Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME

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580 FXUS61 KCAR 180502 AFDCAR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Caribou ME 102 AM EDT Wed Sep 18 2024 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure will remain over the area into Thursday. A cold front from eastern Canada will cross the region Thursday afternoon. Cooler high pressure will build over the region into the weekend. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TODAY/...
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1 am update... Some clouds occurring ahead of vort max but will maintain moclr acrs the area. Isolated showers are getting close to the St. John Valley but other than a stray sprinkle have not added pops in due to dry airmass. May be able to see patchy river valley fog develop late tonight. Have adjusted temps to lower them just a touch in the valleys where winds are decoupled but no other chgs needed. Previous discussion... High pressure remains over the area tonight through Wednesday, with warm air advection and mostly clear skies during the daytime hours lifting temperatures into the low to mid 80s across the forecast area. For tonight, mostly clear skies and subsiding winds will allow for surface decoupling, but with increased dewpoints, lows will likely only fall into the mid 50s. On Wednesday, cloud cover will begin to increase from south to north due to an approaching low pressure system from the south. However, with continued SW warm air advection and breaks in the incoming cloud cover, temperatures will likely approach the low to mid 80s once more. Patchy river valley fog is possible again tonight due to increased low level moisture and surface decoupling, and may briefly limit visibility right around sunrise prior to the fog dissipating.
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&& .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... High pressure maintains its hold over the forecast area through Thursday night. On Thursday night, an inverted trough will bring a back door cold front from Eastern New Brunswick through the forecast area. This back door cold front does not look particularly strong. It brings the first chance of showers in quite a while. However, models are indicating this is likely to be a dry frontal passage, with only a few ensemble solutions indicating any precipitation at all, and only for far northeastern Aroostook county. Went with NBM solution which brings no precip through, but there does remain a low chance of a light shower. Patchy fog is possible both Wednesday night and Thursday night, mainly in river valleys and low lying areas As for temperatures, anomalously warm temperatures will continue through Thursday, with a noticeable drop in daytime highs on Friday after the cold front moves through. Colder air will not reach Coastal Downeast until later in the day, so highs for the coast on Friday will be similar to Thursday, in the low 70s. This will mark the beginning of a more seasonable trend in the temperatures for the region. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... Ridging will return and become the dominating feature again over the weekend, although with cooler temperatures aloft, it will feel more seasonable than during the work week. With clearing skies, nighttime lows are expected to drop into the mid 40s to upper 30s. Patchy frost is not be out of the question, particularly in valleys across the North Woods. Dry weather is expected to continue through Tuesday, potentially raising concern for a flash drought even though the growing season is coming to an end. && .AVIATION /06Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...
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NEAR TERM: Other than a brief IFR vsby restriction at PQI and BHB in patchy fog late tonight expect terminals will be VFR. SHORT TERM: Wednesday night....VFR. Slight chance of fog mainly at PQI, BHB. Light W to SW winds becoming N to NE. Thursday night through Sunday...VFR. Slight chance of fog at BHB Thursday night. Light NE winds.
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&& .MARINE... NEAR TERM: Winds and seas should remain well below small craft advisory levels tonight through Wednesday. Seas will remain 1 to 3 ft or less through this time, with a few gusts approaching 20 kts early this evening on the coastal waters before subsiding overnight through Wednesday. SHORT TERM: Winds and seas will mostly remain below SCA criteria, although there is a chance for a few gusts to 25 kts in the outer waters early Friday morning and again Friday night. Seas will remain 2 to 4 feet through the period. && .CLIMATE...
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Near record high temperatures are possible Wednesday. Although some of the records look to be well out of reach there are a few records that could potentially be tied or broken such as Houlton. Here are the record highs and forecast highs Wednesday. 9/18: Caribou: 86F, 1942 (forecast high 85F) Bangor: 87F, 1992 (forecast high 84F) Millinocket: 87F, 1991 (forecast high 85F) Houlton: 82F, 2015 (forecast high 85F)
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&& .CAR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. MARINE...None. && $$ Near Term...AStrauser/Buster Short Term...LF Long Term...LF Aviation...AStrauser/Buster/LF Marine...AStrauser/Buster/LF Climate...CB/Buster