Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS New Orleans/Baton Rouge, LA

Current Version |  Previous Version |  Graphics & Text |  Print | Product List |  Glossary On
Versions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45
-- Highlight Changed Discussion --
-- Discussion containing changed information from previous version are highlighted. --
414 FXUS64 KLIX 310654 AFDLIX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service New Orleans LA 154 AM CDT Fri May 31 2024 ...New UPDATE... .UPDATE...
-- Changed Discussion --
Issued at 153 AM CDT Fri May 31 2024 Severe TS watch canceled.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Friday night) Issued at 315 PM CDT Thu May 30 2024 Surface analysis this morning showed a weak frontal boundary stalled across the local forecast area. Although not appreciable temp difference on either side of the boundary, there was a notable dewpoint gradient. Moisture convergence was enhance along this boundary this morning as easterly winds increased due to surface ridge oriented northeast of the area. This, combined with strong daytime heating initiated late morning and early afternoon convection. All this outflow driven activity that started this morning all around Lake Pontchartrain is on the rapid downward trend of intensity and generally moving offshore. A few storms have recent developed west of I-55 along a west to northwest moving outflow boundary. Once all this activity dissipates over the next few hours, should be done with the rain for the rest of the evening and overnight period. Friday should see a more westward shift to rain chances. Weak upper level ridging in the wake of longwave trough currently oriented along the Eastern Seaboard should stunt tstorm development in the eastern half the CWA as it slides east across the CWA. Coming in from the west, a shortwave will be riding on the southern edge of a broader trough near the High Plains. This feature will be tracking eastward through the Central Plains late Friday afternoon. The far southeastern edge of this wave should just barely be reaching into the northwestern CWA. This, combined with PW`s not much under 2" (around the 90th percentile), will likely initiate scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms by around noon. Greatest POPs should be northwest of BTR, closer to the shortwave. Will need to monitor for flash flooding with PW`s this high. Not a huge concern, but worth watching. && .LONG TERM... (Friday night through Wednesday) Issued at 321 AM CDT Thu May 30 2024 As the sfc low ejects to the NE it will cause the deep moisture field to also spread east(moving our barrier east) setting up new gradients. The "barrier" gradient looks to be found from west of Tallahassee northward well into central Tennessee then joining the sfc low to the north. The next gradient forms from SE Oklahoma to BTR to NEW. These two avenues are also where most of the sh/ts develop and travel except most storms with the eastern boundary should be moving north bound unless cold pools can propagate storms southward, while the western boundary would still be the MCS path to the SE bringing our rain chances higher Sat. After Sat, it is quite difficult to have enough confidence in any particular outcome. But global models are causing the entire gulf south flow to move gradients and boundaries northward as another cold front moves southward out of Canada. We should see the first glimpse of this late Monday as it moves into the northern tier of states. This is advertised to be close to the area by late Thu and into the gulf before stalling late Fri or early Sat of next week. Yes, we are far away for any strength of forecasting but when all global models agree on the same solution for systems in the westerlies, it does make one take notice. But we do need to factor in the time of year and that most of these systems stall before getting here or over the area. We will need to wait and see. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1237 AM CDT Fri May 31 2024 A line of storms is moving eastward, now impacting KBTR and expected to impact KMCB by about 1:30am. This line will bring winds gusting to 30kt and TSRA. It is expected to weaken before impacting other terminals. Generally, winds will be southeasterly and light through the night, but build to 10-15kt by the end of the period tomorrow. Notable are the chance of reduced visibilities but no restrictions around sunrise at KMCB and the inclusion of VCTS late in the period at KBTR. && .MARINE... Issued at 315 PM CDT Thu May 30 2024 A very normal summer pattern is setting up over the northern gulf which is an onshore flow as fronts or troughs stall well inland. The fcast will reflect this as southerly winds of 10-15kt will remain over all waters into the new week. Any storms that are capable of developing or moving offshore will be able to produce erratic and much higher wind speeds. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MCB 86 69 86 68 / 50 20 80 40 BTR 89 74 89 73 / 60 20 70 20 ASD 90 74 89 72 / 30 20 70 40 MSY 89 77 89 76 / 40 20 70 30 GPT 88 75 87 72 / 20 20 70 40 PQL 91 73 87 71 / 10 20 70 40 && .LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...None. GM...None. MS...None. GM...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...ME LONG TERM....TE AVIATION...DS MARINE...ME