


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
273 FXUS61 KCAR 151819 AFDCAR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Caribou ME 219 PM EDT Wed Oct 15 2025 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure builds in at the surface through Friday as an area of low pressure aloft tracks from Northern New Brunswick to the waters south of Nova Scotia. This high builds overhead Friday night through Saturday night, then slowly slides to the east through Sunday night. A complex storm system approaches from the west Monday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... A closed low tracks from near the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River this evening to near the mouth of the Gulf of Maine by Thursday evening, then to the waters south of Nova Scotia by late Thursday night. The result will be sky conditions becoming overcast tonight, then showers moving in from the NE tonight, mixing with and possibly changing to all snow showers over the North Woods/Katahdin Region, then changing back to all rain showers for elevations below 2000 ft Thursday morning. Showers should then taper off from NW to SE Thursday night, except for maybe coastal Downeast where they could linger through the night. Any snow accumulation should be minimal, less than an inch and generally only a dusting at most locations below 1000 ft. Rainfall should be light with western areas receiving less than a tenth of an inch, and eastern areas one to two tenths of an inch. Winds will be gusty Thursday and Thursday night with gusts of 20-35 mph, strongest near the coast and at higher elevations. Lows tonight should range from around 30 to around 40, which is near normal. Highs Thursday should generally be from the lower 40s to lower 50s, which is around 5-10 degrees below normal. Lows Thursday night should be near normal. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Low pressure that was east of Maine continues to move out into the Atlantic, as a high pressure and ridging builds in from the west. This results in a calm and dry weekend, with an increasing temperature trend, as highs rise into the 50s and 60s. Pressure gradient between the high and the low leads to some breezy conditions on Friday, which will gradually settle throughout the rest of the weekend. Skies clear to partially cloudy with ridging pattern. Mostly clear skies overnight should drop overnight lows below freezing in the north Friday night, and 30s and 40s Downeast. 30s and 40s across the state Saturday night. Potential for frost in the north Friday night and Saturday night, along with some river valley fog. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... High pressure stays over Maine until Monday, as a low pressure system begins to move in early next week. Models, however, are disagreeing on what this system is going to do. Currently, GFS seems to favor an occluding low solution that moves in from the west, moving over central Maine, bringing rain Monday into Tuesday. The EURO, however, has a coastal low system sliding along the Gulf of Maine Tuesday, that would cross central Maine and merge with a Canadian low by Wednesday. This solution brings rain Tuesday into Tuesday night, from the south to the north. Both solutions favor roughly half an inch to an inch of rain possible, but the timing is very uncertain right now. Breezy winds possible with this system early next week. Decreasing daytime high trend, with maxes in the 60s early next week, becoming closer to the 50s by middle of the week. Overnight lows generally in the 40s. && .AVIATION /18Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... NEAR TERM: High confidence in VFR through 21Z. MVFR conditions then build in from NE to SW starting at KFVE late this afternoon/early this evening and reaching BGR/BHB late tonight/early Thursday morning. IFR conditions are probable at northern terminals by early Thursday morning, otherwise it should be MVFR on Thursday. N-NW winds G15-25KT, should lose their gustiness this evening at all but KFVE and KCAR. Winds then become gusty again (G20-25KT) at all but KPQI late tonight/early Thursday morning. SHORT TERM: Friday - Saturday night: VFR across all terminals. NW winds 10 to 15 kts gusting 20 to 25 kts Fri, decreasing to 5 to 10 kts Fri night through Sat night. Sunday: Generally VFR across all terminals, though cigs will begin to fall towards MVFR heading into Sun night. S winds 5 to 10 kts. Monday: MVFR ceilings and rain showers possible. S/SE winds at 5-10 kts with gusts 15-20 kts possible during the day. && .MARINE... NEAR TERM: SCA conditions continue on the coastal ocean waters tonight. With increasing confidence in gales on the coastal ocean waters Thursday/Thursday night, have issued a Gale Warning there from 6am Thursday-8am Friday. Also, have high confidence in SCA conditions tonight through Thursday night on the intra-coastal waters so have an SCA there from 6pm tonight through 6am Friday. SHORT TERM: Seas and winds fall below Small Craft Advisory by the Friday afternoon. Seas at or below 4ft over the outer waters, and at or below 3 ft over the inter-coastals this weekend. Winds from the N on Friday, around 15-20 kts with a few gusts up to 25 kts over outer waters possible before conditions relax by the afternoon. Winds shift to the NW Saturday night and become light. Winds again shift to the S on Sunday. Rain may move in early next week. && .CAR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM EDT Thursday for ANZ050-051. Gale Warning from 6 AM Thursday to 8 AM EDT Friday for ANZ050- 051. Small Craft Advisory from 6 PM this evening to 6 AM EDT Friday for ANZ052. && $$ Near Term...PM Short Term...ASB Long Term...ASB Aviation...PM/ASB Marine...PM/ASB