Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Boston, MA

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008 FXUS61 KBOX 261915 AFDBOX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA 315 PM EDT Sun May 26 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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Downpours and thunderstorms persist through early evening. Widespread shower activity tomorrow ahead of approaching cold front that will bring renewed heavy rain and thunder chances to SNE. Cold front moves offshore early on Tuesday, with decreasing clouds and drier weather conditions. A cooler more seasonable air mass then builds into Southern New England for the remainder of the workweek into much of the weekend. Mainly dry weather prevails as well, though there is a chance for rains on Wednesday night.
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&& .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY MORNING/...
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Downpours have begun to fire along the seabreeze boundary across the far southern Hudson River Valley with a few rain showers cropping up along the same boundary across northern CT and central RI. Fortunately, storms are forming quickly but transitioning to "orphan anvils" within a few scans, suggesting our forecast of mainly sub severe storms is on track. While storms remain innocuous as of this writing (at 19Z), do continue to anticipate some slow moving strong storms to develop along the I-90 corridor and perhaps south into northern Bristol and Plymouth counties. 12Z CAMs continued to show initiation "prime time" around 21Z with storms persisting through 00-01Z this evening before subsiding quickly after sunset as instability wanes. As for instability, models continue to support 1500 J/kg SBCAPE combined with decent low and mid level lapse rates of 7.5-8C/km and 6.5-7C/km respectively. Bulk shear, while lackluster, will increase to between 30-40kt along the MA/NH border later today, which will likely keep storms on life support this evening. Pockets of heavy rain continue to be the greatest threat associated with storms this afternoon with PWATs around 1.25" and weak flow aloft to keep storms moving. In general, many communities will remain dry, but those under a potent cell could see upwards of 1 to even 2" of rain, which may lead to some poor drainage flooding especially if storms set up in the Boston metro. As mentioned, storms wane quickly after sunset but with easterly flow, marine stratus and fog will expand from the nearshore waters to at least the coastal plain. Places like the Cape and Islands can expect to see dense fog, comparative in coverage to last night. Prevailing wind direction should support more expansive fog coverage overnight that may overspread inland to the I-95 corridor.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/...
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Low pressure over the Great Lakes continues east-northeast into Ontario and Quebec as mid level trough digs into the Ohio River Valley and mid-Atlantic. Warm front lifts from the mid-Atlantic towards New England tomorrow but will fail to lift of ~central NJ by mid day tomorrow. While we remain north of the warm sector, will still have some prefrontal showers beginning as early as 12Z across the western portions of the CWA before tracking east through early afternoon with rain holding off in places like Boston and Providence through around 15/16Z. Cold front will fuel more potent line of rain after 20Z, with the 12Z guidance speeding up the front`s arrival and departure by several hours compared to last evening`s guidance; in fact, had to stray significantly from the NBM given it`s know lag time to derive PoPs through early Tuesday morning. The greatest concern with tomorrow`s forecast will be the threat for additional heavy rainfall, with PWATs climbing to near 2" by late tomorrow afternoon and a decent southerly oriented LLJ of between 30- 40kt. Could certainly see some upslope enhancement across the Berkshires and Worcester Hills, but fortunately the jet lacks an easterly component that would really "ring out the rain". HREF PMM and 24 hour MAX QPF ending early Tuesday morning depicts local max QPF of 1.5-2" across the aforementioned terrain features, with lesser amounts elsewhere. Warm cloud depths near 12,000ft combined with very high PWATs should draw one`s attention to the potential for tropical-like downpours tomorrow afternoon, but the progressive nature of the front should limit any flooding concerns to just poor drainage areas, which is corroborated by WPC placing the entirety of the region under just a "marginal" excessive rainfall outlook. Given a lack of evidence pointing to widespread urban or flash flooding, did not consider a flood watch with this package issuance. Convective elements will likely be present, particularly along the cold front, with tomorrow`s rain with modest instability of 200- 600J/kg CAPE. With that said, convection looks to be elevated, with really poor low level lapse rates below 5C/km. Hodographs look quite curly tomorrow, but with no surface based convection, the severe weather potential remains low. The one saving grace for more prolonged convective showers would exist due to bulk shear values approaching 50kt late tomorrow evening, which may result in some locally gusty winds. As previously mentioned, cold front should be east of the area between 06-09Z Tuesday, which will lead to rapidly improving conditions by sunrise Tuesday. Winds will shift from the E to the south behind the front, which combined with residual moisture, may drive another night of coastal fog.
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&& .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...
