Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Jackson, KY

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303 FXUS63 KJKL 231913 AFDJKL AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Jackson KY 313 PM EDT Sun Jun 23 2024 .KEY MESSAGES...
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- A few storms may approach severe thresholds with damaging winds being the primary threat this afternoon and evening. - Tuesday and Wednesday will see the afternoon highs return to the low 90s. Friday and Saturday will be the hottest 2 days of the forecast, with highs in the low to mid 90s. - The next best chance for showers and thunderstorms will be Wednesday.
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&& .SHORT TERM...
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(This evening through Monday night) Issued at 313 PM EDT SUN JUN 23 2024 The surface analysis this afternoon shows a cold front pushing toward the Ohio River and low pressure pushing into the New England region. There is a mid- and upper level trough axis noted and will lead to some height falls through the afternoon and evening. A line of left over convection and mostly sprinkles now has pushed toward far southeast parts of Kentucky this afternoon. We are starting to see shallow convection develop this afternoon amid increasingly unstable region mainly northwest of eastern Kentucky. These seem to be having trouble develop amid capping and increased cloud cover. SPC did put out and MCD this afternoon highlighting the threat of severe weather mainly in the form of severe wind gusts for areas primarily along and north of I-64. The latest trends in the mesoanalysis data show MLCAPE of of around 1000-1500 J/kg building into the area amid a less than ideal 20-30 knots of effective shear. If cells can develop into multicell clusters this could help promote stronger updrafts, with notable dry air in the mid- levels that could aid in strong winds gusts given the 90th percentile 850mb jet for this time of year. However, mesoanalysis is also showing more ideal DCAPE remains mostly north and west of I-64. The CAMs want to build activity through the afternoon and evening, with the experimental MPAS model data showing clusters of storms mainly later this afternoon and early evening. Leaned toward the NBM mostly for PoPs with some modifications given it seemed bullish in the southeast. This cold front will lag behind the convection expected this afternoon and evening. Therefore, the front will pass through late tonight into early morning on Monday. This could spark off a shower late tonight into early Monday morning, but there remains lots of uncertainty this will happen as we quickly loose better moisture. The convection will decrease through the evening and clouds are expected to clear some through the night. This would lead to a degree or 2 difference from the Ridges and valleys. There is also some uncertainty on the amount of fog we see tonight, as there is uncertainty on the coverage a amounts of rainfall. Even so, valleys will have a shot of seeing patchy to areas of fog tonight. Monday will certainly be one of the better days of the week, with PWATs in the HREF of less than 1 inch. This decrease in moisture, northwest flow, and high pressure will lead to sunny skies and seasonable temperatures with highs in the low to mid 80s. This high pressure and clear skies will go into Monday. Given the dry day Monday, we will see a little more notable temperatures split of 5 degrees or a little more. This will also lead to another period of fog in the valleys late tonight into Tuesday morning. .LONG TERM...(Monday night through Saturday) Issued at 346 AM EDT SUN JUN 23 2024 The forecast starts off with one of the few dry spells of the extended period, as an area of high pressure passes over and upper level heights are on the rise behind the exiting trough that will impact us today. Dry weather is expected to remain in place through the day Tuesday. However, KY will find itself in the return flow backside of the passing high on Tuesday, allowing WAA into the region. This will couple with good radiational heating, allowing temps to rise to around or just above 90 degrees again by the afternoon. This pattern won`t continue past Tuesday, unfortunately, as another upper level system passes into South-Central Canada Tuesday afternoon. This will also result in a low pressure system in the same vicinity, reaching the western border of Quebec by 0Z Wednesday. From this system, a cold front will extend southwestward, with showers and thunderstorms possible along it. This will make it`s way into the state by Tuesday night, coupling with a strengthening shortwave which will also be traversing the state late Tuesday night and through Wednesday. While chance pops are expected to begin infiltrating the CWA early Wednesday morning, the increased energy of the shortwave, combined with daytime heating, will amplify both pops and QPF during the afternoon Wednesday. Strong SW flow just ahead of this frontal boundary will keep temperatures in the low 90s for most locations, despite the clouds and rain. Pops will continue into Wednesday night, slowly diminishing to the east as the front and upper-level shortwave slowly transition away from the state. Unfortunately they won`t be far enough away by Thursday to not influence some continued precip chances, mainly in the far SE. These should be mainly upslope flow and diurnally driven, quickly diminishing by Thursday evening. Post-frontal temps on Thursday will be a bit cooler than Wednesday, but still warm, with highs in the mid and upper 80s. Once this system finally exits Friday night, another round of high pressure to our northeast will take hold. Models show generally dry conditions then until Saturday, though the ECMWF and consequently the NBM do try to show some pop up convection across the far eastern CWA during the afternoon hours Friday. The current NBM only has it impacting a couple counties for a few hours, but didn`t have the confidence to remove it at this point, especially with one of the models showing it. Again, during this spurt of high pressure, winds will become more southerly and sunshine will be abundant, so temperatures will easily climb back into the low to mid 90s on Friday. Humidity will make it feel several degrees warmer still. This SW flow and heat will only increase for Saturday, as yet another system begins to approach the region. It will be very similar to the mid-week system, with a surface low and upper level trough passing across southern Ontario, and a cold front stretched southwestward across much of the US. This front and associated precip will move into the state Saturday night and continue into Sunday. All the models also show generally isolated pop up convection ahead of the system during the day Saturday as well. Highs on Saturday will easily top the mid 90s in most locations, with heat indices even higher.
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&& .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Monday afternoon) ISSUED AT 118 PM EDT SUN JUN 23 2024 A line of mainly sprinkles continues to push southward across the area this afternoon. We are mainly seeing mid- and high level clouds as a result. However, some lower cloud bases are working across northern Kentucky this afternoon and could lead to some near MVFR Cigs through the afternoon and evening. The potential also still exists for increasing chances of showers and thunderstorms through the afternoon and evening, but still some uncertainty on if and when these will occur at the TAF sites. Opted to add in some rain showers/VCTS between 22Z and 23Z when it seemed like we would see peak in the deeper moisture and moderate instability. Outside of this, river valley fog could be a concern later tonight and will be some what dependent on the amount of rainfall we see from any storms that develop this afternoon. The winds will be out of the southwest this afternoon at 5-10 knots, with gusts of around 15 to 20 knots. These could be higher and more erratic at TAF sites that happen to experience any thunderstorms. However, the wind will slacken through the later evening hours to around 5 knots or less. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && $$ SHORT TERM...DJ LONG TERM...JMW AVIATION...DJ