Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Phoenix, AZ

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488 FXUS65 KPSR 092044 AFDPSR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Phoenix AZ 144 PM MST Sun Jun 9 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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Slightly cooler, although above normal, temperatures are forecast for Monday. Expect temperatures to heat up by the middle of next week due in large part to high pressure building into the region. Dry conditions will prevail through the forecast period. .DISCUSSION... For the near term, weak circulation associated with a very weak upper-level low, and slightly lower 500mb heights, currently located over the southeast corner of AZ continues to gradually move northeastward. This weak system will help drop temps a couple of degrees throughout the rest of the weekend period and into tomorrow. Expect low temperatures this evening to dip to around 80 degrees for the Phoenix Metro and low to mid 70s for the surrounding region. Expect low temps to fall to the upper 60s in higher mountain elevations. Upper level clouds will persist into this evening with a clearing out overnight and sunny skies forecast for Monday. Winds will continue to generally favor diurnal tendencies with occasional afternoon gusts of 10-15mph expected in the deserts southeast CA. Heading through the middle of the upcoming week, the overall synoptic pattern will feature an upper-level low that will cutoff off the coast of southern CA/Northern Baja Peninsula with a ridge building downstream across eastern AZ through NM. 500 mb height fields across the region from the building ridge will rise above 590dm, with the eastern half of AZ potentially seeing height fields rising as high as 595dm late Wednesday through Thursday. This will result in an uptick in temperatures beginning Tuesday and persisting through Thursday, with another round of excessive heat conditions likely, mainly across the lower deserts of south- central AZ, as highs are forecast to reach 110+ degrees with areas of major HeatRisk developing. The ensembles are in good agreement in showing the aforementioned upper-level low moving east northeastward from the southern CA coastline through northern AZ on Friday, pushing the ridge axis eastward into NM. As a result, 500 mb height fields will lower, resulting in cooler temperatures closer to 105 degrees. The increasing gradient between the ridge and the upper low will cause in uptick in the afternoon breeziness Wednesday through Friday. Heading into next weekend, a large-scale trough is still forecast to move through the Pacific northwest. There is still some spread amongst the ensembles on the depth of this feature as it moves eastward through the northern Great Basin and Intermountain West Regions, however, the latest trend has been for a more shallower trough which would allow for some flat ridging to build across the Desert Southwest. This would result in a slight increase in temperatures, with the latest NBM showing temperatures across the lower deserts increasing close to 110 degrees once again.
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&& .AVIATION...Updated at 1750Z. South-Central Arizona including KPHX, KIWA, KSDL, and KDVT; No aviation weather concerns are anticipated through the TAF period under SCT-BKN clouds mainly aoa 15 kft. Wind directions will favor S/SE through the early afternoon before establishing a more westerly component later in the afternoon, leading to a prolonged period with a southerly cross runway component at KPHX and KDVT over the next several hours. Wind speeds will mostly remain aob 10 kt sustained, with some late afternoon and early evening gusts up to 15-20 kt. Winds will favor more typical diurnal tendencies this evening and going forward, with the E`rly switch occurring sometime between 07-09Z, preceded by a period of very light speeds and variability. Southeast California/Southwest Arizona including KIPL and KBLH: No aviation weather concerns are expected through the next 24 hours under FEW-SCT clouds mainly aoa 20 kft. SE winds at KIPL will persist through the afternoon before veering out of the west by the early evening. Gusts to around 20 kt will be possible at KIPL during the evening. At KBLH, winds will maintain a southerly component, gusting to around 20 kts this afternoon. && .FIRE WEATHER...
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Hot and seasonably dry conditions will continue to support a high fire danger across the area into late next week. Slightly cooler temperatures, although still remaining above normal, can be expected through Monday before heating up once again heading into the middle of next week. Winds will continue to generally favor diurnal tendencies with occasional afternoon breeziness of 20-25 mph expected across most of the region. MinRHs ranging between 5-15% with poor to fair overnight recoveries of between 20-45% are expected.
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&& .PSR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AZ...Excessive Heat Watch from Tuesday morning through Thursday evening for AZZ534-537>555-559-560-562. CA...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...95/Lojero AVIATION...Whittock FIRE WEATHER...95/Lojero