Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Mobile, AL
Issued by NWS Mobile, AL
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504 FXUS64 KMOB 120626 AFDMOB Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Mobile AL 125 AM CDT Sun May 12 2024 ...New AVIATION... .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 125 AM CDT Sun May 12 2024 VFR conditions will persist through the night and into the day on Sunday. Winds will be light tonight becoming easterly then southeasterly by tomorrow afternoon. A batch of light to moderate rain was noted to our west and while current observations suggest some drier air in the are will likely limit how much reaches the ground some light rain could be expected over the next couple of hours. This light rain may lead to temporary reductions of visibilities to MVFR before lifting during the day. The next round of precipitation likely arrives sunday night. BB/03 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 914 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024/ ..New UPDATE... UPDATE... Issued at 913 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024 Forecast guidance has trended toward showing a band of mainly light precip developing and impacting the southern half of the forecast area overnight tonight into early Sunday morning. This is due to increasing moisture and mid level frontogenesis ahead of a shortwave over east TX (where you can see numerous thunderstorms developing). In addition, there will be modest upper level divergence across the area due to a NW-SE oriented upper jet streak from the TN Valley to off the southeast Atlantic coast. Forecast soundings show this precip falling from mainly a mid level deck of clouds, so expect overall totals to be fairly light. Forecast has been updated to include a chance of rain for after midnight through Sunday morning to account for this. For northern lights watchers, clouds will quickly increase late tonight from west to east. This means our viewing window will be quickly closing over the next few hours. 34/JFB PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 639 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024/ .New AVIATION... AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 636 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024 VFR conditions are expected through the TAF period. Mid and high level clouds will increase by Sunday morning and some very light and patch rain cannot be ruled out. A generally light northeast wind tonight becomes southeast by Sunday afternoon, increasing to around 10 kt near the coast and across SE MS. 34/JFB PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 429 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024/ New NEAR TERM, SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, MARINE... NEAR TERM... (Now through Sunday) Issued at 424 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024 Slight ridging aloft is expected tonight through Sunday, as surface high pressure also generally persists over the region. A weak front will drop south across the forecast area late tonight into early Sunday, reinforcing the slightly cooler and much drier airmass that is currently in place (at least through Sunday morning). We will likely be seeing an increase in mid and high levels clouds in the near term period, however. The initial front that moved through on Friday that is now stationary well to our south out over the Gulf of Mexico will slowly begin to lift back north as a warm front by late Sunday. This could bring some late afternoon showers to the southern (mainly coastal) sections of our forecast area by late Sunday afternoon, but rain chances will be very low (less than 20 percent). Temperatures will be around or just below normal for this time of the year. Lows tonight should range from the upper 50s up along the Highway 84 corridor to the low or mid 60s south toward and along the coast. Highs on Sunday will generally be in the lower 80s across the entire area. Along with the slightly lower temperatures we will also be looking at dewpoints in the 50s through the near term, so humidity levels will feel somewhat tolerable for this time of the year, both tonight and Sunday. DS/12 SHORT TERM... (Sunday night through Tuesday night) Issued at 424 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024 Through the Short Term, a closed upper low over the Plains pushes east against an upper ridge over the eastern Conus, with both moving to either side of the East Coast by Wednesday morning. Two rounds of shortwave energy move over the Southeast with the upper low. The first round passes Sunday night into Monday. A surface low develops over southern Tx with the first round of shortwave energy, then heads northeast over the Plains under the influence of the upper low. A surface warm front moves inland with the surface low, and with that, good surface based instability. Guidance has been inconsistent with the placement of the instability, but has shown a westward shift the last several days. With this issuance, the best instability moves inland over the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi River Valley. A second round crosses the Southeast Monday night into Tuesday, with a trailing cold front moving across the forecast area Tuesday, ushering in mainly a drier airmass for mid week. For the KMOB piece of the Conus, guidance varies mainly with the magnitude of the ingredients, but also somewhat with placement. Have went with a blended approach as a result. Guidance is advertising average SBCapes between 2500 and 3000 J/kg along and south of the warm front, mainly over areas west of a Waynesboro to Pensacola line. Add in EBWD wind shear values around 50kts, and strong to severe storms are possible. 0-1km helicities between 100 and 200 m^2/s^2 are advertised, with supercells becoming possible, mainly west over our Mississippi zones. In the upper support department, guidance varies on placement and strength. Most are advertising a modest 850mb jet of 30-40kts Monday afternoon, along with modest upper divergence Monday through Monday night. Guidance is consistent in less coincidence of the the upper ingredients with the lower levels. SPC has at this time placed areas west of the Alabama/Mississippi state line in Slight Risk of severe weather for Monday/Monday night, and can not disagree at this time. There is also a possiblity of water issues, especially with possible training cells. Helping to temper the water issues is the growing season in effect, and the ground able to handle more water. Looking at temperatures, temperatures rise to around seasonal norms. High temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s Monday rise into the low to mid 80s for Tuesday. Low temperatures in the low to mid 60s Sunday night (upper 60s along the coast) rise into the mid 60s to around 70 for Monday and Tuesday nights. With a more organized onshore flow the beginning of the coming week, The Rip Risk is expected to rise to High by Tuesday and remain there through most of the rest of the week. /16 LONG TERM... (Wednesday through Saturday) Issued at 424 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024 Another shortwave trough approaches the Southeast Friday. Onshore flow returns late Wednesday, bringing Gulf moisture back inland and a return of showers and thunderstorms mainly for Thursday and Friday. Temperatures around to a bit above seasonal norms are expected, with high temperatures in the mid to upper 80s. Low temperatures Wednesday night are expected to range from around 60 well inland to upper 60s close to the coast, with mid 60s along and north of Highway 84 to low 70s along the coast expected for Thursday and Friday nights. /16 MARINE... Issued at 424 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024 A light to moderate offshore flow will continue through tonight. A light to moderate onshore flow returns to the marine area on Sunday and persists into the early part of the coming week as a system approaches the area from the west. Increasing onshore flow and building seas are expected during the mid to late part of next week, and hazardous conditions for small craft may be possible by mid to late week, especially over the offshore Gulf marine zones. Showers and thunderstorms will impact the marine area at time over the next week as well, primarily Monday night into Tuesday and again during the Thursday-Friday timeframe, and locally higher winds and seas near those storms could also pose a threat to small craft at times next week. DS/12 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Mobile 67 80 69 86 67 87 66 85 / 50 90 80 70 10 10 10 50 Pensacola 70 80 72 83 71 86 69 85 / 40 90 80 90 20 10 10 40 Destin 71 81 73 81 74 85 70 84 / 20 80 80 90 20 10 10 40 Evergreen 62 79 67 84 65 86 62 86 / 40 90 80 90 10 10 10 40 Waynesboro 61 79 65 85 63 85 61 85 / 60 100 80 60 10 0 10 50 Camden 60 77 66 84 63 83 60 84 / 50 90 80 80 10 10 0 40 Crestview 62 82 67 83 66 87 62 87 / 30 80 80 90 20 10 10 40 && .MOB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AL...None. FL...None. MS...None. GM...None. && $$ This product is also available on the web at: www.weather.gov/mob