Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Portland, ME

Home |  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 46 47 48 49 50
-- Remove Highlighting --
-- Discussion containing changed information from previous version are highlighted. --
689 FXUS61 KGYX 301036 AFDGYX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Gray ME 636 AM EDT Sun Jun 30 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Low pressure passing NW of Maine will continue lifting a warm front through the region this morning. A cold front then crosses this afternoon bringing scattered strong to severe thunderstorms. Cooler and drier air arrives tonight followed by a short wave crossing southern New England bringing slight chances for showers. High pressure builds in MOnday night through mid week for fair weather. The next frontal system crosses New England sometime Wednesday night through Thursday. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/...
-- Changed Discussion --
635 AM Update...Have mainly trimmed back PoPs for the next couple of hours as much of the area is devoid of shower activity and convection over Upstate NY is weakening as it tracks east. The warm and humid airmass is pushing into the area with dewpoints already climbing into the low 70s across southern NH. Otherwise, no significant changes to the forecast thinking for today with scattered strong to severe storms developing across northwest zones early this afternoon. Previously... Latest water vapor imagery shows a positively tilted trough over easter North America with an embedded short wave crossing into Quebec and a secondary embedded wave crossing the northern Great Lakes. The leading short wave has spawned a surface low over SE Canada that will track towards the Canadian Maritimes with the attendant warm front lifting northeast of Maine this morning. The secondary short wave will dive southeastward sending a mid level speed max towards the International Border around mid day with modest height falls occuring later this afternoon and evening. All the while, a cold front drops southeastward through the area providing a trigger for convection. The severe threat window starts around 2 PM as storm cross into northern NH and NW Maine and persists until 7 PM as storms reach the coast. A review of the last three runs of the HREF shows that the projected convective parameter space has remained similar over the past 24 hours. This has resulted in no significant changes in forecast thinking for the threat of severe storms this afternoon and evening. The HREF mean MU CAPE builds to 1500-2000 J/kg amidst a corridor of deep layer shear of 40-50 kts by early afternoon. Hodographs remain fairly straight with little turning of winds in the low levels, while CAMs do highlight an area of enhanced SRH across central and Downeast Maine. Convective mode looks to be primarily broken line segments making damaging winds the primary threat. The latest RAP does show 0-3 km shear approaching 35-40 kts across northern NH into central Maine and will have to watch the orientation of these shear vectors against line segments for the potential of QLCS spin ups. Mid level lapse rates remain unimpressive while the magnitude of deep layer shear will be sufficient for a supercells that will be capable of large hail. Another variable to watch will be cloud cover as skies will be mostly cloudy to start today. The 00Z HREF suggests there will be breaks in the cloud cover over the interior by mid morning while clouds may persist longer across southern NH and coastal Maine. Dewpoints are forecast to climb near 70F so solar heating will play a role in whether convective coverage can over/under achieve. SPC maintains a Slight Risk across much of the area driven by 15 percent wind probabilities followed by 5 percent hail, and a 2 percent tornado. Highs today will climb into the mid to upper 80s south of the mountains and away from the immediate coast. These temperatures combined with dewpoints near 70F will bring heat indices into the low to mid 90s while falling short of Heat Advisory criteria. Highs in the north and along the Mid Coast will be in the 70s.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH 6 PM MONDAY/... Convection will be pushing offshore this evening with the cold front while the secondary short wave lags over Upstate NY. This wave will maintain chances of showers in the mountains through the first part of tonight. Drier air working into the region will eventually lead to drying trend across the region by day break with lows dropping into the 50s north to low 60s across the south. The lagging short wave crosses southern New England Monday bringing chances for showers across central and southern New Hampshire. Otherwise, there will be a mix of sun and clouds with temperatures rising into the 70s with comfortable humidity levels as dewpoints will be in the 50s. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... At 500 MB across NOAM and environs we still a pattern that gradually favors warmer and more humid conditions, although nothing that I would call hot through next week. We will near the boundary of the sub-tropical over the Atlantic and the jest stream to our N, so we can expect some rounds of SHRA/TSRA, but no significant widespread events. Monday night will be the coolest of the stretch with clearing skies and light winds. Expect lows in the upper 40s in some mtns pots and generally low to mid 50s elsewhere. Tuesday looks mainly sunny and dry with low humidity, as high pressure crosses the region, and highs 80-85, but cooler along the mid-coast. Flow shifts SW as the sfc high shifts offshore, and the resultant return flow will bring in more humid conditions. Wednesday looks mainly dry though, but with partly sunny skies and highs 80-85 once again. A weakening cold front moves in from the NW Wed night, and loses its steam over the CWA, so some SHRA and maybe some TSRA are possible Tue night into early Thursday, but expect clearing skies and warm and humid conditions on Thursday. Weak high pressure moves in for Friday, so its be dry, but still warm and humid. Next weekend remains uncertain as we sit beneath weakly anticyclonic flow and troughing to our W, which the means the potential waves and rounds of convection, but it should stay on the warm and humid side. && .AVIATION /12Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Short Term...Low cigs will continue IFR/LIFR conditions across Maine TAF sites through day break with strong SW winds in 1.5-2kFT layer continuing LLWS. Farther west in NH cigs will continue MVFR conditions at KCON and KMHT with the overall trend for improvement to VFR this morning. Across Maine conditions will also improve to VFR later this morning with LLWS ending. A cold front crosses bringing broken lines of strong to severe thunderstorms. Confidence is not high enough in coverage to put in the TAF while the current timing for storms is around 18Z in the mountains with these storms reaching the coast around 23Z. Drier air moving into the region Sunday night favors VFR conditions into Monday. Long Term...VFR expected Monday night through Wed, with possible valley fog Monday night. Then more widespread flight restrictions possible Wed night into early Thu in SHRA/TSRA and some fog. && .MARINE... Short Term...SCA conditions due to both winds and waves are expected to continue through today ahead of an approaching cold front. Winds shift slowly shift northwesterly and diminish Sunday night...though residual SCA waves will likely persist through the first half of the night. Winds and seas will be SCA thresholds on Monday. Long Term...Generally light flow is expected through the middle of the week with winds and seas staying below SCA levels, but it could pick up some Wed night or Thu. && .GYX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. NH...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 11 PM EDT this evening for ANZ150>154. && $$ NEAR TERM...Schroeter SHORT TERM...Schroeter LONG TERM...Cempa