Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Jackson, KY

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033 FXUS63 KJKL 210825 AFDJKL AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Jackson KY 425 AM EDT Tue May 21 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Dry weather is expected area wide through Wednesday morning. High temperatures may approach or exceed record levels this afternoon. - There is a potential for showers and thunderstorms at times from Wednesday afternoon through Monday. - Very warm temperatures will persist through Wednesday. An increase in clouds and the possibility of rain will bring somewhat lower temperature after that, especially Thursday and Friday. && .SHORT TERM...
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(Today through Wednesday) Issued at 340 AM EDT TUE MAY 21 2024 Warm advection increases through the short-term period as a strong cyclone grazes the Mid-Ohio Valley through early Wednesday evening. With the mid-level jet stream remaining west and northwest of the forecast area, however, shower and thunderstorm activity will remain limited. For today, near-record high temperatures in the mid- to upper 80s are expected as southerly flow begins to increase (yet remains light) near the surface and southwest flow increases aloft as upper ridging remains just to the southeast over the Southeast US. There appears to enough instability and moisture to justify PoPs of around 10 percent for this afternoon, not quite enough to warrant mention in the official forecasts (15 is required) for almost the entire forecast area. Heading into tonight, a southwesterly low-level jet will impact the Mississippi and Lower Ohio Valleys, including the Bluegrass region, just grazing our western and northwestern counties in the CWA. Therefore, warm and dry conditions are expected yet with increasing high clouds. Lows will generally be in the upper 50s to mid to upper 60s, coolest in the deeper valley locations. Lower atmospheric winds increase Wednesday morning around or just after daybreak ahead of am impinging cold front into the Midwest, well upstream of the forecast area. This will help to increase moisture and instability through the day, especially toward the Bluegrass region. Have thus kept slight chance to chance PoPs (15 to 40 PoPs) for much of northern through southwestern parts of the forecast area beginning in the afternoon and extending into the early evening hours. Warm temperatures continue despite the increasing warm advection and cloud cover with mid to upper 80s expected once again. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday night through Monday) Issued at 425 AM EDT TUE MAY 21 2024 Still seeing pretty good agreement amongst the models regarding the flow pattern aloft in the extended. A large, broad trough of low pressure is currently being forecast to spin its wheels over the western third of the CONUS to begin the period. Smaller scale, fast moving short waves are progged to migrate eastward from the larger upper trough as it spins in place to the west. We will see rounds of showers and storms firing across the area, as each short wave moves through the region and interacts with the ample moisture and instability that will be in place. The western trough will eventually be displaced to the east later in the period, as ridging aloft begins building into the western and southwestern portions of the CONUS, and shifts the entire unsettled pattern eastward with time. The highest probability for thunderstorms will be during the afternoon and evening hour each day Thursday through the first of the new work week. At this time it appears that although there will be plenty of moisture and instability in place to consistent allow for thunderstorms, the anticipate wind shear looks like it will be too weak to support any sort of severe weather at this time. There is still a very low chance that portions of eastern Kentucky could receive excessive rainfall on Friday that could lead to isolated hydro issues around the area. With persistent widespread clouds in place, we should see mild and generally uniform nightly temperatures across the area, with no discernible ridge valley differences expected. We should see daytime highs reaching the upper 70s and lower 80s each day, or 2 to 5 degrees above normal on average. Nightly lows should fall into the low to mid 60s.
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&& .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) ISSUED AT 340 AM EDT TUE MAY 21 2024 VFR conditions will continue to prevail through the majority of the period. The only exception will be some MVFR or lower fog that will occur in the river valleys between 06Z and 13z. The fog is expected to be more confined this morning compared to the past couple of mornings. KSME and perhaps KLOZ and KSJS have a chance to dip into the MVFR/IFR range at least briefly between about 06Z and 12Z, and thus included TEMPO groups for these locations. Winds will average around 5KT or less through 14Z, before becoming south to southwest at less than 10Kt to end the period. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ SHORT TERM...CMC LONG TERM...AR AVIATION...CMC