Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Albany, NY

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328 FXUS61 KALY 262310 AFDALY AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Albany NY 710 PM EDT Sun May 26 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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Increasing clouds are expected tonight with some isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms moving in after midnight. The Memorial Day holiday will be met with a widespread soaking rain and breezy winds courtesy of a strong low pressure system tracking near the region. Shower chances will continue through much of the week with an upper level low remaining over the region. Conditions then look to dry out in time for the end of the week and into next weekend.
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&& .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM MONDAY MORNING/...
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.UPDATE as of 710 pm EDT....A thermal trough continues to be across upstate NY into western New England. This boundary is along or near the I-90 corridor. Mainly some cumulus have developed but a few showers have developed over the Berkshires. We kept some isolated showers in over the Berkshires, southern VT, northern Taconics and the eastern Catskills prior to midnight. We retooled the sky cover and backed the PoPs off until the early to mid morning hours, as the forcing increases ahead the true warm front for increasing chances of showers and isolated thunderstorms. It will be a mild night with lows in the 50s to lower and spotty mid 60s with increasing humidity levels. .PREV DISCUSSION [0438 pm EDT]...Visible satellite imagery shows widespread fair weather cumulus across eastern New York and western New England this afternoon as high pressure dominates the region. Plenty of sunshine despite the clouds has helped temperatures into the mid/upper 70s to low 80s this afternoon. A weak surface boundary currently sits south of the region where a few pinhead showers have popped up in the last couple of hours. However, none of these showers have quite made it into the bounds of our CWA just yet. Latest CAMs continue to indicate widely scattered showers and thunderstorms developing south of Albany this afternoon and into this evening as the boundary shifts slightly further north. Latest SPC Mesoanalysis indicates about 1000-2500 J/kg of SBCAPE throughout the region with the highest values south of Albany. Despite instability, shear values remain relatively low (20-25 kt), so any convection that develops this afternoon is unfavored to become severe. Additionally, with little in the way of forcing and plenty of mid-level dry air present, precipitation resulting from these showers and thunderstorms should generally be light outside of a brief, locally heavy downpour. With the loss of daytime heating, showers and thunderstorms should taper off shortly after sunset, yielding a brief dry period for a good portion of the overnight. However, clouds will be on the increase ahead of a deepening cyclone that will inflict widespread rain, moderate to possibly heavy at times, beginning tomorrow morning. While some timing discrepancies still exist, general consensus points to an onset time west of the Hudson by about 10-12z tomorrow morning. Low temperatures tonight will be in the mid/upper 50s to low 60s.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM MONDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... By tonight, the shortwave ridge currently spanning the region will be shifting east as upper-level troughing advances from the west ahead of a deepening cyclone tracking into the western Great Lakes. Cyclonic vorticity advection and southwesterly flow aloft increases tomorrow morning as the leading edge of the upper trough crosses into New York. A band of light showers will cross into areas west of the Hudson Valley by 10-12z tomorrow morning as the warm front of the system`s surface low begins to lift northward. Warm air advection will aid in the development of a heavier rain band by mid-morning as winds start to become breezy with the strengthening pressure gradient from the deepening low now flirting with the US/Canada border in the northern Great Lakes. Additional batches of moderate to heavy rain come in the afternoon as large scale ascent increases with the continually deepening low. With southerly flow in place at the surface, upslope enhancement will lead to heavier downpours in the Eastern Catskills and Southwest Adirondacks. Heavier, embedded convective downpours are also possible elsewhere due to modest instability present within the environment. Some rumbles of thunder cannot be ruled out, but widespread thunderstorms are not expected. Winds will increase throughout the day with the increasing pressure gradient across the area. Gusts ranging from 15-25 kt are likely with locally stronger gusts possible with any embedded thunderstorms that develop. Moderate to locally heavy rain is expected to persist from mid to late morning Monday through Monday afternoon before gradually slowing and tapering to scattered showers by Monday evening into Monday night. QPF through Monday night is likely to range from 0.5" to 1.5" with locally higher amounts closer to 2" in the Eastern Catskills and Southwest Adirondacks. Ponding of water, urban/poor drainage flooding is possible throughout much of the area with isolated flash flooding being possible in the Eastern Catskills. High temperatures tomorrow will be cooler than the last few days with mid/upper 60s to low 70s expected. Lows tomorrow night will be in the mid/upper 50s to low 60s. Upper troughing remains over the region Monday night into Tuesday with the upper low and associated surface low remaining overhead. Additional showers will be possible through Tuesday night with the system`s cold front tracking through the region Tuesday and upper energy pulsing through the mean flow into Tuesday night. However, showers will be more scattered and lighter in nature and will likely be more concentrated north of Albany and west of the Hudson River. Some thunderstorms will be possible Tuesday afternoon with some modest instability present across the region. Highs Tuesday will be warmer than Monday with clouds beginning to decrease as showers decrease in coverage, yielding mid/upper 60s to upper 70s. Lows Tuesday night will then fall to the upper 40s to mid 50s. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... We remain under cyclonic flow for a good portion of next week with the trough associated with the upper-low remaining situated across eastern New York and western New England. As such, Wednesday will be a cloudy day with chances for showers across much of the region. There are some discrepancies in the guidance as to the exact spatial coverage and duration of showers due to timing differences in the exit of the upper-low and the track of an embedded shortwave that will rotate about its southern periphery, but general consistency points to the greatest coverage Wednesday morning into the afternoon. Some weak instability looks to be present mainly south of Albany so some thunderstorms will also be possible especially Wednesday afternoon. Showers look to continue Wednesday night into Thursday morning before tapering off Thursday afternoon as dry air is ushered in on the back side of the upper-trough. Dry conditions will then be in place Thursday night through the remainder of the period as surface high pressure and an upper-level ridge build in from the west. High temperatures Wednesday will range from the upper 50s in the Southwest Adirondacks to low/mid 70s in the Hudson Valley. We cool down a bit Thursday with highs anticipated to be in the upper 50s to near 70. For the end of the week and into the weekend, we will see a bit of a warming trend with highs Friday reaching a few degrees warmer than Thursday and rising to the upper 60s/low 70s to mid/upper 70s by the weekend. && .AVIATION /23Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... VFR conditions with just a few clouds well above 3000 feet through this evening. There could be an isolated shower or thunderstorm between 20Z and 03Z but too isolated to put into the forecast. If a shower or thunderstorm does develop, then it can be tracked and if one is headed for a TAf site, the TAF will be amended. VFR continues through much of the night, as high clouds spread across the region ahead of an approaching upper disturbance and warm front. By around 07Z to 12Z, lower clouds will develop and spread into the region, at around 3000 feet, bringing MVFR ceilings to the region. Between 12Z and 18Z Monday, intervals of showers will develop with visibilities bordering on MVFR due to the light rain, but ceilings will drop to the lower ranges of MVFR, trending toward IFR. Winds will be light and variable this afternoon and night. Then, winds become southeast Monday morning at just under 10 Kt, with a few gusts to 15 Kt at KALB and KGFL. Outlook... Monday Night: High Operational Impact. Breezy. Definite SHRA...TSRA. Tuesday: Low Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Tuesday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Wednesday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA...TSRA. Wednesday Night: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA...TSRA. Thursday: Low Operational Impact. Breezy. NO SIG WX. Thursday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Friday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. && .ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. MA...None. VT...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Gant/Wasula NEAR TERM...Gant/Wasula SHORT TERM...Gant LONG TERM...Gant AVIATION...NAS