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Highlights: * Cold front moves offshore on Tue with decreasing rain chances by later Tue AM and temps warming into the 70s to low 80s. * Temps cool off to more seasonable levels starting Wed into the weekend. * Other than a chance for rain on Wed night into Thurs, much of the rest of the workweek into the early weekend are generally dry. Details: Cold front from Monday will continue to move offshore during the morning hrs of Tuesday. There might still be some steadier rain during the morning commute in eastern and southeast New England but improving conditions are expected by later-morning, with decreasing clouds allowing for temps to warm into the 70s to low 80s, with upper 60s/near 70 for the Cape and Islands. A deep longwave trough becomes established over the Northeast states as we move through the rest of the workweek into the early part of next weekend. This trough will bring cooler than normal 925-850 mb temps to Southern New England, bringing temps closer to late- May/early-June climatological values (upper 60s to lower to mid 70s). Though it is a generally dry weather regime, we do have to watch around Wed night into Thurs for chances for showers as an embedded shortwave disturbance aloft rotates around the trough. There are differing answers as far as the placement and track of this shortwave trough, with the ECMWF the most bullish on bringing steadier rains to SNE for Wed night into Thurs, with the GFS interestingly being dry while the Canadian GEM too far south for any significant precip. NBM guidance was showing 25-40% PoP for rains and opted to stay close to that until there`s better agreement on the shortwave trough. Other than the Wed night into Thurs timeframe, overall it looks to be a decent stretch of weather. Our next chance of rain may not arrive until very late Sunday or into next Mon.
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&& .AVIATION /19Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
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Forecast Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Moderate - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. Today...High confidence in trends, moderate in timing. VFR across the interior today, but will need to keep an eye out for hit or miss showers/storms this afternoon. Timing wise am thinking things initiate at roughly 18-21Z. If a shower/storm can move over a terminal then will have risk of gusty winds and and small hail. IFR in low clouds across the south coast. Though think we improve for PVD-FMH-HYA with some heating around roughly 14-16Z. Winds out of the S/SE at 5-10 kts. Will have localized sea breezes developing roughly 14-17Z. Through tonight... moderate confidence in storm location, high confidence in trends Thunderstorms will bubble up along the I-90 corridor, between Springfield and Boston, north, after 21Z and will be scattered in nature. Sea breeze will likely keep storms away from the immediate coast, including Logan, but it is possible for a strong cell to produce heavy rain and gusty winds at several terminals through 01Z tonight. IFR develops quickly after storms subside overnight with stratus and fog advecting from the east. Uncertainty regarding how far inland fog develops, but it is almost a surefire thing for terminals on the Cape and islands. Tomorrow... High Confidence in Trends IFR/LIFR for most. Scattered showers develop between 12-16Z. Lull in shower activity expected from 16-19Z or so from west to east. More robust line of rain associated with a cold front develops after 19Z. Some embedded Thunder possible with the second round of rain. Winds remain from the east, may gust as high as 20kt tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow night... Moderate Confidence in timing Rain will come to an end between ~03-06Z yielding improving conditions with improvement from IFR to VFR around sunrise. Winds shift from the E to the S, gusting to 20kt, behind frontal passage. KBOS TAF...High confidence in TAF trends, moderate in timing. Generally VFR through 00Z except if a thunderstorm is able to develop over the terminal. Thunderstorms more likely just northwest of the city of Boston. Winds from the E/ESE through the period building late tomorrow to around 20kt. Several rounds of rain for Monday. IFR developing quickly after sunset this evening as stratus develops. KBDL TAF...High confidence in TAF trends, moderate in timing. Generally VFR, hit or miss Thunderstorms likely stay north of the terminal but cant rule out impactful TSRA between 21-01Z. IFR develops overnight, winds from the south shift to the ESE tomorrow. Outlook /Tuesday through Friday/... Tuesday: Mainly VFR, with local IFR possible. Breezy. Slight chance SHRA. Tuesday Night: VFR. Wednesday through Thursday: VFR. Chance SHRA. Thursday Night through Friday: VFR.
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&& .MARINE...
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Forecaster Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Medium - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. Through Memorial Day... Moderate Confidence in fog. Another night of dense marine fog expected as winds prevail from the east. Increased shower activity early Monday before a cold front brings the chance for more potent rain and embedded thunder to the waters late tomorrow evening and early Tuesday morning. Winds increase, gusting between 25-30kt from the east before turning south behind the front. Waves climb in excess of 5 feet across the outer waters. SCA has been hoisted for the eastern outer, and southern waters, including Nantucket sound late tomorrow/tomorrow night. Outlook /Tuesday through Friday/... Tuesday: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas up to 5 ft. Chance of rain showers, patchy fog. Tuesday Night through Wednesday: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas up to 5 ft. Wednesday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Areas of seas approaching 5 ft. Chance of rain showers. Thursday: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Slight chance of rain showers. Thursday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Friday: Winds less than 25 kt.
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&& .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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CT...None. MA...None. RI...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory from 9 PM Monday to 11 AM EDT Tuesday for ANZ232-233-235-237. Small Craft Advisory from 6 PM Monday to 5 AM EDT Wednesday for ANZ250-254. Small Craft Advisory from 9 PM Monday to 5 AM EDT Wednesday for ANZ255-256.
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&& $$ SYNOPSIS...Loconto/KS NEAR TERM...KS SHORT TERM...KS LONG TERM...Loconto AVIATION...KS MARINE...Loconto/KS