


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Cleveland, OH
Issued by NWS Cleveland, OH
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024 FXUS61 KCLE 180125 AFDCLE Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Cleveland OH 925 PM EDT Tue Jun 17 2025 .SYNOPSIS... A warm front will move east of the area tonight before a cold front moves southeastward across northern Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania Wednesday night through early Thursday afternoon. Behind the front, a ridge builds from the Upper Mississippi Valley through Thursday night before our area becomes located along the northwestern flank of the ridge this Friday through upcoming weekend. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... 925 PM Update... The vast majority of precip has exited the local area. Isolated showers and thunderstorms cannot be ruled out overnight so have maintained slight chance to low-end chance (roughly 20 to 30 percent) PoPs through tonight. Have introduced patchy fog to locations that will experience light winds overnight into early Wednesday morning. Previous Discussion... Cyclonic SW`erly flow aloft and embedded/subtle shortwave disturbances affect our region through daybreak Thursday as a stronger and consolidating shortwave trough approaches from the northern Great Plains and eventually the western Great Lakes. At the surface, our CWA remains along the northwestern flank of the Bermuda-Azores subtropical ridge and within a warm/humid air mass originating over the Gulf for the time being. Unusually- high PWAT`s within this air mass will contribute to showers/storms capable of producing heavy rainfall (more details farther below). A cold front should begin moving SE`ward through our area overnight Wednesday night and usher-in a slightly cooler and less humid air mass. This front should near I-71 in our CWA by daybreak Thursday. Behind the front, a ridge begins to build from the Upper MS Valley. Overnight lows are expected to reach the mid 60`s to lower 70`s around daybreak Wednesday. Peeks of sunshine and daytime heating complemented by low-level warm/moist air advection from the Gulf should allow daytime highs to top-out near 80F in northwest PA and the lower to upper 80`s in northern OH late Wednesday afternoon. Overnight lows should reach the 60`s around daybreak Thursday. Low-level convergence/moist ascent along an ongoing Lake Erie lake breeze front extending from the northeast side of the city of Cleveland through northern Erie County, PA, downshear outflow boundaries, and surface trough axes accompanying the aforementioned shortwave troughs are continuing to release weak to moderate boundary layer instability amidst modest effective bulk shear as of 3 PM EDT. Localized flash flooding remains a concern, especially where multiple rounds of showers/thunderstorms manage to impact the same areas. The greatest potential for flooding exists along the aforementioned lake breeze front through this early evening. WSW`erly mean mid-level flow of about 20 to 30 knots is expected to exhibit a large component parallel to the mesoscale front, which will promote training and slow-moving convection. Shower/thunderstorm coverage is expected to decrease around and especially after sunset this evening, in response to nocturnal cooling-related stabilization of the boundary layer. However, isolated showers and thunderstorms remain possible the rest of this evening through Wednesday afternoon due to the following: moist isentropic ascent preceding shortwave trough axes and releasing at least weak, elevated CAPE; low-level convergence/moist ascent along surface trough axes eventually releasing moderate to perhaps strong boundary layer CAPE Wednesday afternoon as the warm/moist sector boundary layer destabilizes via daytime heating and continued low-level moist air advection from the Gulf, and the effective inflow layer eventually becomes surface-based. During the afternoon, isolated straight-line convective wind damage may become a concern as low-level lapse rates steepen and DCAPE grows to moderate magnitudes via diurnal convective mixing of the boundary layer, and effective bulk shear remains moderate. Based on latest trends in NWP model guidance, expect a QLCS to develop upstream of our CWA Wednesday afternoon, outpace the aforementioned cold front, and persist E`ward across our CWA Wednesday evening through the first few predawn hours of Thursday morning as effective bulk shear remains moderate within the warm/moist sector. Straight-line convective wind damage is the main concern with this QLCS, especially roughly along and west of the longitude of Cleveland, since moderate to strong boundary layer CAPE, steep low-level lapse rates, and moderate DCAPE should linger well into the evening. A few mesovortex- related tornadoes are possible, especially during the early evening, as surface-based ESRH increases and mixed layer LCL`s lower/become more-favorable amidst SSW`erly nocturnal LLJ development. This LLJ will allow low-level winds to increase/strengthen with height to a greater extent and increase low-level moisture advection from the Gulf. Overnight Wednesday night and farther east in our CWA, the severe thunderstorm potential should diminish as the warm/moist sector boundary layer stabilizes somewhat via nocturnal cooling. However, showers and thunderstorms should remain a concern as the likely weakening QLCS persists farther E`ward and the synoptic cold front potentially triggers additional, albeit isolated showers/thunderstorms amidst the release of weaker, yet sufficient instability. Additional periods of torrential rainfall are expected tonight through Wednesday night as PWAT`s remain unusually-high in the warm/moist sector. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... Aloft, the stronger shortwave trough axis should move generally E`ward across our region on Thursday. At the surface, the attendant cold front is expected to sweep E`ward across the rest of our CWA through the early afternoon. Behind the front and shortwave trough, a ridge at the surface and aloft will continue to build from the western Great Lakes and vicinity. Isolated to scattered showers/thunderstorms are possible along and ahead of the front, within a warm/moist sector with at least weak instability belonging to parcels rooted in the low-level atmosphere and at least modest effective bulk shear. Fair weather is expected behind the front as stabilizing subsidence accompanies the ridge. Despite intervals of sunshine, weak low- level CAA behind the cold front will contribute to late afternoon highs reaching the 70`s to near 80F. Current odds favor fair weather Thursday night through Friday night as the aforementioned ridge at the surface and aloft continues to affect our region. Farther aloft, the ridge axis should remain west of our area, but the low-level ridge axis is expected to eventually become located east of our region later Friday through Friday night. This will allow low-level warm/moist air advection from the Gulf and southern Gulf Stream to become reestablished in northern OH and NW PA. Daytime heating should contribute to late afternoon highs reaching the upper 70`s to mid 80`s on Friday. Overnight lows should reach the 60`s to lower 70`s around daybreak Saturday. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... At this point, hot, humid, yet fair weather is expected in our region this Saturday through Monday night as our region remains located along the western flank of the aforementioned low-level ridge, while the ridge axis farther aloft drifts from near the western Great Lakes and Lower OH Valley toward the Lake Ontario region and Carolinas. Low-level warm/moist air advection from the Gulf and southern Gulf Stream will continue to impact our region. This factor combined with daytime heating will likely allow late afternoon highs to reach the 80`s to lower 90`s on Saturday and then mainly the upper 80`s to mid 90`s on Sunday and Monday, respectively. Balmy overnight lows in the upper 60`s to mid 70`s are expected around daybreak Sunday through Tuesday. On Tuesday, our region should remain within the low-level warm/moist air advection regime from the Gulf and southern Gulf Stream as we remain along the western flank of the high pressure ridge at the surface and aloft. A few showers/thunderstorms are possible, especially during the PM hours, as shortwave troughs embedded in SW`erly flow aloft and attendant surface trough axes sweep through our region and the warm/moist sector boundary layer destabilizes via daytime heating. Late afternoon highs mainly in the upper 80`s to mid 90`s are expected once again. Note: Daily maximum heat indices in the 90`s to 100F or so are expected this Sunday through Tuesday. Heat Advisories may eventually be needed for portions of our CWA. Stay tuned to future forecast updates. && .AVIATION /00Z Wednesday THROUGH Sunday/... Showers will exit the area over the next couple of hours. Generally expect VFR conditions through most of this evening with MVFR and localized IFR likely in lower stratus/patchy fog for a period late tonight into Wednesday morning. Isolated showers can`t be ruled out overnight into Wednesday morning, but the likelihood of a shower passing over any given terminal is too low to include in the TAFs at this point. The forecast is a bit challenging heading into late Wednesday morning through the remainder of the TAF period. Disorganized showers/thunderstorms may develop across the area during peak diurnal heating (generally after 15Z) with a line of thunderstorms likely approaching the western fringe of the CWA (west of KTOL/KFDY) towards the very end of the TAF period. Confidence in timing/placement of showers/storms is still somewhat low for both rounds so have included VCSH/PROB30 groups for the time being. Exact placement and timing of showers/thunderstorms in these scenarios typically rely on mesoscale features that are difficult to resolve this far out, so changes will likely occur as confidence increases in subsequent updates. Either way, any showers/storms that move over terminals will be capable of producing non-VFR ceilings/visibilities. Isolated gusty winds are possible in the less organized showers/thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon. As of now, it looks like the higher potential for gusty thunderstorm winds will occur after the current TAF period. Winds will be relatively light and out of the south tonight before becoming more southwesterly and increasing to 6 to 12 knots by Wednesday afternoon. Periodic gusts to around 20 knots are possible during the afternoon/early evening. Winds will likely be a few knots higher (10 to 15 knots with gusts to 20 to 25 knots) at KTOL/KFDY Wednesday afternoon/evening. Outlook...Non-VFR likely with scattered to periodic showers and thunderstorms through Thursday. The best chance of thunderstorms will be Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. && .MARINE... Low pressure moving east from Ontario to Quebec has lifted a warm front north of the lake, allowing for southwest winds of 10 to 15 knots to become established. These winds will persist into Wednesday evening before increasing from the southwest to 15-20 knots Wednesday evening into the overnight hours ahead of an approaching cold front. This increase in winds may need a short duration Small Craft Advisory Wednesday into Thursday, but will continue to monitor trends in the winds for better detail on that potential. Behind the cold front Thursday night, winds will weaken from the west-southwest at 5-10 knots through Saturday morning. Another warm front will lift north on Saturday, briefly increasing winds from the southwest to 10-15 knots Saturday afternoon. After that, winds will return to 5-10 knots but persist from the southwest. Given the prolonged southwest flow, waves along the southern lakeshore should remain 2 feet or less with the exception of when the cold front pushes east. During that time, waves may increase to 3-5 feet across central and eastern basins. && .CLE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...None. PA...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Jaszka NEAR TERM...Jaszka/15 SHORT TERM...Jaszka LONG TERM...Jaszka AVIATION...15 MARINE...04