Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Grand Forks, ND
Issued by NWS Grand Forks, ND
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120 FXUS63 KFGF 251912 AFDFGF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 212 PM CDT Fri Sep 25 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Additional light rain is expected tonight through Saturday night, and there is the potential for widespread soaking rain early next week. These rain events may impact outdoor activities and harvest. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 212 PM CDT Fri Sep 25 2026 ...Synopsis... Ridging over the Upper Midwest will continue to pull east tonight, with a shortwave lifting into the Northern Plains. That shortwave will head off into northern MN/Ontario tomorrow, with southwesterly flow aloft behind it into the upcoming weekend. Another, stronger shortwave will come out into the region Monday, with the main upper trough axis arriving in the Rockies or western Plains by Tuesday. The second shortwave will help push an inverted surface trough and frontal boundary through the forecast area early next week. Near zonal to southwesterly flow setting up for mid-week. After that the ensemble members are all over the place. The majority (37 percent) of the long range solutions keep the Northern Plains in southwesterly flow aloft, but there are a couple of other clusters with either broad ridging or even northwesterly flow. With fairly high uncertainty will keep the blended solution of low POPs and near average temperatures. ...Rain tonight/tomorrow and again Monday/Tuesday... Shortwave will move in from the southwest tonight and provide some lift for light rain to develop in warm air advection. Highest probability of rainfall amounts are around the tenth of an inch to perhaps a quarter of an inch range. However, with some weak MU CAPE of up to 500 J/kg, can`t completely rule out some convective cells with heavier amounts. The decent pressure gradient will bring some fairly breezy winds and with showers aiding mix down can`t completely rule out some gusts up to 30 mph or so at times. A bit of a break on Sunday, then the stronger system arrives early next week. Still some slight variations in the exact track, but seem to be converging on a solution with deformation band precipitation setting up over northeastern ND and northwestern MN. Probabilities of amounts over 1 inch in this area are 60 to 70 percent, and there is even some 20 to 30 percent probabilities of over 2 inches Monday into Tuesday. A soaking rain seems likely, although could still be some variations in exactly where the heaviest amounts set up before the period arrives. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1122 AM CDT Fri Sep 25 2026 Low ceilings will impact the region over the next 24 hours. Impacts to visibility are expected to be minimal today. Starting around 06Z Saturday, rain chances will begin to make their way into SE ND and spread northeast across the region. Visibility reductions are expected with these rain showers. By 18Z Saturday, precipitation is expected to be confined to NW MN and have exited into NE MN by 00Z Sunday. MVFR conditions will be common today with some VFR working into NW MN this evening and overnight. Increasing precipitation chances bring the return of IFR and isolated LIFR conditions Saturday as they move east. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...None. MN...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...JR AVIATION...LT