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369
FXUS63 KJKL 161950
AFDJKL

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service Jackson KY
350 PM EDT Sun Jun 16 2024

.KEY MESSAGES...

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- Hot and somewhat humid weather arrives today and persists
  through the upcoming week. Afternoon heat indices may peak
  around 100 at some locations, especially through Tuesday.

- There is a small potential for thunderstorms through early
  evening, primarily, over and close to the Cumberland drainage
  basin. There is also a possibility of thunderstorms on Monday,
  Saturday, and Sunday. The greatest probability is in the
  afternoon and evening hours each day.
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&&

.SHORT TERM...
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(This evening through Monday night)
Issued at 332 PM EDT SUN JUN 16 2024

The latest surface analysis has surface high pressure situated over
New England which is also keeping the weather in eastern Kentucky
warm and dry. To the northwest, a surface low is track across the
northern Central Plains into the Upper Great Lakes. A warm front,
associated with the surface low, is extending all the way to the
Georgia shoreline. Locally, mostly clear skies exists across much of
the region with temperatures climbing into mid to upper-80s
across eastern Kentucky with showers and thunderstorms developing
in Tennessee.

Through the day today, the surface low, mentioned above, will eject
into the Upper Great Lakes and while that occurs, the warm front
will lift northeast into the Commonwealth. With warm frontal
passage, a few showers and thunderstorms could develop but mainly
along and south of the Mountain Parkway. SPC mesoanalysis is
forecasting SBCAPE to increase to around 2,000 J/kg with dewpoints
in the mid to upper-60s which is more than enough to support
convective initiation. However, due to the lack of significant
forcing and lack of shear, not expecting much in the way of severe
weather. Daytime highs in the low to mid-90s with heat indices
approaching mid to upper-90s are expected today. Once the front
lifts out the the CWA, toward the overnight, high pressure will
build back into the region. This will clear skies for the overnight
and allow for a ridge-valley split to develop. However, the lowest
valley temperatures are still expected to be in the 60s. Valley fog
will be possible tonight with the expected clearing; also, wherever
precipitation occurs will have a good chance at seeing some fog
development.

High pressure will persist through the remainder of the period with
high temperatures expected to climb back into the low to mid 90s
with heat indices again approaching the 100 degree mark. Also,
persistent moisture in place will allow for afternoon pop-up
thunderstorms through the evening before storms dissipate for the
overnight. Lingering cloud cover may limit the overall ridge-
valley split and fog potential for Monday night into Tuesday
morning. Otherwise, a hot and humid forecast with scattered
showers and thunderstorms is expected for the short-term period.

.LONG TERM...(Tuesday through Sunday)
Issued at 350 PM EDT SUN JUN 16 2024

Models are in good agreement for the pattern that will affect our
area during the long term period. Strong upper level high pressure
is expected to be centered over the Mid Atlantic states early
Tuesday. It drifts north to southern New England on Wednesday, but
maintains strong ridging southwestward over the Ohio and Tennessee
valleys. Late in the week the upper level high/ridge shifts back
southward and weakens by the time it reaches the southeast coast on
the weekend. Resulting subsidence and warm temps aloft will help to
keep convection capped at least until late in the long term period.
During this time, large surface high pressure centered offshore will
ridge westward over VA early in the period, and then also drift
south. Our low level flow will emanate from this high, not having
trajectories over the warm gulf, and this will keep dew points from
being too excessive. In fact, dew points are actually expected to go
down a bit for Wednesday through Friday. The limited low level
moisture will also help to reduce the potential for thunderstorms.

As we move into the weekend, our low level flow will have
trajectories coming from further south and this will bring dew
points back up again. At the same time, lower geopotential heights
and slight cooling aloft will occur as light westerly flow aloft
develops. In combination, this may allow for some thunderstorms.
It`s interesting to note that both the GFS and ECMWF showed a
tropical system moving westward onshore in the Southeast and then
recurving over the Ohio Valley. However, there`s not much
confidence for the scenario playing out at that extended time
range. That being the case, with no significant systems to focus
on, a diurnal trend was used with peak POPs (still fairly low) in
the afternoon and evening hours.
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&&

.AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Monday afternoon)
ISSUED AT 130 PM EDT SUN JUN 16 2024

VFR conditions are prevailing across all TAF sites and will
prevail through most of the TAF period. A warm front is forecast
to move through the region this afternoon and bring isolated to
scattered thunderstorms but to mainly terminals KSME and KLOZ
through 00Z/Monday. Once showers dissipate, mostly clear skies
will build back into the region. Areas of valley fog may develop
overnight but opted to keep fog mainly at KSME and KLOZ.
Otherwise, light and variable winds will persist through the TAF
period.

&&

.JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

$$

SHORT TERM...VORST
LONG TERM...HAL
AVIATION...VORST