


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Cleveland, OH
Issued by NWS Cleveland, OH
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277 FXUS61 KCLE 171745 AFDCLE Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Cleveland OH 145 PM EDT Tue Jun 17 2025 .SYNOPSIS... A warm front will lift north across the area today. Low pressure will track through the Great Lakes region late Wednesday into early Thursday dragging a cold front through the area. High pressure will build in across the region this weekend into early next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... 9:52 AM EDT Update... Most of the forecast remains valid per latest trends in obs and model guidance. A surface warm front continues to sweep NE`ward across far-NE OH and is expected to move NE`ward across the rest of our CWA through this early afternoon. This warm front will usher-in a warmer and more humid air mass originating over the Gulf. Isolated to scattered rain showers and isolated thunderstorms remain possible through this early afternoon along and behind the warm front due to moist isentropic ascent releasing weak elevated instability along the upper-reaches of the front and ahead of shortwave trough axes embedded in cyclonic SW`erly flow aloft. Made minor adjustments to POP`s this afternoon through early evening based on latest trends in obs and model guidance. Still expect the best potential for scattered showers and thunderstorms during that time frame to be focused across roughly the southeastern 1/3 of our CWA. This is where surface trough axes accompanying the aforementioned shortwave trough axes aloft and an expected Lake Erie lake breeze front extending from far-NE Cuyahoga County through Erie County, PA are expected to act as foci for surface-based convection initiation. These lifting mechanisms are expected to release weak to moderate boundary layer instability stemming from peeks of sunshine and daytime heating of the warm/moist sector boundary layer. Localized flash flooding remains a concern, especially along the lake breeze front, since WSW`erly mean mid- level flow of only 20 to 30 knots should exhibit a large component parallel to the mesoscale front and permit training and slow-moving showers/storms. Periods of heavy rain are expected as PWAT`s remain unusually-high in/near the warm/moist sector. Please see discussion below for further details. Previous Discussion... The near term forecast will bring warmer temperatures, muggy conditions, and periodic chances for showers and thunderstorms today though tomorrow. There are some isolated to scattered showers this morning south of the Highway 30 corridor closer to central Ohio. We anticipate the showers to become more scattered to widespread later this morning into this afternoon. There will be a few thunderstorms possible especially with the daytime heating adding some energy in the atmosphere. Precipitable water values will increase today up to 1.9 inches with the passage of the warm front. With high moisture content, MLCAPE values up to 1000 J/KG, weak shear and steering flow is a good setup for showers and embedded storms to develop throughout the day today. Some of these showers and storms may be efficient rainfall producers with localized heavy rainfall possible today into this evening. Organized strong or severe convection is not expected today. The highest POPs will be generally from Marion to Cleveland to Erie line and southeastward. Lower POPs will be over northwest Ohio around the Toledo area. High temperatures will range from the upper 70s to around 80 degrees where showers and storms persist more across northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania. The warmest temperatures today will be over NWOH with low to middle 80s. Most of the diurnally driven convection will slowly end this evening after sunset. We will keep some slight to chance POPs overnight given the moisture rich atmosphere and some weak lift lingering over the Upper Ohio Valley tonight. Wednesday will be a little more interesting with the potential of some strong to severe storms moving in late in the day and evening. A shortwave trough will track from the Cornbelt region of the Midwest into the Great Lakes region on Wednesday. A surface low pressure system will develop and strengthen as it tracks through the central Great Lakes region late Wednesday which will drag a cold front across the Ohio Valley. Ahead of this shortwave, there is a weak lead impulse wave in the 500 mb flow that will track across Ohio around midday Wednesday. Given the tropical like airmass and diurnal heating, there could be a round of scattered showers and storms that quickly move from west to east during the midday or early afternoon on Wednesday. It does appear that if this lead weather system kicks through, there will be enough time to quickly destabilize the atmosphere again late afternoon into the evening ahead of the approaching cold front. The short term discussion will have more details about the severe weather potential Wednesday evening. High temperatures on Wednesday will top out in the lower to middle 80s areawide with very humid conditions. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... Deepening upper level low pressure will be moving across Lower Michigan Wednesday night while a surface low drags a cold front towards the region. Ahead of the cold front MLCAPE values will range from 1000-1500 J/kg with deep layer shear values near 30 knots. These environmental parameters will support upstream organized convection ahead of the cold front. This convection is expected to enter the I-75 corridor Wednesday evening. Thunderstorms that do develop will be capable of producing damaging wind gusts and severe hail with a chance for some embedded tornadoes. Storms will push east across northern Ohio Wednesday night with the cold front while decreasing in intensity with the loss of daytime heating. Some showers and thunderstorms will linger on Thursday before high pressure gradually builds overhead Thursday night into Friday. Highs in the mid to upper 70s behind the cold front will rise into the low to mid 80s by Friday. Overnight lows settle in the lower 60s on Thursday night with warm overnight lows in the upper 60s to lower 70s by Friday night. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Large scale ridging builds across the region through the long term period. Main weather concern will be above normal temperatures forecasted to rise into the upper 80s to lower 90s by the weekend. Heat indices may approach 100 degrees Sunday and Monday. Maintained slight chance PoPs to begin the weekend as a shortwave aloft moves overhead. && .AVIATION /18Z Tuesday THROUGH Sunday/... Mix bag of conditions are being observed across the area this afternoon as showers and thunderstorms have begun to develop. Within these storms, heavy rain remains the primary concern and showers have had a history of reducing visibilities to as low as 3/4SM. Initial impacts to terminals will be KMFD, KFDY, and KCLE before portions of the east CWA fill in as well. Given the scattered nature of these storms, opted to handle the reduced visibilities and weather aspect as TEMPOs through around 00Z this evening. After sunset, reduction in instability will allow for the bulk of showers to dissipate and most terminals to rebound to VFR into the early morning hours on Wednesday. There is a potential for patchy fog/low stratus to develop for inland terminals, so opted to reduce those terminals to MVFR/IFR around 08Z to daybreak for the impacted terminals. The terminals along the lakeshore may briefly have reduced ceilings, but confidence is low there so opted to not include it with this update. By mid to late Wednesday morning, showers and thunderstorms will once again develop across the area and pose the potential for reduced conditions to MVFR and IFR across the area. Opted to handle the bulk of this potential with PROB30. The more notable impact to terminals is expected to occur Wednesday evening as a decaying QLCS pushes across the area. Winds will remain from the southwest through the duration of this TAF period. Winds this afternoon will be 5-12 knots with the strongest winds and localized gusts up to 20 knots at terminals receiving showers. Overnight winds will weaken to around 5 knots before again increasing from the southwest in the afternoon. Outlook...Non-VFR likely with scattered to periodic showers and thunderstorms Wednesday through Thursday. The best chance of thunderstorms will be Wednesday evening into early Thursday morning. There is a small chance of isolated thunderstorms Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon over far northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania. && .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...77 NEAR TERM...77/Jaszka SHORT TERM...13 LONG TERM...13 AVIATION...04 MARINE...04