Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Portland, ME

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393 FXUS61 KGYX 230027 AFDGYX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Gray ME 827 PM EDT Sat Jun 22 2024 .SYNOPSIS... A stationary front lifts northward as a warm front tonight, with waves of low pressure riding along the front. Oriented in the warm sector tomorrow, there is a slight to enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms across the area tomorrow, with the risk of tornadoes and damaging winds being the primary concerns. A cold front will then cross Sunday night and Monday with additional unsettled weather before high pressure builds in by Tuesday, bringing drier conditions. Temperatures moderate through the middle of the week, with another cold front bringing showers and storms late Wednesday. High pressure then builds in late in the week, bringing drier and cooler conditions. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM SUNDAY MORNING/...
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820 PM...Another night with some uncertainty in the models, but there is a better chance for showers across the N again for much of the night, with a lesser to the S, until closer to daybreak when the warm frontal showers move through with perhaps some thunder. So have kept POPs until after midnight. Previously...A stationary front draped west to east from the Great Lakes through New England will provide a focus for clouds, showers, and perhaps some embedded thunder through tonight. Currently, much of the forecast area is experiencing a stable boundary layer with cool northeast flow on the north side of boundary. Current radar trends are for convection to track southeast through western New England while convective cells stay just south of New Hampshire. Subtle height falls tonight will allow for elevated instability to build while waves of low pressure lift northeastward out of the Great Lakes region. These waves of low pressure will act to lift the stationary front northward as a warm tonight into Sunday morning. The 12Z CAM suite suggests that there will at least be scattered showers across the area tonight with embedded thunder while there is decent spread in coverage and resultant rainfall. PWATs will be high through tonight on the order of 1.8 inches along with warm cloud depths pushing 12kFT, so there will be the threat of heavy rainfall with elevated instability. The more robust CAM solutions suggest that coverage will be scattered enough to limit the over flood threat while isolated instances of flooding cannot be ruled out. Otherwise, with plenty of low level moisture there will be fog potential tonight with lows ranging from the low 60s across SW New Hampshire to the mid 50s across northeastern zones.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY/... Confidence is increasing for a relatively active severe weather day in northern New England on Sunday. The Storm Prediction Center has issued an Enhanced Risk (level 3 out of 5) across southern and central NH to the Maine border and a Slight Risk (level 2 out of 5) across much of the remaining forecast zones. The Enhanced Risk is driven by 10 percent tornado probabilities and 30 percent wind probabilities. For some local area climatology context... the SPC has only issued three 10 percent tornado Day 1 outlooks since 2010 and this is the first 10 percent tornado outlook for a Day 2 convective outlook. By no means is this a slam dunk for widespread severe weather impacts as there are some failure modes that could reduce the severe threat. Forecast details: A warm front will be pressing SW to NE through the area Sunday morning and is progged to lift north and east of Franklin County by mid day. A cold front will then sweep across the area Sunday night. The northward extent of the warm front can sometimes be failure mode as it may not push as far north as modeled, while as the previous AFD mentioned, a strong LLJ should aid in this front`s progress. This will put much of southern and central New Hampshire and SW Maine within the warm sector. How well this warm sector destabilizes is also in question as most CAMs keep skies mostly cloudy. Nevertheless, despite the potential for mostly cloudy skies, CAMs suggest ML CAPE will build to 1500-2000 J/kg by mid day within the warm sector. This buoyant airmass will be juxtaposed with deep layer shear of 40-50 kts, which will be enough to support supercell structures and storms capable of all hazards. For the last couple of model cycles CAMs have suggested there could be multiple rounds of convection with the first round initiating within a pre-frontal trough across southern and central New Hampshire between 18Z-21Z. These initial storms will have the best chance for becoming discrete supercells and with curved hodographs, 0-3 km CAPE >100 J/kg, and STP values around 3, these storms will encounter an