Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Topeka, KS
Issued by NWS Topeka, KS
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123 FXUS63 KTOP 080806 AFDTOP Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Topeka KS 306 AM CDT Mon Jun 8 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Hot and humid conditions are forecast for Tuesday and a heat advisory has been posted from noon until 9pm. - There is a 30-50% chance of storms late this afternoon and evening. If storms form, they could become severe. - A weak cold front is expected to move into the area Wednesday and could bring a chance for more thunderstorms and severe weather. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 306 AM CDT Mon Jun 8 2026 07Z water vapor imagery showed a shortwave lifting towards the Upper Midwest with a broad upper trough over the western U.S. Surface obs showed a very humid boundary layer across the forecast area with dewpoints around 70 degrees. An area of low pressure was noted over the CO high plains. For today and tonight, trying to figure out what could trigger the next round of showers and thunderstorms is the main challenge. Models show a conditionally unstable airmass with MUCAPE values around 4500 J/kg while 0-6km shear improves to around 30KT this afternoon. So the environment will be favorable for convection. But there isn`t a lot of synoptic forcing and isentropic surfaces don`t show a lot of lift until after sunset. Models do show an inverted surface trough setting up across the forecast area this afternoon as the surface low moves into southwest KS. This could act as a focus for convergence and thunderstorm development. But surface winds are only expected to be in the 5 to 15 mph range and limit low level convergence over the forecast area. Better convergence may occur across central and western KS and the CAMs suggest a couple isolated supercells may form or perhaps a small MCS that eventually propagates along the instability axis into east central and southeast KS. The forecast has a broad brush of 20-30 percent chance POPs by the early afternoon given the expected instability and lack of inhibition. Chances are a little higher through the mid evening hours for areas south of I-70 to account for the CAMs showing storms in this area. Would like to see better forcing or lift to have better confidence in the forecast so have left POPs in the 40-50 percent range this evening. If bulk shear remains around 30KT, then storms could have an organized updraft with a risk for large hail and damaging winds. A tornado risk will depend local winds, but the general motion of the storms to the southeast would have them moving into a weaker shear environment and probably why the CAMs tend to show storms evolving into more of an MCS. PWs should still be very high this evening, so thunderstorms will also be capable of very heavy rain. Highs today are forecast to be in the middle and upper 80s with an easterly component to low level winds and scattered to broken cloud cover helping to keep highs from getting much warmer. By Tuesday the models show a better southwesterly low level flow developing and warmer air from the southwest advecting into the area. Unfortunately this doesn`t seem to dry the boundary layer out much and most of the guidance is pointing to a hot and humid day. The NBM is giving mean apparent temps around 105 degrees for a large part of east central KS and especially in the river valleys. The HREF also shows probabilities of exceeding 103 degree heat indices of 50 percent or better. Additionally the humid airmass is expected to keep overnight lows in the lower and middle 70s and limiting much relief from the heat overnight. So went ahead and posted a heat advisory for much of east central and parts of northeast KS Tuesday afternoon. The only concern for temps not reaching the advisory would be a shortwave forcing convection, but there isn`t much of a signal for this as models keep the upper trough and shortwave energy west of the forecast area. For Wednesday and into the weekend, models show the pattern shifting east with a closed upper low setting up over the northern plains and broad cyclonic flow over the central plains. This should allow for occasional cold fronts to move through the area. The good news is this should keep highs in the 80s for the end of the week and weekend. But there will also be occasional chances for showers and storms, especially with the frontal passages. The first weak front is progged to move into the area Wednesday afternoon and could act as a focus for thunderstorms. Again there looks to be plenty of CAPE along the boundary with bulk shear around 40KT. So there should be a risk for severe storms along the front Wednesday afternoon and evening. This also brings additional uncertainty into the temp forecast and whether a heat advisory will be needed for Wednesday. For now have stuck with the NBM which seems to fit with the operational runs reasonable well. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 1238 AM CDT Mon Jun 8 2026 With the boundary layer near saturation and mid clouds clearing out, think it is only a matter of time for MVFR and even some IFR CIGS to develop. RAP and NAM show the restricted CIGS through much of the morning. The area of convection over southeast KS is progged by the CAMs to remain south of the terminals. && .TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Heat Advisory from noon to 9 PM CDT Tuesday for KSZ022-KSZ023- KSZ024-KSZ026-KSZ036-KSZ038-KSZ039-KSZ040-KSZ054-KSZ055-KSZ056- KSZ058-KSZ059. && $$ DISCUSSION...Wolters AVIATION...Wolters