444
FXUS63 KFGF 281949
AFDFGF

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
249 PM CDT Fri Jun 28 2024

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Isolated severe thunderstorms this evening with the main threats
being 1" hail and 60 mph winds.

- Another chance for severe storms Monday with a 15% outline
  from the SPC

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 249 PM CDT Fri Jun 28 2024

...Synopsis...

Current water vapor paints a well defined upper low centered in far
northeast Montana atop a 100kt jet streak and 50kt 500mb flow over
the Dakotas. Overnight convection has moved into northeast Minnesota
with an inverted trough extending back west towards the upper low
putting a deformation zone overhead between the two areas of low
pressure. Strong 925mb northerly CAA to the north of the trough
combined with westerly 700mb CAA to the south is resulting in a
strengthening frontal circulation which will be the focus for the
evening severe threat as the upper low drifts east with the upper
flow. Moving through the period we see the depart of  the upper low
and short term ridging with quick transition to SW/W flow aloft as
Central US ridging builds through next week though being centered
more over the gulf coast than the plains lowers confidence in how
much this will steer passing wave activity into our region vs
further south.

- Today`s Severe Threat

Along the trough interesting shear profiles with N/NE surface winds
along the boundary and W/SW flow above 850mb will lead to straight
hodographs with RM vectors paralleling the boundary. The shear
overall along the front should favor discrete convection with MLCAPE
of 500-1000 J/KG and bulk shear of 40-50 knots supporting a greater
than 1" hail threat. Also seeing support for weak funnels and maybe
a tor or two if things align but this is conditional on enough sfc
heating (should happen) and storm(s) existing in the vorticity rich
environment along the boundary (much more uncertain). Traveling
further south into southeast North Dakota weaker mid level winds
will favor upscale/linear growth along a cold front aloft with
steeper near sfc lapse rates and higher DCAPE leading to a
predominant wind and hail threat as opposed to the tornado potential
further north along the boundary extending from the near Minot
towards the central Red River Valley. Expecting storms to form as
early as 6pm in north central North Dakota and last until around
midnight as they track ESE through the valley. Lastly a purely
linear/cluster mode seems a low end probability with CAMs coming
into stronger agreement on storm scale evolution.

Breezy conditions as the upper low departs tomorrow with high
pressure emerging from the Rockies leaving the forecast area in 20-
25 kt northerly flow before winds calm as the high moves overhead
Saturday night. Ridging will be short lived however with SW flow
aloft on the back side of the ridge with southerly 850mb flow
developing across the northern plains in advance of a developing low
with agreement from global ensembles as 75% of members show a >35kt
850mb jet Sunday night across the Valley.

- Monday Severe Threat

The uncertainties with Monday are aplenty though the scenarios for
severe convection still exist. The main factor that will eventually
decide where the threat is and its severity will be the location of
the sfc low and attendant fronts. Currently ensembles show a low
somewhere in the vicinity of Lake Manitoba and Winnipeg with a cold
front extending south to the NE/SD border where the intersecting
trailing cold front and eastward extending warm front may be
located. Again this will very likely change though the current SPC
outlook seems to key off the potential for isolated convection off
the cold front in our area with more widespread convection with the
southern low where much better thermodynamics and instability will
exist. CSU ML does give a large 15% for much the high plains with a
60-65 CWASP values, 55-65 roughly correlates to an SPC marginal with
a slight in the 65-70 range.

Beyond Monday ensembles diverge with confidence decreasing. The main
points will be the continued presence of southwest flow aloft and
above average PWATs through the remainder of the week (average is
around 1" now). Overall look to see rain chances to end the week
with seasonal temps in the 70/80s for highs and 50s/low 60s for
lows.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY/...
Issued at 1248 PM CDT Fri Jun 28 2024

As clouds clear this afternoon in eastern North Dakota ceilings
briefly become solidly MVFR everywhere with a few sprinkles
remaining until 20Z in BJI. Gusty NW winds at all sites until
03Z with gusts near DVL already topping 25kts at times. Could
see a few thunderstorms form near DVL around 00Z tracking
southeast towards GFK and FAR by 03Z end ending 06Z accordingly
have added VCTS to the TAFS though further adjustment may be
needed later on for timing. Post storm overnight cigs drop
between 005 and 015 leading to widespread IFR to MVFR with LIFR
still a 20% chance.

&&

.FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ND...None.
MN...None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...TT
AVIATION...TT