Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Burlington, VT
Issued by NWS Burlington, VT
Versions:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
977 FXUS61 KBTV 081845 AFDBTV Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Burlington VT 245 PM EDT Tue Sep 8 2026 .WHAT HAS CHANGED... As of 244 PM EDT Tuesday... No significant changes to the current forecast. && .KEY MESSAGES... As of 244 PM EDT Tuesday... 1. A washed out cold front this afternoon will keep high clouds lingering with continued seasonable conditions into early tomorrow. Widespread rain is expected to arrive tomorrow late morning and spread east through Wednesday night. 2. The weekend will be seasonably warm, with increasing humidity and a chance for showers on Sunday ahead of another cold front. && .DISCUSSION... As of 244 PM EDT Tuesday... KEY MESSAGE 1: A cold front is washing out across central Vermont and the Adirondacks as it attempts to push south into a stout area of strong high pressure centered over the Mid-Atlantic. Dry air from Canada will seep south into our northern regions helping to scour out low-level moisture and low clouds through this afternoon. However, high clouds associated with our tomorrow system will also be increasing from the west concurrently. While a few break in the clouds, mainly near the International Border and Northeast Kingdom will be possible, this afternoon likely will remain on the cloudier side. Temperatures will be relatively seasonable overnight tonight across eastern Vermont with lows in the upper 40s to low 50s. Clearer skies in Essex County, Vermont may allow for some pocket mid 40s. More milder air will linger across the St. Lawrence Valley and Adirondacks with lows in the mid 50s to near 60 as dewpoints will remain elevated. Our next weather system arrives from the Great Lakes by mid to late tomorrow morning as a warm front connected to our washed out cold front pushes east. Isentropic lift along the warm front will lead to widespread light to moderate stratiform rain on the leading edge of the system late tomorrow morning through the afternoon, moving from the St. Lawrence Valley eastward into central and northern Vermont. The rainfall gradient will likely be tight between central and southern Vermont with higher amounts north, and lower south. Stratiform rain will become more scoured and scattery by Wednesday evening as a strong low level jet of 40-50kts at 3-4kft builds in. While most of these stronger winds aloft will not be realized due to concurrent precipitation, gusts between 25-35 MPH will be possible, especially in the favored south-north channeled valleys. For mariners, a Lake Wind Advisory will likely be needed for Lake Champlain tomorrow into tomorrow night. The low-level jet will be associated with a small warm sector for our area which will help transition showers around sunset to more showery convective driven. Instability will be elevated and not surface based, and likely will be competing with the preceding stable air from the days stratiform rain. That said, a few isolated rumbles of thunder, primarily in the St. Lawrence Valley and Adirondacks will be possible with just under 500J/kg of elevated MLCAPE, and subsequent strong 40-50knots of shear. No severe or strong storms are expected. While the system will be fairly progressive, Pwats in the latest CAMs denote elevated values to around 1.8-2 inches areawide with warm cloud depths to 12,000ft agl. As rain turns more showery towards the later afternoon and evening tomorrow, heavy downpours will be possible. Rain should be beneficial with the recent dry stretch and antecedent dry conditions through this summer, thus no hydrological concerns are anticipated with this system. Precipitation amounts will be highest across the St. Lawrence Valley, higher terrain of the Adirondacks and spine of the Greens, and near the International Border. Around three-quarters of an inch to and inch of rain will be possible in the aforementioned locations, with a quarter to half an inch most other locations; lower amounts likely in southeastern Vermont, and in the central Champlain Valley due to shadowing from the Adirondacks. Temperatures Wednesday night will be mild in the mid 60s with precipitation and humid conditions ongoing. Rain showers will taper off towards sunrise Thursday morning, with slightly weakening winds. Mid level moisture will linger into Thursday afternoon with mostly cloudy skies, and highs in the mid to upper 70s. Winds will become gusty once again Thursday afternoon with good vertical mixing associated with a lagging low level jet, and drying low levels behind the Wednesday system. Winds will gust between 20-30 MPH, primarily in the channeled north to south valleys of the Vermont and New York. Winds will trend weaker by late Thursday wind calmer northwest cold advection by Friday. Temperatures will trend slightly below seasonable levels Friday with highs in the mid 60s to near 70 with clear skies. KEY MESSAGE 2: Deep layer ridging will slide over the region on Saturday, supporting mainly sunny/cloud-free conditions after any morning fog dissipates. The next low pressure system to affect us with increasing winds and possible rain will follow on Sunday. There is a weak signal for greater than normal instability in the St. Lawrence Valley and sustained winds in the Champlain Valley as well as much of northern Vermont. This signal is related to advection of a relatively warm and moist air mass with moderately strong low level southerly flow. The blend of models suggests greatest probabilities of showers out ahead of a fast-approaching cold front Sunday afternoon/evening and shifting eastward with time. The 12Z global ensemble data shows large spread in timing; a multi-model blend that is weighted most heavily in GEPS membership is particularly favoring an earlier frontal passage, but we`ll keep an eye on trends with regards to how the rain timing could affect outdoor activities during the day. Overall beneficial rain is possible but this does not look like a big event given a relatively thing axis of deep moisture/westerly flow aloft with this frontal passage. Pattern recognition suggests showers will be short lived with locally heavy rainfall rates and perhaps a rumble of thunder in western portions of northern New York, but low total rainfall on a large scale/hydrological level. The 24 hour rainfall probabilities of exceeding a half inch through Monday morning are currently 5 to 15% in the much of Vermont and the western Champlain Valley in New York, and 20 to 40% near the northern Green Mountains and northernmost counties of the state and the rest of northern New York. Following this system for early next week it appears an active pattern with frontal passages and high pressure alternating roughly day to day will continue. && .AVIATION /18Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... Through 18Z Wednesday...A weak cold front has passed south of the region with winds light trending northerly at less than 8 knots through the next few hours. Some lingering MVFR ceilings are present at MSS, MPV, and SLK, which will trend VFR with a combination of scattering and lifting of lowest ceilings as high pressure builds in. This area of high pressure along with relatively high dew points will support possible fog development, particularly at SLK and MPV. Some increasing cloud cover overnight ahead of our next frontal system to the west is anticipated, which makes the development and duration of fog more uncertain than preferred. As such, have only used BR primarily in the 06Z to 09Z period; the next TAF issuance will need to reevaluate the chances for fog. High pressure will shift to our east during the 09Z to 15Z period, supporting an increase in southerly winds with gusts to near 20 knots favored at PBG and BTV. Outlook... Wednesday Night: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Definite SHRA, Slight chance TSRA. Thursday: VFR. NO SIG WX. Thursday Night: VFR. NO SIG WX. Friday: VFR. NO SIG WX. Friday Night: VFR. NO SIG WX. Saturday: VFR. NO SIG WX. Saturday Night: VFR. NO SIG WX. Sunday: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Chance SHRA. && .BTV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VT...None. NY...None. && $$ WHAT HAS CHANGED...Danzig DISCUSSION...Danzig/Kutikoff AVIATION...Kutikoff