environment favorable for tornadoes. Mid level lapse rates are not overly impressive, but given the potential for strong rotating updrafts severe hail will also be threat. CAMs generally suggest these initial storms will sustain themselves as the track east bringing the all hazard severe threat into western Maine. Additional storms are forecast to form along and ahead of a cold front that will continue the severe threat across the area into Sunday evening. These storms look to take on the form of multi cell clusters and broken line segments that will bring more of a damaging wind threat. Storm motion will be quite swift working against the flash flooding threat, while the threat for repeat rounds of convection will bring the potential for localized flash flooding. High temperatures are forecast to range from the mid 80s across southern NH to the upper 60s across far eastern zones. The severe threat will be on the downward trend around sunset, with thunderstorms waning around 10 pm. It will remain humid over the area Sunday night with additional chances for showers through the overnight. Lows will range from the low 60s north to upper 60s south. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... Overview... A cold front clears the coast Monday morning, with high pressure building in through Tuesday. The high shifts off the east coast by Wednesday. A cold front likely crosses the area late Wednesday, with high pressure moving in behind the front for late in the week. Details... Lingering showers are likely across the higher terrain on Monday as the upper level low swings through behind the front. A gradual drying trend is expected across the area through daytime. Seasonable temps are expected with highs ranging from the low 70s to low 80s from north to south. The high building in behind the front crests the area on Tuesday and brings a return to an increasingly warm and humid airmass. Tuesday looks mostly dry with dew points still mainly in the 50s, but temperatures rebound into the 80s in most spots, to near 90 across southern areas. Wednesday turns more humid with southwesterly flow, and temps warming into the mid 80s to low 90s in most spots. A cold front approaches during the day on Wednesday, with scattered showers and storms likely late in the day and into Wednesday night. The front may take into Thursday morning to fully clear the area, with high pressure building in by late in the day Thursday. This area of high pressure builds in from Canada, bringing much drier and sunnier conditions to the area. Temperatures also look quite seasonable with the high, with daytime highs in the upper 70s to mid 80s Thursday and Friday, and lows mainly in the 50s at night. Temperatures and humidity likely begin to increase again by next weekend and the high moves offshore and brings a return to the southwesterly flow. && .AVIATION /01Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Short Term...Low cigs, SHRA and fog will likely bring widespread IFR/LIFR tonight. Low cigs and reduced vsby will likely impact KAUG, KRKD for much of the day Sunday. Elsewhere, cigs should lift through the morning before a cold front brings multiple rounds of TSRA Sunday afternoon and evening. These storms will bring the threat of severe weather and flight restrictions are likely at times. IFR to LIFR is likely Sunday night in lowering cigs and fog as drier air does not arrive until Monday. Long Term...Lingering showers are possible Monday morning, but then VFR conditions prevail from Monday afternoon into Wednesday. Nighttime valley fog will be possible, especially at LEB and HIE. Showers and storms are then likely late Wednesday and Wednesday night, with brief restrictions at times. VFR returns on Thursday and prevails into the weekend. && .MARINE... Short Term...Easterly flow persists through tonight ahead of a warm front lifting through the waters. Southerly flow increases Sunday with winds and seas bringing SCA conditions by Sunday afternoon. A cold front crosses Sunday night and strong to severe thunderstorms will form ahead of this front and will track into the waters Sunday afternoon and evening. Thunderstorms diminish Sunday night while elevated seas maintain SCA conditions into Monday morning. Long Term...Lingering seas greater then 5ft are possible into Monday as a cold front clears the waters, with high pressure building in for Tuesday. The high shifts east by Wednesday, with SCA conditions possible in increasing southwesterly flow ahead of an approaching cold front. The front crosses the waters Wednesday and into Thursday, high pressure building in behind the front for late in the week. && .GYX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. NH...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory from 5 PM Sunday to 8 PM EDT Monday for ANZ150-152-154. && $$ SYNOPSIS... NEAR TERM...Cempa/Schroeter SHORT TERM...Schroeter LONG TERM...Clair AVIATION... MARINE...