresholds are going to be across NorCal and Oregon east of the Cascades. As mentioned yesterday, Wednesday appears to be the day where we get another period of stronger, gusty WSW winds in combination with low humidity, especially east of the Cascades. For most of the area, guidance is showing a drop in temperature and an increase in humidity to help mitigate this threat, but areas farther east are more susceptible. We`ll be taking a close look at this in the next couple of shifts. The one caveat for Wednesday is the thunderstorm potential. We will have to watch how this upper low tracks as the moisture fetch will be key, but right now its not the most favorable setup for thunder with the lack of instability Wednesday (at this time). Either way, the track is shaping up to produce breezy/gusty winds, especially east of the Cascades. -Guerrero
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&& .PREV DISCUSSION...
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/Issued 247 PM PDT Sun Jun 23 2024/ DISCUSSION...We are on the backside of a trough and onshore flow is maintaining some cloud cover around Coos and Douglas County, and is holding temperatures a few degrees cooler than yesterday; which if you missed it, produced a record high temperature of 96 degrees at Mt. Shasta City. As the thermal trough builds, the north winds will strengthen, clearing out the existing clouds and limiting fog production along the immediate coast tonight. Further inland across the Coquille and Umpqua river valleys, fog will be possible tonight. As high pressure builds in on Monday, temperatures will warm. By Tuesday temperatures should be back into the 90s, with drier conditions in the afternoon. This will bring some elevated fire weather conditions, but the greater impact should be Wednesday because another front will be moving onshore as a deeper trough builds over the PNW. This front will develop gusty WSW winds again east of the Cascades on Wednesday afternoon/evening (shifting to WNW) with breezy conditions (NW winds) for the west side. Moisture has remained limited with the system, but another strong marine push could induce some light rain/drizzle or mist along the coast and mountains of Douglas County. The best precip chances are to our north, but there remains a low probability (<20%) of showers across northern Douglas County. There still remains a non-zero chance for thunder because of some high lapse rates. However, moisture remains limited, which is the main limiting factor. Another is that the front moves through in the morning hours of Wednesday, and so the instability is small due to a lack of solar heating. The cooler weather will continue on Thursday, but things should warm up again Friday into Saturday before the next trough arrives, probably on Sunday. -Miles
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&& .MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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OR...CA...None. PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...Small Craft Advisory until 11 PM PDT Monday for PZZ356-376. Hazardous Seas Warning until 11 PM PDT Monday for PZZ356-376.
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&& $$